Pirahã

The Pirahã call themselves hiaitsiihi, a category of human beings or bodies (ibiisi) that differentiates them from Whites and other Indians. They possess an elaborate naming system intimately connected with their cosmology. Even before birth, while still in the maternal womb, they receive their first name: this name is believed to be responsible for the creation of their bodies. During life, they receive further names from beings dwelling in higher and lower layers of the cosmos, responsible for the creation of their souls and destinies, as well as names from war enemies.

Name

Acampamento Pirahã, próximo a Transamazônica. Rio Maici. Foto: Ezequias Hering, 1981

The Pirahã are direct descendents of the Mura. Their language, material culture, social organization and physical similarity leave no doubt concerning their past links with this people. Nimuendajú (1982a/1925) was the first to make the association between the two groups, subsequently referring to the Pirahã as Mura-Pirahã. From this point on, the history of the two groups has been irrevocably bound together, making it usual to think of the Pirahã as the latter-day survivors of the ancient ‘Mura Nation,’ once inhabiting the margins of the Madeira river (cf. Nimuendajú, 1948, 1982a; Rodrigues & Oliveira, 1977; Oliveira, 1978).

Pirahã is the term by which regional populations classify them and how they identify themselves when dealing with this surrounding population and other indigenous groups. Hiaitsiihi is the group’s self-denomination, meaning one of the ibiisi (body) beings inhabiting one of the many layers that make up the cosmos.

Language

Apaitsiiso (‘that which comes out of the head’) is the term by which the Pirahã refer to their language. The Pirahã language was classified as a member of the Mura family by Nimuendajú (1982a). Henrichs (1964) classified it as tonal. Everett has analyzed the language in numerous works (cf. 1979, 1983, 1985a, 1985b, 1986a, 1986b). A tonal language is characterized by its manipulation of supra-segmental resources (the relation between tones) in order to establish meanings. Thus on the basis of tones, the Pirahã can generate specific modes of communication: by means of cries, whistles, and ‘eating-speech.’ Cries enable communication over a large distance and are generally used to converse while they are navigating in one or more canoes on the river. Communication by means of whistles occurs during expeditions in the forest or on rivers, when voiced speech could risk undermining the expedition’s objective. Everett (1983) documented that the whistles follow tones and not a standardized tonality that establishes a meaning. In this way, the Pirahã are capable of providing words and even phrases through the recourse to whistles. ‘Eating-speech’ is a third possibility for establishing communication by means of tones: they can continue talking while chewing on food.

Most men understand Portuguese, though not all of them are able to express themselves in the language. Women have little understanding of Portuguese and never use it as a form of expression. The men developed a contact ‘language’ allowing them to communicate with regional populations, mixing words from Pirahã, Portuguese and the Amazonian língua geral (a Tupi-based trade language more commonly known as nheengatu).

Location

The Pirahã inhabit a tract of lands traversed by the Marmelos river and almost the entire length of the Maici river, located in the municipality of Humaitá in Amazonas state. The Maici river is one of the sources of the Marmelos river, an affluent of the left bank of the Madeira river. The dry and rainy seasons provoke important alterations in the region’s occupation. The Marmelos is a wide black water river, whose shores present dense forest growth and leafy trees, vegetation typical to tropical rainforest. In the dry season, white sandy beaches are exposed, interspersed by stretches of rocks and islands, along its entire length. In the rainy season, the waters invade the forest, forming extensive igapós (flooded areas of forest), which allow only the canopies of trees and ‘high lands’ to appear.

Journeying upriver on the Marmelos, a long straight tract can be seen, called ‘Large Stretch:’ this marks the start of Pirahã territory. Proceeding further in the same direction, close to the mouth of the Maici river, one of the main beaches on the Marmelos can be found, a strategic settlement site, since it provides access for exploration of both rivers. Crossing the mouth of the Maici, still on the Marmelos, numerous beaches, lakes, and creeks are passed, as well as the Juqui and Sepoti rivers. The latter marks the limits of Pirahã territory, since their topographic and toponymic references run out on its borders.

