Kuikurus - Sacred and Traditional Arts

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PSTA Prince's School of Traditional Arts

Master in Traditional Arts

The Sacred and Traditional Arts: Principles and Criteria

in relation to the Kuikurus body painting

Aline Mariom Bogo da Silva

London, January 2012


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The Sacred and Traditional Arts: Principles and Criteria

in relation to the Kuikurus body painting

Aline Mariom Bogo da Silva

Introduction

This essay is an attempt to understand the relations between sacred and traditional arts, having as

object of study the body painting of the Kuikurus Brazilian indians. The reason that made me

choose this subject is my personal admiration for their traditional life style, in ways that will be

clear throughout this work, and their appearance that looks like a piece of art when seen as a whole,

where every aspect and detail1 of their culture is connected to another, giving them an aspect of

unity and purity. Although they accepted some influence of the caraba2, they strongly conserve

their culture.

I will give a brief introduction about the Kuikuru's universe before discussing their relations with

the traditional and sacred arts. My effort is to discuss these relations and customs as an authentic

view of the world, not minor or primitive, considering that their knowledge, history, religion and

social structure makes sense in their particular way of living, with their specific criteria and

principles, and that should be considered equally valid as any other conceptions and judgements of

any other group of the world.

Who are the Kuikurus

The Kuikurus are an ethnic group of people that live in Mato Grosso, in central-west of Brazil, on

the margins of the Xingu river, inside of the Xingu National Park, speaking of the Carib language.

According to Franchetto, the name Kuikuru is an interpretation from the caraba to the original

name,Kuhikugu (fishy pout).3

In 2004, they were divided in three groups, the biggest one calledIpatse tomo, with 300 indians,

1 Like their architecture, songs, prays, dances, rites, ceremonies, arts and crafts, the way they keep and cook theirmeals, their games.

2 As they call the non indians, normally the white people.

3 FRANCHETTO, Bruna. Kuikuru. 2004.


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theAhukugi tomo, with 100 indians, and theLahatu tomo, with 30 indians. The number of

inhabitants is suspected to be growing overtime, some saying that there is a new village called

Paraso.

However, according to Franchetto, in the same region there is evidence of indians habitation since

950 A.D, sharing the same structure of a circularaldeia4 with a central courtyard, as it still is

nowadays.3

Aerial view of theIpatsealdeia

In that time, theAruakethnic group inhabited this place with approximately 10 thousand indians,

with aldeias with 20 to 50 hectares. Comparing the numbers, is easy to see that a lot of them

vanished from history, most were intentionally killed, or died from some of the European diseases,

such as flu and measles. It is believed that the indians now called Kuikurus arrived in that region

during the first half of the 18th Century, when they escaped from colonizers from further east.

Motivated by the same reasons, multiples indians groups moved to this place since, helping them to

evolve agriculture, fishing and another techniques. The group that lives there now, the Kuikurus, is

the result of a huge mixture and combination of culture and history of various indian groups that

went to this area looking for a pacific place to live. 3 However, it is still unknown for the

4 Aldeia could be translated as village, is related to the particular habitation structure of some indians.


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anthropologists how this combination happened. According to the Kuikurus legends, they emerged

together through welcoming rites, without any war. And they still consciously celebrate rites from

different indian groups.8

Tribe or Civilisation?

I could mention some of the similarities between the considered tribal societies such as brazilian

indians, african, north american indians and australian groups: the lack of writing (traditionally),

production without envisaging profit, their way of living according to the environment around them,

respect to the older, little differentiation between sacred and profane, etc. But there is a few

common mistakes when discussing tribal societies. For Srgio Figueiredo Ferreti, According to

Godelier a lot of new anthropologists refuse the use of these concepts [tribal society] as beentheoretical false and politically harmful. Out of Africa, in the Burma context, Leach (1972, p.332)

says that the tribal concept must be taken off of the anthropology vocabulary, as absolutely

inappropriate, and that should be substituted for culture or ethnic. He (1972, p. 331) also says that

[the term] tribe is an academic and ethnographic fiction." 5

Considering the imprecise definition oftribal societies and to avoid any misjudgment, the Kuikurus

in this essay are referred instead just as indians. This consideration is emphasized by the

assumption that the Kuikurus, such as these other ethnic groups around the world, should be studied

first as if they were unique, as the nation that they were before the colonizers. After all, they have

specific languages, mythologies, social organization, religion and culture, that differs from one

another, and should be considered as any other ethnic group of people. For example, the europeans

Italian and British are considered more than just a white group, but regarded with their own

characteristics and history, despite all the similarities. Here I will consider the Kuikurus as a group

of indians that one day were a nation, probably with the size of any other european community at

that time.

