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Shavante [archive]

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Shavante

Location: The territory between the rivers Coluene and Das Mortes, in Moto Grosso, also the reservations of Pimentel Barbosa, Areoes, Marechal Rondom, Sao Marcos and Sangradouro (www.museu.ucdb.br/english/xavante.htm).

Language: Marco Je log, Je, Akwen cluster, and Xavante (www.sil.org/americas/basil/langpage/englxvpg.htm).

History: For almost half of the last century the Shavante lived in the territory between the rivers Araguaia and Tocantins. Due to persecution the Shavante moved to the territory between the rivers Coluene and Das Mortes, in Mato Grosso. The Shavante people build their villages in the proximity of a stream of water or smaller river (www.museu.ucdb.br/english/xavante.htm).

The Shavante people have existed for hundreds of years as tribes of hunters and gatherers. Women take care of things in the villages while the males hunt, the men of the villages hold more power than the women when it comes to events and interactions that occur outside the house. The women tend to dominate the men in interactions that occur within the house. The women also own the plantations, the crops and all its products (www.museu.ucdb.br/english/xavante.htm).

The Shavante people are governed by a “Council of the Old”, which consists of the mature “old” men in the villages. These council meetings occur in the center of village and these men are responsible for the making the decisions that effect the whole village (www.museu.ucdb.br/english/xavante.htm).

Daily life: The women are responsible for looking after the house and plantations, while the men tend to do more of the hunting. There are some tasks that are gender specific to the tribe and there are some tasks that are shared between the genders. Women make the ceramic crafts or goods, and produce the baskets used by the family groups. The men hunt for food, produce the mats that the family sleeps on and sit on, braid the sacks used for storing cereal and/or carry personal objects. Some of the objects that the sexes collaborate on are the ceremonial pipes for the elders of the village, the production of the baby basket (the woman makes the basket, the man makes the handle and the mat for the baby to sleep on), the production of the crusher (used to crush cereals, roots and fruits) (www.museu.ucdb.br/english/xavante.htm).

The Shavante people are very spiritual and ritualistic in the way they act in their daily lives. The women as mentioned before control all activities in the household. The Shavante people believe that they are animal spirits that hold symbolic meaning and value to the people. The spotted jaguar gave the people fire, while the black jaguar and the wolf guara are related spirits that tell the faithfulness of a married woman. There are also elaborate ceremonies for the rite of passage into adolescents and adulthood for males and the ceremony for naming a woman (www.museu.ucdb.br/english/xavante.htm).

Special ceremonies: The Shavante people are best known for their elaborate ceremonies such as their marriage ceremony and their ceremony for the Wapte ceremony (male coming of age ceremony). The marriage ceremony consists of many successive rites lasting up to 15 years leading up a hunting expedition, the fiance leaves for a big hunting trip and is aided by the relatives. The product of this hunt is placed in big baskets that the fiance gives to his bride’s family. The bride then kneels on a mat in front of the house and waits for a female friend to approach and remove her necklace (this action symbolizes her entry to married life (www.museu.ucdb.br/english/xavante.htm).

Another important ceremony to the Shavante people is the rite of the WAPTE, this is a ceremony for the young males in the village. At the age of puberty the young males in the village are led out of their family house and taken to live in the house of the adolescents where he is given a penis case to wear for the rest of his lifetime. The adolescent lives with members of his age group until he finds a bride at which time he moves into her family house (www.museu.ucdb.br/english/xavante.htm).

Unique crafts: The Shavante people are known for their elaborate jewelry. The great variety of necklaces, belts and bracelets hold different meanings in the Shavante culture. Necklaces are used in the Wapte ceremony and the marriage ceremony. These crafts can be very simple in appearance from braiding and twisting to finely decorated with feathers, nails, animal furs or hide, or peels of roots. Each elaborate decoration reveals the degree of initiation that one has passed (www.museu.ucdb.br/english/xavante.htm).

Sources

Xavante Former Link www.museu.ucdb.br/english/xavante.htm, accessed on 2-3-03

Xavante Former Link www.sil.org/americas/basil/langpage/englxvpg.htm, accessed on 2-3-03

Additional Reading

Xavante
Brazilian Languages
Indigenous People of South America

Shavante [archive]

Shavante

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