Who Are the Xingu Peoples?
The Xingu peoples are multiple indigenous groups inhabiting the Xingu Indigenous Park in Brazil's Mato Grosso state. The park, created in 1961, encompasses approximately 27,000 square kilometers and is home to around 7,000 people from 16 different ethnic groups speaking languages from four unrelated families: Carib (Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Nahukuá, Matipu), Arawak (Mehinaku, Wauja, Yawalapiti), Tupi (Kamayurá, Aweti), and the isolate Trumai. Despite linguistic diversity, these groups developed a shared "Upper Xingu culture" through centuries of interaction, intermarriage, and trade, characterized by common ceremonies, values, and the famous Kuarup mortuary ritual. This cultural system demonstrates how distinct peoples can create shared identity while maintaining ethnic distinctiveness.
Shared Culture
Upper Xingu society emphasizes peace, hospitality, and emotional restraint. Public aggression and violence are severely sanctioned—historically, peoples who couldn't adopt these norms were excluded from the system. Villages are laid out around a central plaza with a men's house. Women control domestic space while men dominate public ceremonial life. Chiefs are hereditary, maintaining status through generosity and hosting ceremonies. Intermarriage between groups is common, with individuals often multilingual. Shared ceremonies unite villages—the Kuarup brings together all Upper Xingu peoples to honor deceased chiefs, featuring wrestling matches between villages. Trade networks exchange village specialties: shell belts, ceramic pots, salt, bows. This system emerged over perhaps 1,000 years, integrating migrants from various directions into a coherent cultural complex.
The Kuarup Ritual
Kuarup is the paramount ceremony of Upper Xingu culture, a mortuary ritual honoring deceased chiefs and important individuals. Held in the dry season (August-September), the ceremony centers on decorated wooden posts (kuarup) representing the dead. Host villages invite guests from all Upper Xingu communities for days of dancing, feasting, and ritual. The ceremony culminates in huka-huka wrestling—matched pairs of men from different villages grapple until one touches the ground or gives up. Wrestling demonstrates strength and skill without serious injury, embodying Upper Xingu values of controlled competition. Women perform their own dances and rituals. Kuarup has become known internationally, sometimes hosting outside observers and journalists. The ceremony reinforces inter-village ties while memorializing the dead.
Contemporary Xingu
The Xingu Indigenous Park faces environmental and political pressures. Deforestation on park boundaries, water pollution from agricultural runoff, and the controversial Belo Monte dam (which altered the Xingu River's flow) threaten the ecosystem. Soybean farming has expanded to the park's borders. Despite these pressures, the park remains relatively well-protected compared to other Amazon regions. The brothers Orlando and Cláudio Villas-Bôas, who helped create the park, are considered heroes of indigenous rights. Population has recovered from colonial-era epidemics—the 16 groups now number over 7,000, up from perhaps 2,000 at the park's founding. Cultural practices remain strong; traditional ceremonies continue. The Xingu peoples participate actively in Brazilian indigenous politics, with leaders like Raoni (Kayapó, whose territory borders the park) advocating internationally. The Upper Xingu system demonstrates both cultural resilience and the ongoing need to defend indigenous territories.
References
- Franchetto, B. & Heckenberger, M. (eds.) (2001). Os povos do Alto Xingu: histĂłria e cultura
- Heckenberger, M. (2005). The Ecology of Power: Culture, Place, and Personhood in the Southern Amazon
- Gregor, T. (1985). Anxious Pleasures: The Sexual Lives of an Amazonian People