Brazilian indigenous culture é vast and diverse, contrary to common sense. Historians estimate that at the beginning of century XVI, there were four main linguistic groupings: Tupi Guarani, ge, caribbean and aruak. These language families shared the same language and similar cultures.
Before colonization, you Indians who inhabited the territory (today called Brazil) had a similar culture in some points, such as: social organization based on collectivism;absence of policy, State and government; no currency and of commercial exchanges; polytheistic religions based on elements of nature; and absence of writing.
The European vision of indigenous peoples has been, since colonization, ethnocentric, which considers the indigenous way of life inferior because it does not contain elements considered, by Europeans, symbols of civilization and progress. However, anthropology and sociology contemporaries have already demystified these prejudiced analyses, establishing that cultural differences between peoples are not reasons to establish a
cultural hierarchy.Know more: Indigenous slavery in colonial Brazil – beginning and end
How was the indigenous culture
Indigenous peoples, despite having belonged to several different groups with specific differences in behavior and culture, had common elements what consolidated a culture indigenous as a whole. They had religion, habits, customs and similar behaviors, the division of labor was also similar among all peoples, and their way of life was based on hunting, at fishing and in the collection, plus the agricultureof some plants, like the cassava.
THE religion indigenous, based on sets of myths about spiritual beings, it was varied, however the belief in spiritual entities who inhabited the material world. It was also believed in spiritual powers embodied by animals and in the existence of people who could establish contact with the spiritual world (shamans), being male or female.
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Tupan was the supreme supernatural being who controlled nature and, as it is common in religions to identify their gods with their peoples, it was represented by the figure of a powerful indian. In addition to this god, there was the mystical figure of the abaçaí, which, for some peoples, it was a evil spirit that disturbed the lives of the Indians.
The Tupinambá peoples developed world creation myths and believed in their possible future destruction, by means of floods that would kill everyone. They also believed in entities like Maire-Monan, who would have taught agriculture to humanity so that it could feed itself better.
The shamans, who are the people who can get in touch with the spiritual entities, use the wisdom learned from the spirits to advise people and do healing rituals. The rituals, called shamans, could be made in festivities, as a form of thanks and request, and to make medicinal cures. They involved, in some cases, music and dancing. It was common for the shaman to inhale large amounts of tobacco smoke so that, in narcotic trance, could make contact with the spirits.
Indians use body adornments and paintings with materials extracted from nature, such as the annatto tincture, necklaces made of natural pieces, and buttons and ornaments made based on the feather art (which uses bird feathers and feathers). There is an important symbology behind the adornments and body paintings, which can identify gender, age, village and social position of the Indian, establishing a kind of cultural identity of indigenous peoples.
It is also common to produce handicrafts for ornament, from utensils, like baskets of straw and bowls, and, in the ancient tribes, of bows, arrows and spears used for hunting and for war.
See too:Tupinambá Indians brought to France in the 16th century to be studied
Characteristics of indigenous culture
If we only consider the cultures developed by Brazilian indigenous peoples, we already have a wide cultural range. It is a common characteristic of the various Brazilian indigenous ethnic groups to appreciation and contact with nature, since the tribal way of life, before the violent occupation of the white man in the territory Brazilian, allowed hunting, gathering and family farming as ways of subsistence for the peoples. indigenous peoples.
At animistic religions (Those who place as supernatural beings and divine elements of nature, such as the Sun, Moon and forests) made up the religious imagery of indigenous peoples. Before the arrival of the Portuguese, most indigenous tribes were warriors, and these disputed the territories among themselves when a tribe migrated from one place to another already inhabited.
See too:Religion - set of beliefs and social practices
Another common feature of the various indigenous tribes was the utensil making religious and of decoration based on clay, wood, bamboo and bird feathers, in addition to making body paintings used in hunting and warfare processes or in religious festivals.
indigenous customs
Indigenous societies value two things: respect and connection with nature and respect for the wisdom of the elders. It is still common in indigenous tribes to think of a experience sustainable — taking from nature only what is necessary for the maintenance of life. Older people are considered wiser, which grants them some authority within the tribe.
The Tupi-speaking peoples established a division of labor based on the gender and on age. Elderly people and children did not work, except scaring off birds and other animals from the plantations. Adolescent girls helped with the care of younger children. Men adults manufactured hunting, fishing and war gear, also made canoes, fought, hunted and prepared the land for cultivation. already the women adults were responsible for agricultural activities, for the collection, for the manufacture of household items, for the food preparation and by child care.
The Indians, before the colonization, lived in a way autonomous, without the presence of political, governmental and State elements. The management was collectivist, based on cooperation among members of the same tribe and in alliances and wars between different tribes.
See too:Tupinambá Indians brought to France in the 16th century to be studied
indigenous food
Indigenous food used to be based on the consumption of fruits, vegetables, vegetables, roots, stems, fish and game meat. Fruits such as cashews and açaí were common in the diet of people in some locations, such as the North it's the North East Brazilians. The North Indians also consumed a lot of the guarana as a source of energy for daily activities and for war. Cassava was the main source of carbohydrate of them, so it was widely cultivated. Tapioca and cassava flour were ways to store cassava for later use.
