O Povo Brasileiro - Episódio 1: Matriz Tupi

BASED ON THE BOOK BY DARCY RIBEIRO "THE BRAZILIAN PEOPLE" No one knows how the world is going to be 50 years from now. The only thing we know is this: it is going to be totally different from what it is today. Who would've thought that, by the time the war ended.

. . the world would be so different?

What development is doing is reinventing the world. So, the most important thing Brazilians should do is. .

. Listen. The most important thing is to invent the Brazil we all want.

"We came from the confluence, the cultural shock. . .

the mingling of the Portuguese invader. . .

with our native lndians and African natives. We are a syncretic culture, a new people. .

. who, despite being the offspring of the fusion of different matrixes. .

. behave as if it were made of one. .

. not holding on to the past. We are open to the future.

" Before Brazilians existed, what was the world like? Brazil was born under the sign of utopia: the land with no evil. .

. the dwelling of God. A thousand years ago, around the year 1000.

. . letters were written about the island Brazil.

So the name "Brazil" does not come from the Brazil wood tree. This was the island Brazil, and some navigators knew that. But one dayy the Portuguese had to announce an official discovery.

They even had a notary declare that Brazil had been discovered. That was in 1500, but it had existed a long time before that. .

. physically speaking. .

. biotherically, biologically speaking. .

. and humanly speaking, with the native lndians. They were a different humanity.

They thanked the gods for having made the world so beautiful. They existed in order to live life, to enjoy life. The goal of life was to live.

TUP I MATRIX The "Brazis" as they used to call the first native lndians. . .

are categorized according to their language. In 1500, there could have been one to eight million of them. .

. distributed from the mouth of the Oiapoque river. .

. to the Paraná/Uruguay/Paraguay delta system. At a certain point, after the settlers from different origins.

. . came the Tupi-Guarani lndians.

They have probably come from the West or Northwest of the Amazon. . .

and then came all the way down to the flat lands of Pantanal. One dayy they crossed the plateau and reached the coastal area. From the coastal area, a group went North, another group went South.

The Tupi people was much more bellicose. . .

and had a much more diversified culture. They either cast away or slaved the men they found here. .

. and what's curious about this fantastic diaspore of the Tupis. .

. is that they went all the way back to the Amazon. .

. and the land in the way the Tupi people had outlined it. .

. was exactly what the Portuguese settlers found. Those native lndian people had existed for centuries.

They had gotten to know nature's every detail. They knew the name of every being and of every plant. They knew exactly what each one of them were for or not.

They had probably lived here for 10 thousand years. . .

in communion with nature. They extracted from nature. .

. dozens of wild plants. .

. and they tamed them so they could plant them all together. Obviouslyy it wasn't only one nation, rather a myriad of tribal peoples.

They lived in villages, each one of them being a distinct. . .

and self-sufficient social unit. The native lndian, with the force of his culture, is self-sufficient. He can do everything he'll ever need throughout his life.

He can build his own house, prepare the crop, sow it and harvest it. . .

he can make his own instruments: bow, arrow and canoe. He can weave his own mat and his own hammock. He can identify the species that could be used as food or medication.

The Tupinambás, who had the closest contact with the European settlers. . .

were "Brazis" mainly dedicated to warfare and celebrations. The function of warfare amongst the Tupis. .

. was related to their conquering of big territories. Everywhere, the Tupis-Guaranis named geographical accidents: the sides of the cliffs, the rivers, the regions.

So the European settlers found a country. . .

which already had references left behind by the Tupi peoples. In their belief in life after death, they longed for a heaven: Guajupiá. .

. a forest of monkey-pot trees, filled with singing and dancing. The lndians see no difference between reality and dream reality.

The birth, the spirits, the birds. . .

Everything is woven together. Everything has a spirit in it: the sowing, the harvesting. .

. the spirit who lives underwater and steals your soul. .

. the mocking spirit, the armadillo spirit, the monkey spirit. The Tupinambá village was formed by 4 to 8 shacks.

. . occasionally measuring over 340 feet in length.

In a single shack, there could be up to 600 people. The shack looks like a maze. Some sing while others cry.

. . or produce flour and spirits.

Howevery there's so much conformity among them. . .

that not a single fight occurs all throughout the year. And because they don't lock their belongings up, there's no stealing. If they were any other nation, they could not live the way they do.

The model of how to live and to survive would come from the elders. . .

and from trial and error. The authorities were consisted of the "morubixabas". .

and supported themselves with charismatic presentations. . .

and the trade of small gifts and favors. Sexual freedom was abundant. Female adultery could end up in lynching acts.

. . but an end to a marriage, demanded by the man or the woman.

. . was simple and definite.

Homosexuality was very common, with no concerns for secrecy. The division between male and female tasks was clear. .

. and determined during childhood. Boys were raised to be hunters and warriors.

Girls were raised for other things. It all started symbolically. The pride of a father was to mount by his son's hammock.

. . a miniature bow and arrow.

. to show he would grow up to be a warriory a hunter. By the daughter's hammock, they would put up a tiny thong.

. . to show she would grow up to weave and work at home.

The women would take care of the crop, the cooking and the "cauin". . the wine the tribe drank at celebrations.

It was the men's job to make bows, arrows, spears and canoes. Among the native lndians. .

. there never was a clear distinction between work and art. I found that to be true among the lndians too.

