Rites of Rites of

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By Trusca IoanaBy Trusca Ioana

The Rikbaktsa tribe….

The Rikbaktsa are an ethnic group that lives in the Amazon rain forest of Brazil’s Mato Grosso region. In the region they are called Canoeiros (Canoe People), in reference to their ability in the use of canoes, or, less commonly but they are also called Orelhas de Pau (“Wooden Ears”) because of the men’s custom of wearing wooden disks in the elongated earlobes.

The Rikbaktsa tribe today has only 909 members and the ritual of ear elongation is not

followed any more among the young men.

Rikbaktsa boys have their ears pierced during a ritual celebration at the age of 14 or 15 when they are capable of hunting large animals and know about traditional ceremonies. This rite of passage marks the young man’s transition into adulthood and eligibility for marriage with the boy exchanging his child name for his adult name.

Traditionally, when the boy is capable of hunting large animals and is knowledgeable about traditional ceremonies, around age 14 or 15, he would have his ears pierced in a ritual celebration

Once a boy has mastered the bow and arrow, at age eleven or twelve, his nose is pierced during the ceremony of the maize and he receives his second name. At this point, the boy may spend time in the men's house, where he learns about ceremonies, myths, traditional medicine, and flute-playing, and assumes more household and village responsibilities

This now-obsolete rite marked the boys'

transition into manhood and eligibility for

marriage. Traditionally, the young man

would then participate in a warring

expedition against neighboring tribes.

However, this tradition has also been

abandoned; today, young men instead

actively participate in the tribe's

recovery and maintenance of their

territory

In addition, the Rikbaktsa

seem to believe that any

man who copulates with

a pregnant woman

participates in the

paternity. They say that

the son takes his father’s

place, is his continuation.

Shortly after these rituals, or

after marriage, the young man

receives his third, "adult" name.

Today, ear-piercing is not

necessary for a young man to

receive his adult name, so long

as he is old enough and

knowledgeable enough. Some

men also change their names

again later in life as they

achieve a higher social status.

Natural resources are the Rikbaktsa’s main asset. The ancestral knowledge that they have acquired and have been transmitting orally to the following generations regarding plant and animal species, their interrelations and reproductive cycles, as well as the adequate use they make of them,

have always ensured the Rikbaktsa’s biological and social reproduction.

The sharing of such knowledge and the free and universal access of all members to the resources in their territory is responsible for the high degree

of internal egalitarianism. There is no need to accumulate surplus, since the resources are

“stocked up” in the forest and everyone knows how to retrieve them when it is needed.

Girls traditionally had their noses pierced around age 12, though today some Rikbaktsa practice this and others do not. At this age,

girls take "forest medicine" to reduce the pain that will be felt when they give birth later. Traditionally, fathers decided when their

daughters would have their faces tattooed in a ceremony, after which they are considered

women and eligible for marriage, though, this ritual of passage is no longer practiced.

Following nose piercing and perhaps tattooing

and her wedding, a woman is entitled to

receive a new name to replace her child

name.

Language

Most Rikbaktsa can speak both Rikbaktsa

and Portuguese. Younger individuals

tend to speak Portuguese more

frequently and fluently than their elders, but

older individuals generally struggle with Portuguese and use it

only with non-indigenous Brazilians.

Traditional villages used to be comprised of one or two

houses, inhabited by extended families (the house owner and his wife, their single children and their married daughters

with their husbands and children), and a men’s house

(rodeio, in Portuguese; makyry in Erikbaktsa), where the

widowers and the young single men used to live. In 1957, the missionaries found 42 of such villages; they were scattered

around the Rikbaktsa territory, built in the forest in areas near the headwaters of streams, and were connected with each other

by trails.

This was my presentation…I hope you like it!