Native Americans of Middle and South America

Article Outline

Introduction; Culture Areas; History; Native Americans Today

Transportation

The dugout canoe was the principal means of transportation for people living along or near rivers and streams. Canoes varied in size and quality. The várzea chiefdoms—the Tapajós and the Omagua—built large, sturdy canoes for long-distance war expeditions up and down the Amazon River. On one occasion, the Spaniards counted as many as 8,000 warriors in 130 canoes (equal to about 60 men per canoe), which were paddled out to attack the intruding Europeans. On the other hand, the Ynomamö built far less reliable canoes, reflecting the fact that they lived far from rivers and, like other terre firme groups, traveled mostly on foot.

Clothing and Ornamentation

In the warm, humid climate of the Amazon Basin, most indigenous groups wore little or no clothing. Among groups that wore clothing, garments were made of cotton or plant fibers and usually consisted of a small breechcloth for men and a short wraparound skirt for women. Amazonian people often painted or tattooed parts of their body, including their arms, legs, torso, and face. Ynomamö women placed sticks in their perforated ear lobes, and Kayapó men wore large wooden plugs in their lower lip. The Kayapó and other groups of the southern Amazon made large headdresses of brilliantly colored feathers from tropical birds to wear during ceremonial activities.

Religious Beliefs and Practices

Religion for Amazonian peoples centered around multiple spirits, many of which were believed to have great influence on people. Those of the rivers and bush were considered evil and were feared and shunned. Some of the spirits were celestial beings, identified with the Sun, Moon, stars, sky, and clouds, but they were mythical in nature and were generally considered to have little connection with everyday life. Many Amazonian peoples believed in a multilayered cosmos. For example, according to Ynomamö belief, the cosmos has four levels. The topmost layer is duku kä misi, the “tender layer,” where all things on Earth were created, and which now lies empty. Below this is hedu kä misi, the “sky layer,” a place similar to Earth where Ynomamö souls go after death. The Earth layer, hei kä misi (“this layer”), is where the Ynomamö and all other humans live. The lowest layer is called hei tä bebi, the “bottom layer.” Nothing is found here except one village structure, or shabono, which came crashing down long ago when a piece of the sky layer broke off and fell through the Earth layer. Some Ynomamö came down with it, but since only their shabano and garden fell with them, and not the forest in which they hunt, they are thought to have turned into cannibalistic monsters.

Shamans, who were believed to have close contact with the supernatural world, conducted the ceremonies, rituals, and healing in most Amazon Basin societies. Shamans often ingested hallucinogenic substances to aid them in their activities. One role of the shaman was the acquisition of magical darts to use against enemies or other undesirables. The shaman hurled these invisible darts—called caui, hekura, and tsentsak, respectively, by the Mundurucú, Ynomamö, and Shuar—out away from their settlements to catch stray enemies by surprise and cause them illness and death. In their healing activities, shamans were responsible for sucking these darts out from the skin of people in their own group.

Post-Contact History

Although Europeans may have sighted the Amazon delta region in 1500, exploration of the river did not begin until decades later. In 1541 and 1542 Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana and a crew of some 50 men navigated the entire length of the river over a period of eight months, encountering the Omagua and other peoples. Lured by rumors of cinnamon and gold, the Spaniards moved eastward from the Andes and founded small forest settlements. Meanwhile, the Portuguese, beginning in the early 17th century, slowly settled the Amazon Basin moving westward from the eastern coast of Brazil. Both the Spanish and Portuguese enslaved or coerced indigenous groups to search for gold or perform other labor. However, the Europeans found the Amazon peoples harder to subdue than Andean highland groups. In contrast to the top-heavy state apparatus of the Inca Empire, the Amazon Basin was divided into hundreds of small societies, which could not be collectively conquered in a single stroke. In addition, the Europeans also usually met with fierce resistance; the Shuar, for example, destroyed a number of European settlements in eastern Ecuador in 1599. Many Amazon Basin peoples were protected by nearly impenetrable jungle and if attacked, could move their villages further into the jungle.

As the European presence increased, however, serious epidemics of disease wiped out large numbers of indigenous peoples. The Omagua and Tapajós, who lived along the main channel of the Amazon River, nearly became extinct. By the 20th century the indigenous population of the Amazon Basin had been reduced to a mere 10 to 15 percent of its size prior to European contact. In the past century, as urban Latin American countries have experienced massive population growth, more and more nonindigenous people have moved into the Amazon Basin in search of better places to live. Corporations and individuals have also sought to exploit the precious resources of the rain forest, including gold, oil, and iron. These encroachments continue to imperil Amazonian peoples by reducing forest habitat and spreading disease.

Brazilian Highlands

Land and Habitat

Covering most of southern and southeastern Brazil, the Brazilian Highlands are the eroded remnants of mountains that existed millions of years ago. The climate is subtropical, meaning there is less rainfall here and temperatures, while still warm year-round, are generally not as hot as in the tropical lowlands of the Amazon Basin. The northern inland part of the highlands is called the caatinga (a Tupí word meaning “white forest”) because of the grayish-white color the forests take on during the dry season. The caatinga is the driest area in Brazil, receiving light to moderate rainfall. Most indigenous people in the Brazilian Highlands lived in the southern inland part of the highlands, a vast sandstone plateau called the mato grosso. Although rainfall is moderate to heavy here, the soil consists of heavily eroded, nutrient-poor clays that mainly support grassy savannas. Thicker vegetation grows here as well, but it is confined to narrow forests that grow along the banks of rivers that crisscross the area. In eastern Brazil, the narrow coastal plain receives moderate rainfall throughout the year, and is more suitable for intensive agriculture than either of the inland areas.