The Kalapalo Indians :: essays research papers

The Kalapalo IndiansThe Kalapalo Indians of fundamental Brazil are one of a few surviving endemiccultures that is uniquely protected by a national reserve in lowland SouthAmerica. Through no effort of in that respect own, they ingest been isolated artificiallyfrom Brazilian companionable and economic influences that reach approximately e very otherIndian tribe in Brazil. This unusual mooring has made it possible for theKalapalos culture to be undisturbed by the outside world and the surroundingtribes. Much of Kalapalo life is run through a central concept or an ideal ofbehavior, called ifutisu. This is an infinite ideologic concept that isrepresented in many a nonher(prenominal) ways in genial life and ideal disposal among theKalapalo.The area in which the Kalapalo live is in the northeastern Mato Grosso statecalled Upper Xingu Basin. There are four slurred languages by groups inthis region. This makes the Upper Xingu Basin linguistically diverse, but withmany of the gro ups still sharing the alike(p) social and ideological features. It isvery thorny to trace back the origins of Kalapalo life because of theintegration of the many different and culturally diverse groups in the UpperXingu Basin. So, many of systems of kinship classification, marriage practices, ceremonial occasion organizations, status allocation, and religious beliefs areconsistent with cultural rules and social practices and not with the originalsystem. Many of the modern local groups can wholly refashion their own historywhich is in limited detail, these systems cant be isolated completely from theexisting society.The two most important social units in Upper Xingu society are the village andthe household groups. both(prenominal)(prenominal) the village and household can be considered corporatein that both control rights to territorial resources, acts as a unit whenperforming plastered economic and ceremonial activities. Members of a householdgroup are get to pass out food w hich they collect amongst themselves. Evenwhen one cannot deliver food a Kalapalo is assured of a share because everyone istreated with the same kind of respect. Despite this corporate organization,membership in villages and households is constantly changing, and there is muchmovement of people between group to group.The Kalapalo society is a system wherein social units, such as the villagegroups and households exist only because of the individual who decides to livein these systems and choose to cooperate with one another. This is verydifferent from other non-western societies whereas the individual acquire theresponsibility to join in social units, by birth or other means of kindto and with each other regardless of the identity of the individual themselves.The Kalapalo social organization is characterized by a flexible group membership