The Maici river is narrow and deep. Hundreds of Brazil-nut trees can be seen while travelling along its length. Occupation on this river extends from its mouth to the areas bordering its source: the bridge crossing it on the Transamazonian highway, 90 kilometers from the town of Humaitá, marks the limit of Pirahã territory. The Maici flows through an upland area, providing strategic points for exploiting its 17 Brazil-nut tree stands. Small beaches form during the summer which serve as temporary dwelling sites.

The Pirahã land was demarcated in 1994, its northern border being formed by the Marmelos river, from Folharal creek to Água Azul creek, following the left bank of the latter river along its full course; the southern limit comprises the bridge over the Maici river on the Transamazonian highway; the eastern and western borders are composed of an extensive tract moving inland more than 8 kilometers from the river’s left and right shores respectively. Overall, the region comprises approximately 400 thousand hectares within a perimeter of 410 kilometers.

Demography

The current Pirahã population is approximately 360 people. During both the 1920s and the 1970s, the estimated number was 90. In 1985, the date of the first census, FUNAI ("Fundação Nacional do Índio - National Indian Foundation, governmental agency) counted 141 people, registering an equal distribution between the sexes (cf. Levinho, 1986). In the dry season, this population is spread out in small groups along the Maici and a long stretch of the Marmelos river, concentrating their activities on the harvesting of Brazil-nuts in the locations where the product is exploitable. Two large Pirahã populational groups divide the territory. A group of approximately 120 individuals inhabits the region formed by the Marmelos and the shores of the Maici, as far as a place named Cuatá. Another grouping, composed of 100 people, lives about two days boat journey away from this place (Cuatá), occupying at least four sites as far as the Transamazonian.

According to the Pirahã, until the 1960s, these groups lived together at sites close to the Maici’s mouth. The alleged motives behind the separation of the groups and the movement inland of a large number of people to the region of the upper Maici, were conflicts provoked by the ‘theft’ of women, leading to two murders. As a result, the crisis defined a new configuration in the territory’s occupation.

Contact history

The Pirahã, properly speaking, appear in chronicles and documents only from the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th. in 1921, Nimuendajú encountered a Pirahã village on the Large Stretch of the Marmelos and another on the lower course of the Maici. He tells us that, in 1921, the SPI ("Serviço de Proteção aos Índios" - Indian Protection Service, the governmental agency preceding FUNAI) set up a post on the Maici in order to deal with these Indians who, in his opinion, are “happy in their poverty, ...until today they have paid little interest in the advantages of civilization and, except for tools, almost no signs of permanent contact with civilized people can be found among them. They are extremely indolent, but peaceful, so much so that I can record no hostility against civilized people, invaders of their Brazil-nut tree stands, despite the frequent abuses committed by these intruders.” (Nimuendajú, 1982a:117). Nimuendajú documented conflicts between the Pirahã, Matanawi and Parintintin in the region of the upper Maici. Also dating from this time is the information supplied by Gondin (1938), who attributes the Pirahã with the same bellicose attitude found among the Mura. According to this author, the Pirahã were at war in the upper Maici with the Torá and Parintinin, maintaining this state of open hostility until 1922, date of the installation of a surveillance post by the SPI (cf. Gondin, 1925).

1959 saw the arrival of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), which remained in the indigenous area until 1980. One couple worked there between 1960 and 1966, followed by another couple from 1967 until 1977. SIL based its Mission at three different localities: on the Large Stretch of the Marmelos, inland of the Maici river at a place called Tuxaua, and on a cliff named ‘New Post,’ close to the mouth of the Maici. Though the missionaries stayed in permanent contact with the Pirahã for more than 20 years, providing assistance and pursuing evangelical work, it is difficult today to identify any traces of their close contact with the group.

Information found in SIL’s reports reveals the difficulties it had in setting up a Mission, due to the fact the Indians were “scattered at various points along the rivers,” the w