AMAZONIA - CAIAPO INDIAN Print

The Kayapó Indian Tribes live in villages dispersed along the upper reaches of the Iriri, Bacajá, Fresco and other tributaries of the mighty Xingu River, drawing in Central Brazil a territory almost as large as Austria. It is practically covered by the Amazonia forest. The language spoken by the Kayapó belongs to the Jê linguistic family, from the Macro-Jê branch. There are dialectal differences between the various Kayapó groups resulting from the splits that gave rise to such groups, but in all of them the language is a feature of greater ethnic scope, leading to the recognition that they participate in a common culture. The Kayapó, for whom oratory is a valued social practice, define themselves as those who speak well, beautiful (Kaben mei), as opposed to all groups that do not speak their language. On certain occasions, such as council or ceremonial speeches, Kayapó men speak in a tone of voice as if someone is punching them in the belly (ben), thus differentiating this type of oratory from ordinary speech. The Kayapó's degree of knowledge of Portuguese varies greatly from group to group, depending on the age of contact and the degree of isolation in which each one finds himself. This paiting has a very large value to me beacuse I was born in Amazonia - 1985