Considering what Coomaraswamy says about the ideological true civilisation, it is possible to

affirm that the Kuikurus are a civilisation, although small. They have a strong desire to live as the

City of God, quoted by the author, translated in their movement of always going back to their

original world through their ceremonies and day by day practice. It is easy to consider all the

powers of the soul, projected by the mind towards their objects, are 'extensions'... of an invisible

principle, and it is this 'tonic power' by which it is enable to perceive them. or even: Thus the

5 FERRETTI, Srgio Figueiredo. Repensando o Sincretismo. So Paulo. Edusp. 1995


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ideal society is thought of as a kind of co-operative work-shop in which production is to be for use

and not for profit, and all human needs, both of the body and the soul, are to be provided for.as a

truth for the Kuikurus, as I try to clarify later on this essay.6

Religion

According to George Zarur, the Kuikurus indians have a clear and rich religious narrative and

spiritual hierarchy. Mawutzinin is considered the creator of the universe and responsible for the

creation of the humankind. He is often related as their God, and considered as supernatural. Their

history of the human creation is associated with a sin among one member of the aldeia, that as a

consequence broke apart the spiritual world from the material world, and from that all the men

would be no longer capable of spiritual, but only material, creation. In the Ipatse aldeia,just thepair of prayerscan refer the sacred words to God. There is no individual pray to God and they think

that God cannot interfere in their day by day life, and that's why in their prayers they don't ask

anything to God, for them, God is considered a final cause. Also, He cannot punish or threat the

sinners. Considered as a human flaw, all the sins are judged by the community and not by God. For

them, most of the people are good, and it is common and accepted (sometimes punished) to make

mistakes. Only thefeitieiros (wizards) are considered mean, and such evil is hereditary and there is

no healing.7

After Mawutzinin, as a secondary religious figure, they have the twins Moon and Sun, then comes

the invisible (to most of the people) but natural forces, spirits that live in the jungle, called mamas,

responsible for the dissemination of diseases and spells. All the knowledge about the material and

spiritual world, about otheraldeias, arts and crafts, cooking, planting and hunting, about the sacred

histories and myths are passed from one generation to the other orally and through traditional rites

and ceremonies.8 According to the legend about the Mawutzinin, and the creation of the world,

nowadays the rites are only parties, and they work as a remembrance of the original rites,

referred in their cosmology in the original world existent before the creation of the humankind. The

same principle applies to the original fruits that were bigger and better, original animals, original

people, original music, the original world, that is kept at a distance from them, and now they live as

an attempt to get closer to that world. For them, the rites are a way to justify and orientate the

present according to the original world. (Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, pag.68-70)8

6 COOMARASWAMY, Amanda Kentish. What is Civilisation and other essays. Golgonooza Press. 1989.7 ZARUR, George de Cerqueira Leite. O Kuarup Xinguano e os Universais da Narrativa Religiosa, 2003.

8 CASTRO, Eduardo Viveiros. A Inconstncia da Alma Selvagem. Cosac & Naif, So Paulo, 2002.


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Social Organization

Watching some videos of and about the Kuikurus, I could realise that all the aldeia works in an

integrated movement, where nothing seems to be random. ThePags (shamans) act as spiritual

leader, so as political leader, together with the Cacique. But his commands are related to the divine

forces, and all important decisions are made by the contact with the higher world and after long

discussions with the indians of the aldeia. All indians of the aldeia have their owns responsibilities,

sometimes commanded by thePags, sometimes conquered by their owns efforts. One who doesn't

participate on the day-by-day obligations on the community can suffer severs punishments, as

expulsion from the village, not first without trying to heal this person with some not very

conventional methods. For the Kuikurus, everything happens in a social level: the individualism haslittle space, unless the indian has a great force or power inside the community or on the social

relations with another indians and people. But even so, the decisions are made by consultancy of all

the group and approved by the Pag, and the movements are related to the needs of the people.