Everything they make. . .

has to be perfect because it portrays them. They long for beauty. There are a few things stronger than ethnicity.

. . than the identity of a people, and it's not steel or anything material.

It is hard. Ethnicity is hard. If a father can raise his kids.

. . if his kids are raised according to his tradition and language.

. . the father keeps on living.

Why? For 4 thousand years, gypsies have been gypsies. .

. and Jewish people have been Jewish people. Why is that?

Because of an intimate and secret identification. Deep down, the Jewish person feels he's Jewish. It's that faith that makes him a Jewish person.

It's the same faith that makes the native lndian a native lndian. Poetryy music, dance and wine. .

. were part of the social life of the Tupinambás. But the tribes most respected activity was warfare.

Within the tribe, they were friendly and peaceful. With their enemies, they were merciless. But warfare had ethics.

If the enemy was captured, the one who had captured him. . .

would tap him on the shoulder and sayy "I make you my slave" Escaping was not an option. The Tupinambá prisoner is prepared to be physically devoured. .

. rather than morally due to the stigma of cowardice. Their weaponry techniques amaze people even today.

The skilled warrior could pierce the eye of a bird in full flight. Warfare also had aesthetics. They'd spend a whole day showing off and insulting the enemy.

. . and only later start a fierce physical battle.

They could also make war in the sea. Their fleets consisted of 100 to 120 canoes. In a few days, they would go from Bertioga to the Guanabara Bay.

The prisoners they would take were sacrificed and eaten. That was the peak of the village's life, their biggest celebration. The prisoner was taken to his master's village.

The women and the children were the first ones to cry out. . .

jump up and down and slap the prisoner. They'd cover his body in ashes and shave his eyebrows off. Then they would tie him up and offer him a woman to serve him.

. . even sexuallyy in fact.

All done, they would schedule the celebration. The men would take the prisoner along to drink and party with them. The next dayy before dawn, everyone would be up.

. . singing and dancing around the "ibiratema".

. the execution hatchet. The prisoner would have "muçurana" a thick rope, all over his body.

Then, the hatchet was taken by the executionery who'd say: "I want to kill you because. . .

many of my friends were killed and eaten by your people" The prisoner was to answer: "Even dead, I'll still have many friends to revenge me" Then, the prisoner would be hit on the neck, his brains would pop out. . .

and the women would immediately take his corpse to the fire. . .

skin his body and block his anus with a stick. The prisoner's temporary wife would weep in a ritual cry. His body would be cut up in pieces and cooked.

His viscera would be given to the women. . .

and they'd boil them to make a thick soup. Then the meat was shared, and they would all go home. The executioner would retire to his hammock for days.

He doesn't take part in the feast so that he can digest the act of death. Worldly things return to what used to be. I studied the Urubu-caapor tribe.

Those lndians, whom I miss very much, call themselves "Caapor" "Caa" means jungle and "por" means dweller. They consider themselves to be a jungle people. .

. and they are the tribe most similar to the Coastal area Tupinambás. I wanted to know what the people.

. . we inherited our tropical way of life from, was like.

I had read all about it on documents from the 16th century. . .

but it was much better to see them. I went there and studied them. The Brazilian native lndian groups are very different.

. . in their languages and origins.

. . but they also have a lot of things in common.

Each lndian has a house, a crop. . .

but none of them own the land. The land belongs to the village. In a native lndian group, what one person knows, everybody knows.

Nobody keeps information to themselves. . .

to turn it into political or economic power. . .

and then dominate the others or make money. In their group, the chief represents the tradition, the experience. .

. the culture of that tribe. He's a mediatory not a boss.

An lndian chief does not dictate anything. If an lndian dictated something to anothery they'd find it funny. We went to the villages and lived there for months.

They were very loving with me. We got really intimate. A very important informer of mine was Anakan Puku.

. . the wisest man I've ever known.

He spelled out his genealogic tree to me, with 1, 100 names. No noble man can remember 1, 100 relatives off the top of his head. The lndians care about heritage.

. . so they remember their genealogic tree in a fantastic way.

"One night, at Anakan Puku's shack. . .

I led the conversation towards ritual cannibalism. . .

to verify with him the description of old cannibalistic rites. I didn't ask anything. I simply picked up a rope, called it the "tupanamã".

. and said that years before. .

. the coastal area Tupinambás would kill members of other tribes. .

. in order to eat them. He got visibly moved.

Finally, he said : 'You are my brother. Your grandfather is my grandfather. ' Then, Anakan Puku told us that his forefathers.

. . also used to hunt members of other tribes to eat them.

Those Caapor of mine were late Tupinambás. . .

Tupinambás from 500 years later, radically changed by time. We have inherited from the lndians a vast range of techniques. .

. of survival and locomotion within this immense territory. We have inherited fruits, trees, herbs and how to use them.

We have inherited the habit of daily baths. But the most noble and profound heritage left by the lndians. .

. is the testimony of the possibility for a people. .

. to magnificently live integrated with nature. .

. in a secret plot of peaceful and friendly coexistence. From the day he is born.

. . the lndian learns to relate with things in a beautiful way.

Everything has a ritual. They celebrate the crop, the harvesting, the birth. .

. they worship death rather than celebrating it. The native lndian paints himself, he sings and dances.

. . he plays and laughs a lot.

I think so much beauty would be very unbearable to our culture. So, this quiet world, this lonely world they had. .

. all of a sudden is discovered by that Portuguese notary.