An Ethnoarchaeological Investigation On Tupi-Guarani by. Juliano Klevanskis Candido

The Tupi-Guarani has been marked by migration, different traditions, existence of prehistoric routes and the occurrence of cultural domination. Archaeologists have analyzed eras of periods to develop a better understanding of the Tupi-Guarani history. Present day study of prehistoric archaeology can clarify Tupi-Guarani history. This study began by Brazilian archaeology in the 1960's due to a program that was introduced by French archaeologists. Recent excavations in the Amazon area have uncovered information about civilizations in South America before the conquest of America. These such findings are very rare to find.

The hypothesis for Tupi-Guarani origins have been identified in Central Amazon. Archaeological researchers have estimated that the expansion of the Tupi group to the south occurred about 5,000 years ago. They have reported that the Tupi-Guarani origin would be located between Paraguay and south east Bolivia. The Tupi-Guarani family is composed of 41 languages. These set of languages come from countries such as; Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru origin. Tupi-Guarani are group of families located in various region. The groups of Bacia do Prata is located in the valley of Uruguay and Parana Rivers. As for the Tupian groups called "Tupiniquins and Tupinambas" they were located in Rio de Janeiro, Maranhao and in the Amazon.

The Tupian group main source of transportation were by canoe in river routes. That is how they migrated to different places. The "Tupinamba" went from Central Amazon to the south of Brazil, in what is currently the State of Sao Paulo. Around 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, the "Guarani" migrated to a southwestern direction and ended up in Bolivia, Paraguay, southern Brazil and Uruguay. About 1,000 years ago, they also reached the sough coastal areas in Brazil, currently called the Sao Paulo State and Rio Grande do Sul State. Archaeologists hypothesis is that the migration movements occurred due to the increase of demographic in the Amazon area. There was a high population density in that area. They have also mentioned that the Tupi-Guarani migration in the southern and eastern areas in Brazil occurred due to the persecution from the Portuguese.

Prior to the Portuguese conquest, there were only three ethnic populations residing in South America; the Andeans in the west, the Arawaks in the north of Brazil and the Tupi-Guarani, who had the largest population and the greatest territorial area. Since the Tupi occupied a greater area, hundreds of dialects developed from them, in which contributed to a new language family of Tupi-Guarani. The Tupi civilization were very good swimmers and lived close to rivers or sea. They were also very aggressive and warlike cannibals to other groups in nearby areas. The Tupi-Guarani political structures sociopolitical order includes the concepts of "tekoha" meaning earth and "teko" meaning way to live. Due to the high number of population, they had to be grouped in communities based on their common interest and dialect.

Reference

Juliano Klevanskis Candido
         An Ethnoarchaeological Investigation On Tupi-Guarani

A summery of " The Tupi Expansion " By Francisco S. Noelli

    The Tupi people of Brazil expanded more than 2000 years ago. Expansion to the author means " spreading, or conquering of new regions without migration’s implication of an abandonment of previous territory" (Noelli 1998:659). The Tupi language has around 41 languages that spread several millennia ago throughout the eastern side of South America. The Tupi languages was spoken in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, however the most known and spoken languages from the 41 languages were Guarani and Tupinambá. The speakers of these languages are referred to as " Tupi". The language was learned between the 16th, 17th and 18th century and since the 19th century many scholars have been interested in the Tupi phenomenon, mainly because the Tupi differentiated through distinct historic and cultural processes while holding onto other common traditions.

   Many people considered the Tupi people shifts as migration, however this term is only appropriate to describe the people who wanted to escape the the Europeans in AD 1500. The Tupian  people who moved for reasons like demographic growth, the breaking-up of villages, forestry management did not migrate since they still held possession of their domains for a long period of time, (Noelli 1998:660) they simply expanded to new territories.  

