Projects - World Cultures Online - RAMM

Description

‘Arok’ or feather head dress of chief, made of feathers of Green parrot and blue and red macaw. Macusi Indians, Demerara, S. America.” catalogue sheet has drawing Monica Lima-Carvalho, 2001: “Same construction as Xingu National Park, Brazil; 3 layer construction. Black is normally used for old men and women, and red feathers for children.” [Beauty caption] Coloured feathers enhance the beauty of the wearer; the birds themselves are the most colourful and visually stunning part of the lowland forest environment. This 19th century headdress is of a type worn by men during special occasions such as festivals and ceremonies. The three large red feathers are those of the Scarlet Macaw, Ara macao and the smaller green, blue and red feathers are likely to be the tail and secondary feathers of the Mealy Parrot, Amazona farinosa

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Karajá people. Toys made of buriti palm fibre. Collected in 2003.

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Armlet of beadwork on cotton thread with cotton thread ties. Amerindian access to imported materials from Europe, such as these coloured glass beads, was one positive by-product of the arrival of Europeans to the region. Collected in the 1930s by Captain Andrew Elliott.

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Ear ornament of green iridescent beetle wing casings and toucan feathers. As well as sparkling as they catch the light, the wing cases also function as rattles, making a tinkling sound at the wearer’s every movement. Collected by Captain Andrew Elliott, who travelled widely in South America in the 1930s.

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Shipibo-Conibo people. Hand-built, pre-fire painted polychrome terra-cotta masato storage-fermentation jars, called chomo ani. Collected in the 1930s by Captain Andrew Elliott on one of his Amazon voyages on the SS Hilary, a cargo passenger ship.

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rd, with a vegetable fibre thread loop and a wooden stopper. A typical container for storing pigment, this small gourd contains urucum in powder form, used as a cosmetic for painting the face and body. Collected before 1869.

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Squaw club Macana Orinoco, S. America presented by Revd W. Goss. Awarak Indians.

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Arawak speaking peoples. European glass beads threaded onto double-stranded weft of fine cotton, with fringes and ties of twisted thread. Made on a portable wooden frame with vertical warps of cotton or silk grass. This apron is decorated with seed shell tassles. Early to mid-20th century.

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Lower mandible with skin and feathers of the throat and breast of a red-breasted toucan, Ramphastos dicolorus. Bird skins such as this may be used as armbands, adhered with resin. Collected before 1880.

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Kayabi people. Necklace with small armadillos (tatu) of coconut shell from tucum palm. Collected in 2003.

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Wapalay people. Basket made from arumã fibre. Collected in 2003.

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Waurá people. A basket made from arumã fibre and cotton, with designs of dyed urucum and genipapo. Genipapo is a large fruit that is also processed to use for body paint. Collected in 2003.

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Kuikuru people. Both of these combs are made out of tucum, woven with cotton. The red dye in the patterned weave of the comb on the right is from urucum. Collected in 2003.

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Kuikuru people. Necklace made from pieces of fresh-water snail shells on cotton thread. An example of ceremonial adornment, worn and danced by men. Collected in 1997 while the donor was working with the Kuikúru at the Museu Antropológico in Goias.

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Kuikuru people. Both of these combs are made out of tucum, woven with cotton. The red dye in the patterned weave of the comb on the right is from urucum. Collected in 2003.

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A temporary or disposable burden basket woven from buriti fibre strips with a strap of envira inner bark from the second stage of processing. Collected in 2003.

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Arrow with bark bindings. Arrow with a unilaterally 8-barbed point, smooth cane shaft and inner-bark fibre strip bindings. The flight of two parallel feathers has the quill’s inner side and feather base cut away to help it lie close to the shaft. The shaped quill and folded top of the feather are fixed to the shaft with the bindings. Collected before 1900.

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Bow. Flat-back, convex-belly cross-sectioned bow of un-smoothed dark hardwood. There are inner-bark strip bindings in the middle and at both ends, incorporating red feathers at one end. Collected before 1900.

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Water tube or flute of a length of bamboo, with bark bindings. Documented as a ‘water tube’, this object was collected from the Botocudo people before 1900. However, it may be a flute, with part of the mouth-piece missing. Collected before 1900.

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Bag with bark strap. An open-weave bag of a style made by many Amazonian groups. This one may be from the Maku or Yanomami people. Probably made in the 19th century.

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Belt made from two pieces of barkcloth, sewn along the top edge, extending to a twisted tie at each end and joined in the centre by knotted fibre. Painted with a geometric linear and dot design in black with areas of ochre colouring. Collected before 1866.

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Collected before 1866 and labelled as "Abdominal support used during pregnancy. From Sarayacu, Amazon". However, its shape and size closely resemble the style of baby carriers from this region. Made from a circular warp with a two -strand weft. Crossing the warps forms the raised patter. These are then highlighted in brown. [Caption taken from Braids & Beyond exhibition]

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Made from splinters of bone and from seed pods cut in half, on braided vegetable fibre. Said to have been collected from the Macuxi people. The Wai-wai people also make this type of necklace, now substituting cotton for bone. Collected before 1866.

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Cariso people. Bamboo quiver with curare-tipped blowpipe darts held in place between the folds of a palm leaf. The cotton bag attached to the quiver contains fibre for wrapping around the butt of each dart. This ensures a close fit in the blowpipe for maximum propulsion. Collected before 1880.

Description

Blowpipe. This blowpipe is made of a split single tube bound together along its entire length with the inner bark of the liane vine or of envira (Guatteria sp.). The mouthpiece is made of bone. For hunting birds and monkeys, and other small mammals for food. Collected before 1866.