They live under severe social rules for what they think as important, as the social responsibilities,

and can be very flexible on matters that dont affect the community.

Kuikuru's Sacred and Traditional Arts

The graphic motives used by the Kuikurus, as most of the indian groups, are a reflection of their

cosmological world, their beliefs, and their way of seing life.

It's about a form of expression that puts in evidence, in a day-by-day use, the tessellation between

aesthetic and another domain of the intellect. Its efficiency is the ability of stablishing

communication with a reality of another order that one could only know through mythology and

through the codified group of patterns.9

Their paintings and patterns are a way to access their past and their mythological history, as well to

stablish a contact with the Higher truth.9 All of their patterns have a beginning in a myth, normally

associated with supra-animals, sometimes calledItseke (animal-spirit). The jaguar, some birds,

fishes, lizards, all of these animals makes part of their rich liturgical knowledge. The use of their art

in ceremonies and even on day-by-day is a way to connect them to their real form, to the origin, to

the source of life. The constant use of shapes that can be eternally repeated is a proof of that. Their

9 Dossi Iphan / Wajpi. Expresso grfica e oralidade entre os Wajpi do Amap. Inprinta, Braslia - DF, 2002.


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patterns don't have beginning or end. The sensation of eternity is passed through their art and

architecture, as a visitor described: The Kuikuru aldeia is arranged in a circle, in the centre there

is only the house of the man, the holly space and the guardian of the jakus (bamboo flute, long,

that can only be seen and played by men, with some exceptions). At night... is easy to loose the

reference of where you were and where you are going to. The arrange of the houses in circles

eliminates the point of origin. In the middle is the infinite, the combination and congruence of the

energy of them all.10

By seing the display of the village the notion of origin and continuous or eternal movement is clear,

and this movement is also clear on the repetition of their patterns. Through the use of geometrical

shapes and high contrast, they posses a very precise and synthetic way of expressing themselves, of

expressing their divine origin.

According to Titus Burckhardt, all sacred art transcends the individual expression, and it is always

born from a revelation of a divine truth, and will always be a symbol of its original archetype. It's

not only a religious theme, but it's a particular arrange of language, methods and rules that are

capable of transmitting eternal symbols even if the artist himself is not capable of understanding all

of his crafts principles.11 The revelation of an archetype, or the complete understanding of it, is not

reached by the common artists, and that is why the tradition is so important. The tradition will be

the line that connects the common artists and the general public to that divine truth, to that original

archetype, and that truth will transcends their own limitations. By introducing randomly new

aspects or letting the individual ego transform the essential base or the essential truth behind the

material form of an sacred work of art, is like cutting the connecting line. This does not mean that

all the traditional art, or secular art in the common sense is sacred, but all the sacred art only lives

through tradition.

Body Painting

All the Kuikurus narrative about their arts and crafts are related to their religious beliefs, and they

are passed through the generations by means of tradition. When asked about the origin of their art,

they answer with a poor portuguese this is the way it is, this is the way that is true for the

kuikurus. As their culture is orally transmitted and they are only using documentation methods

recently, apart from the tradition of direct teaching master-student, there is no way to keep their

10Maria Luiza Pinheiro Guimares Fragoso, 2003.http://www.tracaja-e.net/pag30_cap4a.html

11 BURCKHARDT, Titus. Sacred Art in East and West, principles and methods. Pp 7-14. United Kingdom, 1986.
http://www.tracaja-e.net/pag30_cap4a.htmlhttp://www.tracaja-e.net/pag30_cap4a.htmlhttp://www.tracaja-e.net/pag30_cap4a.html


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messages alive. And being true for them, their artisanship knowledge is easily absorbed. Their

methods of painting, and materials, are the only way for them, and are always reinforced by their

rites. The art of body painting is learned since child, and everyone on the community is able to

make this paintings, but they recognise the good painters from the bad ones, and when the painting

must be special, are the good ones who are responsible for the work.

