The kayapo and korubu

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Kayapo

The Kayapo live in the Xingu Basin. They live by; hunting, fishing and collecting the various crops they grow. Their area includes the Brazilian frontier which contains the mining and lumber industry where they participate in many aspects of the contemporary world. The Kayapo use a cash economy and have stayed on good terms with their Brazilian neighbours without compromising their cultural integrity. This is accomplished in part by adhering to their art-making and rituals. Traditionally, the Kayapo men wear discs in their lower lip. A small incision is made and a disk inserted. As time goes on the disks become progressively larger. Body adornment symbolizes many things in their traditional society. Ear plugs symbolize receptivity to others while a lip plug symbolizes assertiveness. Aggressive and faction-prone groups like the Kayapo will signal their aggressiveness (while asserting they seek to contain it) by not wearing large ear plugs (they do not listen to others well, deafened by the pursuit of individual and group advancement), by sporting exaggerated lip plugs (thereby signaling their oral assertiveness), and by wearing penis sheaths (marking the need to constrain their phallic aggressiveness).

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The Kayapo are also a highly evolved group ecologically, exemplifying living in balance with the ecosystem. They cultivate many types of plants utilizing biological pest control. They domesticate and classify the insect life. All parts of the surrounding jungle are utilized by them for practical and medicinal purposes. The Kayapo belong to the Ge linguistic group that reside around the southern tributaries of the Amazon. They represent an ancient culture of seasonal farmers and gatherers. During the rainy season they live in highly complex villages in the scrub and savanna area of the Xingu basin partaking in a rich ceremonial life. ...

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