The
Sateré-Mawé (or
Sateré-Maue) is an indigenous tribe located in the
Brazilian Amazon, with an estimated population of about 10,761.
[1] The Sateré-Mawé are the first to domesticate and cultivate
guarana,
[1] a popular stimulant.
The Mawe share little contact with the outside world.
Name
They are also called Maué, Mawé, Mabue, Maragua, Sataré, Andira, Arapium.
[2]
Language
The Mawé speak the
Sateré-Mawé language, which belongs to the
Tupian family. A grammar book was developed for the language in 1986.
[2]
Initiation rites
The Satere-Mawe people use intentional
bullet ant stings as part of their
initiation rites to become a warrior.
[3]
The ants are first rendered unconscious by submerging them in a natural
sedative and then hundreds of them are woven into a glove made out of
leaves (which resembles a large oven mitt),
stinger
facing inward. When the ants regain consciousness, a boy slips the
glove onto his hand. The goal of this initiation rite is to keep the
glove on for a full ten minutes. When finished, the boy's hand and part
of his arm are temporarily
paralyzed
because of the ant venom, and he may shake uncontrollably for days. The
only "protection" provided is a coating of charcoal on the hands,
supposedly to confuse the ants and inhibit their stinging. To fully
complete the initiation, however, the boys must go through the ordeal a
total of 20 times over the course of several months or even years.
[4]
References
Further reading
- Alvarez, Gabriel O. Pós-dradiviano: parentesco e ritual. : sistem de
parentesco e rituais de afinabilidade os sateré-mawé. Série
Antropologia (Brasília, Brazil), no.403. Brasília: Departamento de
Antropologia, Universidade de Brasília, 2006.
- Gordon, Nick, Hildy Rubin, and Jessica Siegel. Gremlins Faces in the
Forest. Nature video library. South Burlington, VT: WNET/Thirteen,
1998. (video - Satere Mawe customs involving marmosets)
- Lattas, Andrew. "Anthropological Knowledge, Secrecy and Bolivip, Papua New Guinea: Exchanging Skin." Ethnos 74.3 (2009): 433-435.
- Lorenz, Sônia da Silva. Sateré-Mawé: os filhos do guaraná. Coleção
Projetos, 1. São Paulo, SP, Brasil: Centro de Trabalho Indigenista,
1992.
- Salzano F. M., T.A. Weimer, M.H.L.P. Franco, and M.H. Hutz.
"Demography and Genetics of the Sateré-Mawé and their Bearing on the
Differentiation of the Tupi Tribes of South America." Journal of Human Evolution 14.7 (1985): 647-655.
- Vilaça, Aparecida, and Robin Wright. Native Christians: Modes and Effects of Christianity Among Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Vitality of indigenous religions. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate, 2008.
- Uggé, Henrique. Mitología sateré-maué. Quito, Ecuador: Ediciones ABYA-YALA, 1991.
External links
Brazil (
Amazonas)