   The expansion is seen as having two periods, a first alongside the principal rivers, a second colonizing the smaller tributaries. In the case of the Guarani, the author states that colonizations followed a north-south direction, from Amazonia to the mouth of the River Plate (Noelli 1998:661). However when moving up the Atlantic rivers into the hinterlands Guarani pottery in the Guarita tradition lost decorative techniques (modelling, excision and incision in fine and long lines) during the southward expansions outside Amazonia, through the Maderia and Guaporé rivers (Noelli 1998:661).



   In terms of land, the Tupi people of Brazil were the most settled compared to the rest of the indigenous groups of Brazil. The management of crops and plant-gathering directly influenced the rhythm of expansion. While moving, the author addresses that the Tupi transported their plants with them and introduced them to the places they settled in (Noelli 1998:664). They transformed the primary place they settled in into  known and productive areas. Moreover, the author believes that the "Tupi expansions is related to territoriality with its social units marked by consanguineous relations and alliances, what is called tekohá" (Noelli 1998:665).

   In conclusion, Archaeology and linguistics proved that the Tupi people remained in the same place from which they moved from. "Several groups of Tupian people may have lived for at least 5,000 years in the Guaporé basin and adjacent regions" (Noelli 1998:665).

Reference :

Noelli,  Francisco S. 

      1998 The Tupi Exansion. In The Handbook Of South America Archaeology. Helaine Silverman              and Willan H. Isbell, eds. Pp. 659-670. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL,              USA. 

A Summary of "Tupi-Guarani Resistance against Colonial Brazil" by. Juliano Klevanskis Candido

This article talks about the European colonization done by the Portuguese and the Spanish that happened during the 14th and 15th centuries. It starts off talking about what the Tapi-Guarani tribes did for food, how their economy works, and their beliefs and rituals. Later on in the article it talks about how the European colonists started trying to force Christianity on the natives, which ended causing problems including war and slavery.

The authors starts off talking about the economy in the native Brazil tribes. The economy consisted of hunting, fishing, gathering fruits and roots, and agriculture. Even though tribes had alliances they didn’t trade with each other. They only tended to their tribe. The tribes did not trade with colonists because they consumed all of what they had. The tribes did offer human legs to the colonists because the tribes were cannibalistic, but the colonists refused.

The natives had many detailed rituals that dealt with nature. They only passed down their religious beliefs through spoken language. They talked about how their prophets had journeys to lands with no evil. Natives often migrated in search for the land without evils due to Catholic missionaries. The colonists thought the natives were people of the past because there were no kings or authority.  Colonists eventually tried converting the natives to Catholicism.

Although some natives lived in both worlds, due to Catholicism, there were many invasions from the colonist and the natives. One of them natives killed a bunch of Portuguese colonists and ate them as a ritual.  Eventually the wars ended and the natives ended up as slaves to the colonists. Women and children were made servants. The Portuguese also started trafficking native girls.

Juliano Klevanskis Candido

Tapi-Guarani Resistance against Colonial Brazil, 18

  

A summary of, "Creating a Continuity between Self and Other: First-Person Narration in an Amazonian Ritual Context" by Suzanne Oakdaue

This article explains how the Tupi people identify themselves is highly influenced by their different way of being able to perceive 'self' through ritualistic songs. The fieldwork, which this article was based on, was carried out for nine months over the course of 1992 and 1993 in one of the larger new style villages within the Xingu Park. The anthropologist and his article focuses on the Jowosi that is held within the tribe to help people move on and forget tragic events. This is a period of time, usually a couple weeks, in which the Tupi women would sing the chorus as the men lead in with the solo. This event was held for days at a time and would be stopped if anything seriously tragic were to happen, for example the loss of a family member or illness.

The author explains how these songs are heavy with metaphors and generally have no sense of time. He then elaborates about how amazing it was that even though the songs were never explained that often other men, who also sung inherited songs, come to understand their songs in a similar manner. They would relate their own experiences as well their relatives'.