The pigments used on the paint for the body painting come from thoughtful and controlled sources.

The black is made from the genipap fruit, the red comes from the annatto seed mixed with vegetal

oil and water, the white from the tabatinga soil found under the Xingu river, and the (not very often

used) yellow extracted from the pequi fruit. They have a specific technique for extracting and

preparing their paints. Their brushes are made with a stick of wood with cotton fibres for thick

lines, and made with a palm tree stick chewed on the tip, used as a normal brush for precise lines.

12

The grater for the genipap fruit The genipap paint ready to use

12 http://pib.socioambiental.org/pt/povo/kuikuro/715

Preparation of the red paint from the annatto seed
http://pib.socioambiental.org/pt/povo/kuikuro/715http://pib.socioambiental.org/pt/povo/kuikuro/715


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The Kuarup Ceremony and the Jaguar Character

Every body painting of the Kuikurus is related to a specific mythology or mythological being, and

they make this paintings according to the rite or ceremony that they will perform. Normally the

painting is related to a spiritual character that they will invoke during a ceremony. In this essay, I

analyse one specific body painting used on the Kuarup ceremony, when they cry for their recent

dead ones for the last time. It's a goodbye party for the spirit of the dead ones, that only after this

party go away for the spiritual world.13

For their ceremonies, the active participants are carefully chosen, with the interference of all indians

and spirits evoked by thePags,but all the participants are free to deny the offer, because some

rituals can be dangerous and painful.Although the ceremonies happen frequently, it is an importantrole in the aldeia to be a participant, never been underestimated. The invitations are always made

with a complex system of tessellating the information about the indians, their talents and wills.

Some say that it's possible to feel the tension in the air during this days on the aldeia, because these

will be the indians that will evoke the spirits responsible for this passage to the kingdom of the dead

ones. It's a honour and a great challenge for the indians, that must be capable of evoking and

transfiguring themselves into these spirits.13

In the Kuarup ceremony each character is represented by a pair or a trio of indians, one

complementing the other. One important character of this ceremony is the Jaguar, calledEkege, in

this case, represented by a pair of indians, a male and a female.13

Analysing the Jaguar and its Geometrical Shape

The jaguar is an important figure for the Kuikurus. The story about the creation of the world by

Mawutzinin mentions the fight between the fish and the jaguar, that would define their places on

earth, and considers the marriage between the jaguar and the daughter of Mawutzinin, the creation

and materialization of all the humankind. Some characteristics of the jaguar are power, nobility and

ability to see and predict.7 It's possible to say that the Jaguar for the Kuikurus is a character that

symbolises the transformation of the spiritual man to the material man on the moment of the

humankind creation.

13 PENONI, Isabel Rineiro. Hagaka: Ritual, performance e fico entre os Kuikuro to Alto Xingu (MT, Brasil). Rio deJaneiro, 2010.


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The jaguar character

Just as the disposition of the village, the figure that represents the skin of the jaguar is a circle with

a defined centre. As Plato defines, the circle or the sphere are the representation of heaven, where

the radius is always the same, pointing from the centre to any part of the circumference. So the

circle with its centre can symbolise the metamorphose of the eternal (heaven) to the material (earth)

in the following way: the centre can be understood as the eternal origin, and the circumference asthe material world radiated from the origin, and a radiation will always reflect its origin. Just as the

metamorphose of the jaguar, from the spiritual world to an human being, on the material world. It is

possible to see this relation between the middle point of the circle and it's circumference by

zooming on the inner dot, or the point of origin of the circle, that enlarged give us its outer

circumference, and also its middle point, the origin. It's a never-ending movement.


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The colour black, the most common colour of the Kuikuru's art tradition, can symbolise the same

principle, of coming from the light eternal origin, to the dark material earthly world.

Conclusion

Although small in number, and simple on their art expression, the Kuikurus represent a great

(spiritually) traditional civilisation, where their day by day life are still direct related to their

religious and spiritual beliefs. Worth of admiration because even with a hugh social pressure still

live according to their true higher laws.

Kuikurus - Sacred and Traditional Arts

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