02 Mar The beginning of a Journey of Knowledge on the Forest Peoples: Huni Kuin (Kaxinawá)
According to the Socio-environmental Institute (ISA), in general, indigenous lands continue to be the “main barrier against forest destruction”, whose preservation is fundamental, for example, to reduce the impacts of climate change and conserve all forms of life.
Data like this demonstrates the relevance of these peoples in protecting the environment. As the chief Mapu Huni Kuin, son of Isaka and one of the main indigenous leaders of Acre, said in an interview for Galileu Magazine: “The forest is our body, our home, our spirit. If they destroy the forest, they are destroying us.” For the “Forest Peoples,” the forest and everything within it is sacred and must be well cared for.
We had the pleasure of getting to know the Kaxinawá (Huni Kuin), a people that live in harmony with nature, respecting and protecting it. We sought to learn a little more about their culture, traditions, and customs, and today we are here to share a little of what we learned with you.
To help us in our research, we have the support of Dr. Celia Maria Cristina Demartini, who has a degree in History from the University of São Paulo (1983), a Master’s in Archeology from the University of São Paulo (1997), and a PhD in Archeology from the University of São Paulo (2003).
The Kaxinawá (Huni Kuin)
The Kaxinawá are an indigenous ethnic group that belongs to the Pano linguistic family. They are located in the tropical rainforest that extends from eastern Peru, from the foot of the Andes to the border with Brazil, the state of Acre and southern Amazonas, encompassing respectively the area of Alto Juruá and Purus and the Javari Valley.
The Pano groups called nawa, among them the Kaxinawá, form a subgroup that calls itself huni kuin, real men, or people with known customs (huni = person, kuin = reference to identity, similarity, or sameness). One of the characteristics that distinguish the Huni Kuin from the rest of the men is the system of name transmission. Within this naming system, the name Kaxinawá itself seems to have originally been an insult – Kaxi means bat, cannibal, but it can also mean people in the habit of walking at night.
Today the Kaxinawá call all related groups “Yaminawa”; both those who are in contact with white people and the Pano groups who live in the headwaters of the rivers between the Upper Juruá and Purus and those who remain remote and hidden, without “peaceful” contact with national society.
The Huni Kuin keep their cultural identity alive and through their representative entities manage to balance their relations with the surrounding society. Both those from the Vale do Juruá and the Purus have associations, which enable projects ranging from agricultural production, important for the subsistence of the communities, to school education activities.
They have a vast material culture that goes from weaving cotton, with natural dyeing, to ceramics made of clay with ashes obtained from animals, trees, and even shards of other ceramics, where the kenes are printed, a kind of mark that identifies the material culture of the Huni Kuin, whose meaning is related to courage, strength, power, and wisdom..
“Kene” applied to weavings). Fonte: site.tucumbrasil.com
Yuxibu
For the Huni Kuin, People of the Forest, all knowledge is sacred and comes from plants, from animals. Yuxibu is a sacred entity that is difficult to explain. According to Pajé Agostinho Ika Maru, he is the great creator of all things.
“No one is bigger, nor smaller, nor more beautiful than the other. We are the same living beings as Yuxibu.
So I think that this is Yuxibu’s thinking.
Yuxibu is an invisible thing. We know the name, but no one has found it.
Yuxibu creates. He created everything, he is still creating today.”
Pajé Agostinho Ika Muru (CENTRO DE MEMÓRIA, DOCUMENTAÇÃO E REFERÊNCIA Itau-Cultural, 2017).
The myth of the big snake
For the vast majority of indigenous groups, the relationship between “sacred and profane”, that is, the “religious rituals” and the daily chores are closely linked. All the activities performed in the community have a direct relationship with the “creation myths”. In this sense, the myth of the big snake is associated both with shamanic knowledge and also with hunting skills and techniques. An encounter with a snake can be the beginning of a shamanic career or of success as a hunter.
Among the Kaxinawa, the big snake is considered the primordial shaman and the source of luck in hunting. Thus, “if a man finds a boa constrictor in the forest, he calls other men to kill it and ask its yuxin (which in a free translation means “spirit”) to make them lucky hunters. Kaxinawa women also do the same, so that the snake’s yuxin will teach them to control fertility and be good weavers (Lagrou 2007). As with men who choose to initiate themselves into shamanism, the legitimation of the request for luck in hunting, fertility control, and graphic teachings occurs with the encounter of the yuxin of the sucuri in dreams (Lagrou 2007, p. 312-313).
Among many Pano groups, ayahuasca and the big snake are closely related, which is evidenced in the telling of myths. There is an association between shamanic practices involving the use of ayahuasca, the underwater world, and the beings that inhabit it, especially the big snake, guardian of ayahuasca.
Art
One of the Huni Kuin cultural expressions are the Kene – traditional graphics called true paintings, applied on body paintings, weavings, basketry, weaving and ceramics. Huni Kuin graphics represent an intrinsic part of their identity, a fundamental element in the beauty of their objects and people with a unique aesthetic that is totally connected to the cosmology and history of their people.
Canopée: Sharing knowledge and experiences with the respect and dignity that our forest guardians, partners and customers deserve.
Support:
Célia Maria Cristina Demartini
Célia has a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of São Paulo (1983), a master’s degree in Archaeology from the University of São Paulo (1997), and a doctorate in Archaeology from the University of São Paulo (2003). She has been working in the field of research in archeology, education and museums since 1985. She has been an employee of the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at the University of São Paulo since 1987. She was a history teacher in the public state system, has held the position of head of the Educational Service and Director of the Technical Curatorial Service MAE / USP. E-mail- crismartine@yahoo.com
Participates in research and projects related to archeology throughout Brazil, especially São Paulo and Amazônia.
She has participated in several national and international exhibition projects. She participated in the elaboration and production of the documentary Antiga Amazônia Presente, which makes a reflection about the original peoples of the Amazon.
Bibliographical references used for the construction of this text
CENTRO DE MEMÓRIA, DOCUMENTAÇÃO E REFERÊNCIA – ITAÚ CULTURAL. Uma Shubu Hiwea: livro escola viva do povo huni kuin do Rio Jordão. São Paulo: Itaú Cultural, 2017.
LAGROU, Els. 1991. Uma etnografia da cultura Kaxinawá: entre a cobra e o Inca.
Dissertação de Mestrado, PPGAS/Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
LAGROU, Els. 1996. Xamanismo e representação entre os kaxinawá. In: LANGDON, E. J. M. (org.). Xamanismo no Brasil: novas perspectivas. Florianópolis: Ed. da UFSC, pp.197-231.
LAGROU, Els. 2002. O que nos diz a arte kaxinawa sobre a relação entre identidade e alteridade? Mana, vol.8, n.1, pp. 29-61. Disponível em:http://www.scielo.br/pdf/mana/v8n1/9640.pdf
LAGROU, Els. 2007. A Fluidez da Forma. Arte, alteridade e agência em uma sociedade amazônica (Kaxinawa, Acre). Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks. 580 p.
BEIRIGO LOPES, Ruth D. 2010. Lições da cobra — uma leitura da etnologia pano — Dissertação apresentada ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia da Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói.
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