The anthropologist deeply studied the Kayabi and the Jowosi ritual, and turned to the
performance of one man's song. What he observed was the very particular use of metaphor, as well as the lack of tense-evident markers. He also constantly saw the use of first-person pronouns to aide with the singer's identification with the experiences of relatives from previous generations. This mixture creates a different way of perceiving the sense of 'self' as was once thought of.


Within this article the author  argues that culturally specific genres of first-person narration, as they are found within social life, offer a privileged window on the perception of 'self'. This article explains that the extent to which 'self' and 'other' have distinct boundaries in certain circumstances may become blurred and even merged. The main example is a ritual  art, of first-person narration, sung by the men of Kayabi, a Tupi-Guarani-speaking people of central Brazil. In this form of expression, the experiences of past generations become incorporated into the lives of contemporary narrators. The author explains how this incorporation is created as well as its importance in the of Kayabi views on human development.

With this new perception it is then understood that the new idea of 'self' can heavily effect the Kayabi views and their development as humans. The author then explains how this kind of incorporation of another's experiences relates to the importance of repetition in Kayabi notions of human development.

Oakdale, S. 
       (2002), Creating a Continuity between Self and Other: First-Person Narration in an Amazonian Ritual Context. Ethos,         30: 158–175. doi: 10.1525/eth.2002.30.1-2.158

A Summary of "Walking Towards The Land Without Evil: Power And Authority Among The Guarani" by. María Crespo Arauco

"Walking Towards The Land Without Evil" is a Msc dissertation, by María Crespo Arauco (1998). This portion of the dissertation defines authoritative and sacred aspects of the Tupi-Guarani. Arauco's analysis is summarized below.

The Tupi-Guarani do not believe in political power – non-coercive power. They have a Chief, who essentially has no power, but his exclusive role is to care for the people of the village. He is considered the hardest worker and he must be an outstanding speaker. The people of the village consider his speech's empty speech – do not care what he has to say – and the author states, this empty speech only emphasizes his lack of power (Arauco 1998:14). The true authority of the Tupi-Guarani lies in each house-hold a leader, and the Chief must work to prevent hostility and keep peace amongst them. The Chief, no political power in his grasp, works for the community and it is his debt that he must repay to them.

On the other hand, coercive power – forcing someone to follow an order by threat of punishment – does not exist amongst the Tupi-Guarani. The author cites why: this kind of power goes against society and symbolizes the negation of reciprocity as the ontological principle of society (1998:15). The author points out, both the Shaman and the Chief do actually have recognized authority at some point in time. The Shaman, his authority is based off alterity – state of being "Other"; and the Chief, his authority is recognized at times of war, over the warriors. War is a basis of alterity, because of the possibility of dying an "honorable" death and dying as "other"; or capturing a prisoner and stepping closer to alterity.

It is evident how the warriors reach the "Other", but there is another way: cannibalism. The author says, cannibalism constitutes the privileged means to access the Land Without Evil after death. Both the Killer and victim are presented passage to alterity (1998:16).

Women are considered "eaters of flesh"; they believe their body mixes with the victim, and gives them passage to alterity or death. It is a sense of social immortality, as they fuse with the body and maintain life of the forsaken one. As for the warriors, they are not allowed to eat the flesh of the victim; instead, they must fast for a number of days – another means to becoming closer to alterity.

As for the victim, being eaten by the village is considered an honorable death; therefore, he is granted entrance to the Land Without Evil. When he is first captive, he is treated with respect and cared for; he is given a wife and food – the goal is to fatten him up. To many of the villagers disdain, he receives the title "Brother-In-Law", because he is now apart of their society. When the ritual time comes – a few months – he is stripped of his societal title and his wife is taken away; he is an enemy once again and prepared for his final fate.

His death is an indication of war, because his tribe will seek revenge on the Tupi-Guarani. The warriors embrace this notion and treat it as an honor they are willing to pursue.


María Crespo Arauco
     1998 "Walking Towards The Land Without Evil: Power And Authority Among The Guarani".
          Msc dissertation, Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics and
               Political Science.