The Pataxó are a native tribe in Bahia, Brazil with a population of about 2,790 individuals.
They live mostly in Indigenous land Monte Pascoal, the southern city of Porto Seguro,(Bahia State - Brazil), less than a mile from the coast between the rivers Caraíva and Corumbau.
The territory between these two rivers, the sea (east)and the Monte Pascoal (west) are recognized as their traditional lands, which cover an area of 20,000 hectares.
The ‘dance’ described by Wied-Neuwied heavily evokes the ritual present today among many indigenous peoples in the northeast and east of Brazil called Toré: four men leaning slightly forwards advance and form a circle, some behind the others, singing hoi!hoi!hê! hê! he! while one man accompanies the melody with the sound of an instrument, alternating between loud and soft. At this point the women enter the dance, two by two, with their left hand resting on the back of the next woman. Then the men and women take turns to circle the container with the cauim to the sound of the “enchanting music.” They dance through the night until the container is empty (Wied-Neuwied 1958:436).
After the night of ritual dancing, log races were held: to display their strength, the young Indians ran to the forest, cut down a large cylindrical section of a barriguda trunk, extremely heavy when full of sap, and inserted a stick in it to make the log easier to carry. The strongest of the group lifted this section of trunk, carrying it on his shoulders and ran to the village pursued by the rest who tried to snatch the log off him (ibid). Douville claims that the Kamakã name for the race was “cutting the cake” and that after it was over the men washed and drank the cauim made by the women (Douville apud Métraux 1930:275), while Casal observes that the Kamakã also made use of inebriating or alcoholic drinks made from bees wax left to ferment after being strained and then diluted with water
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They live mostly in Indigenous land Monte Pascoal, the southern city of Porto Seguro,(Bahia State - Brazil), less than a mile from the coast between the rivers Caraíva and Corumbau.
The territory between these two rivers, the sea (east)and the Monte Pascoal (west) are recognized as their traditional lands, which cover an area of 20,000 hectares.
The ‘dance’ described by Wied-Neuwied heavily evokes the ritual present today among many indigenous peoples in the northeast and east of Brazil called Toré: four men leaning slightly forwards advance and form a circle, some behind the others, singing hoi!hoi!hê! hê! he! while one man accompanies the melody with the sound of an instrument, alternating between loud and soft. At this point the women enter the dance, two by two, with their left hand resting on the back of the next woman. Then the men and women take turns to circle the container with the cauim to the sound of the “enchanting music.” They dance through the night until the container is empty (Wied-Neuwied 1958:436).
Photo Credit: Kaká
After the night of ritual dancing, log races were held: to display their strength, the young Indians ran to the forest, cut down a large cylindrical section of a barriguda trunk, extremely heavy when full of sap, and inserted a stick in it to make the log easier to carry. The strongest of the group lifted this section of trunk, carrying it on his shoulders and ran to the village pursued by the rest who tried to snatch the log off him (ibid). Douville claims that the Kamakã name for the race was “cutting the cake” and that after it was over the men washed and drank the cauim made by the women (Douville apud Métraux 1930:275), while Casal observes that the Kamakã also made use of inebriating or alcoholic drinks made from bees wax left to ferment after being strained and then diluted with water
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