Nowadays, despite maintaining many eating habits, the indigenous people who remained had to adapt to habits food from contemporary Brazilian society. Hunting, fishing and gathering, which were possible when the forests were preserved, are no longer sufficient to feed the small indigenous population, due to the logging.
THE forced introduction of the indigenous in the urban and rural way of life (developed by post-colonization Brazilians) drastically changed indigenous life inside and outside the villages, between 1500 and the present day.
indigenous dance
Dance and music had and still have a religious role within the indigenous culture. Usually the dance is performed in rituals and festivities religious chanted in acknowledgment or how order form to the deities.
Can be performed individually or in a group, generally the indigenous dance has an execution of steps that requires the formation of pairs at least at some point. Generally, the dances are performed by people with the body painted, because the body painting it is also an element of indigenous religious symbology.
some dances of shamanic rituals (led by shamans, people capable of making a bridge between the mundane and the sacred, such as shamans) sung by indians from Amazonian tribes also use masks.
We can highlight how main indigenous dances those listed below:
Acyigua: made by the shaman and the best hunter of the tribe to rescue the soul of a dead Indian warrior. It comes from the Guarani indigenous tradition.
Atiaru: practiced by men and women of the tribe, it aims to drive away evil spirits from the place.
Toré: sung by several tribes and with different variations. It is usually done in circles by all of the tribe, in the open air, with steps defined by the beat of a rattle made of gourd and stones.
Kuarup: a dance typical of the Upper Xingu peoples, the kuarup, which is danced by all members of the tribe, aims to pay homage to the members who have died.
Also know: Indigenous Peoples Games
Influences of indigenous culture in Brazil
Historians point out that in 1500, there were about four million of indigenous people inhabiting Brazilian lands. Today, Funai estimates that a million of indigenous people live in the country, spread across 250 ethnicities, which, in their villages, occupy about 13% of the territory|1|. This small portion occupied only remains due to the demarcation of indigenous lands.
despite the genocidepracticed against the Indians since 1500 (especially in the period of flags, during the Military dictatorship and in current land conflicts in states such as Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Pará) and devaluation of peoples indigenous, our country has inherited numerous elements of indigenous culture.
Brazil is an extremely mixed race and multicultural. In addition to the influence of African, Eastern and European peoples, indigenous peoples left important elements for our culture, especially in relation to eating habits. the cuisine northerner, for example, is rich in elements of indigenous culture, such as the maniçoba and the use of tucupi in typical dishes. Fruits such as cashew and acerola were consumed by the indigenous people, and their respective names originated in the Tupi languages. Açaí, guaraná and tapioca, which we consume widely nowadays and are even exploited by the food industry, come from indigenous eating habits.
Know more: Brazilian culture - habits, customs and influences
How and with whom to learn indigenous culture in Brazil
The best way to learn indigenous culture is through direct contact with indigenous peoples or through anthropological studies developed by indigenists (researchers who are dedicated to understanding the culture indigenous).
We can highlight as fundamental the works developed by Darcy Ribeiro, anthropologist and Brazilian indigenist who worked for nearly 10 years in the Indian Protection Service, currently the Foundation for Indigenous Support (Funai); and by Claude Lévi-Strauss, a Belgian anthropologist who carried out work on the observation of Brazilian indigenous culture for decades and taught Anthropology at the University of São Paulo (USP).
Darcy Ribeiro helped found the Indian Museum, which is an institution headquartered in Rio de Janeiro and with centers in Cuiabá (Ikuiapá Cultural Center) and in Goiânia (Indian Museum Audiovisual Center). The Museum of the Indian contains the largest collection of indigenous artifacts in Brazil.
Also access:Indian Day - April 29
Curiosities
Caoim was a typical drink made by the Tupi-Guarani based on manioc. In a ritual, several members of the tribe chewed raw cassava and spit the cassava cake mixed with saliva into a clay jug that was buried. Fermentation of the mixture resulted in an alcoholic beverage appreciated at parties.
Brazilian Indians did not know metallurgy before the arrival of Europeans in Brazilian territory.
Before the arrival of the Portuguese, there were cannibal indigenous tribes in Brazil. Some reports show that these tribes survived until the beginning of the 20th century in the Amazon.
Several common words in our daily lives are of indigenous origin. Examples are: passion fruit, guarana, cassava, cashew, acerola, moringa, tambaqui, pirarucu and oca.
The consumption of cassava, fish typical of Brazilian rivers, such as pirarucu, yam and caranha, and Brazilian fruits, such as acerola, passion fruit and guaraná, are on our tables today thanks to the strong presence of indigenous culture in the cultural formation of the Brazil.
Grades
|1| Data obtained in the article: GOUSSINSKY, E. Brazil leads the way in the genocide of Indians in Latin America. Available in: https://noticias.r7.com/prisma/nosso-mundo/brasil-e-lider-disparado-no-genocidio-de-indios-na-america-latina-24042018. Accessed on: 04/13/2019.
by Francisco Porfirio
Sociology Professor
