Marubo - Settlements



Frequently a local group coincides with a domestic group and occupies a single large hut, the plan of which is a decagon with two parallel sides much longer than the others. Two small doors opposite each other are located in the angles formed by the shorter sides. The palm-thatched ( Phytelephas macrocarpa ) roof slopes from the ridge to the ground. It is supported by four parallel lines of wooden pillars, the two innermost of which are higher, creating a central rectangular space. Between this space and each of the hut's longer sides there are three or four square areas, the angles of each marked by two long and two short pillars, separated from each other by a space of 3 meters. Each of these squares can be occupied by a nuclear family, with its hammocks and cooking fire. Generally this hut is inhabited by fifteen to thirty-five people and stands on the top of a small hill.

Around it, where the ground begins to slope, there are some other constructions, built according to Amazonian rural-White style: small rectangular huts built on stilts with a palm-thatched roof and palm-bark ( Iriartea sp.) walls and floor. These buildings are used as stores for objects that are generally of White origin: cups to collect latex, knives to incise rubber trees, iron cables to tie to the tree trunks floated in the river, aluminum pans, iron tools, salt, clothes, and even sewing machines. Under the floor, many overturned ceramic pots are kept on the ground. The slopes of the hill and the surrounding ones are covered by gardens. The distance between settlements is at least 1.5 hours by foot. There are, however, some settlements that diverge from this pattern, with two huts on top of the same or neighboring hills, or even substituting for the indigenous hut several residential small huts on stilts. The latter pattern is found only near the FUNAI Indian posts, not near the mission post. At the mission there is a concentration of traditional huts. Thus, both the FUNAI and mission posts have a concentration of Marubo around them.


User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: