Connor Rose
4/29/13
Anthropology 103
Marriage among the Kayapo
In this paper I plan to discuss marriage and how it relates to the Kayapo culture
of Brazil’s rainforests. The Kayapo are an interesting culture, which is different than
western cultures. The overriding theme of the paper will be marriage, with a specific
focus placed on how marriages are carried out, terminated, and the view of marriage
from within the Kayapo culture. The Catholic Church has also had a large affect on the
way marriage rituals are carried out amongst the Kayapo, so that view point will also be
implemented throughout the paper.
In the western world, the mainstream view of marriage is that is a monogamist
act of love, meaning that it is between two people only. The Kayapo are no different, as
the too share the view of marriage consistent with the western world . “The Kayapo are
monogamic. When a man marries, he leaves the men’s house to live under his wife’s
roof” (Taylor). This practice of having the man move into his lover’s home presents a
unique and interesting situation. It is entirely possible to have grandparents living along
side their granddaughter and his husband; this home relationship could take place with
any member of the family. This way of living provides the Kayapo with a large network
and group to call their own. This practice of moving into the woman’s home fosters and
creates a strong sense of community and togetherness. It would not be uncommon to
have a home of “40 people or more” sheltering “various conjugal families: a
grandmother and her husband, along with their daughters and their husbands and
children” (Taylor).
The sense of community that is formed from living within the same home as
many other family members carries over to other aspects of Kayapo marriage life and
general social interactions among the Kayapo. Kayapo men spend their days hunting
and gathering, and upon returning to the village “On arriving in the village, the
successful hunter hands the game to his wife or, if he is unmarried, to his mother or
sister.” (Taylor). From that point the man and wife share their spoils with family and
friends. This communal style of living, where everyone takes care of everyone makes
marriage unique and interesting in Kayapo village life. When you marry someone in the
Kayapo society, you not only marry her/him but you marry the person’s family and truly
become integrated into the village.
Upon entering into adolescence there are no special ceremonies for boys, and
they are not truly considered men and fit for marriage until they have shown proficiency
in certain activities. “The criteria used to determine a boy's readiness for marriage are
the following: he must be skillful in cutting his own canoe; he must acquire sufficient
land to support a family; he should own a shotgun.” (Altschuler:55) The reference to the
shotgun has more to do with the idea that a man should be able to buy goods like a
shotgun, thus proving his ability to provide for a family. Regarding when a girl is
considered ready for marriage, many of the same criteria are placed on her . When a girl
shows proficiency in her ability to take care of the home she is considered ready to
marry.
The Kayapo are like most cultures in that there is a courting process
involved with the beginning of a relationship. However, the Kayapo also have a tradition
of “stealing women” which is called “súpu taŋgahímu” (Altschuler:124). The process of
stealing a wife is not as violent as the name might hint at. The closest thing we have in
western culture to the Kayapo “wife stealing” would be when a young couple “elopes”,
or runs off and gets married without the consent and approval of parents
(Altschuler:124). The Kayapo example of traditional “wife stealing” would be for a young
man to be canoeing down a river, see a young woman he finds attractive, speak to her
for a short time and the propose marriage at which time if she consents he has
completed the process of “súpu taŋgahímu” (Altschuler:124).
While the process of “súpu taŋgahímu” (wife stealing) is not the common method
of finding a wife for Kayapo men, it is not looked down on. In fact, men who are brave
enough to walk up to a woman and propose out of the blue are “deserving of envy, awe,
and admiration.” (Altschuler: 126). The reason for this envy is based on the common
Kayapo feeling amongst men to be “very hesitant and uncertain about sex and marriage”
(Altschuler: 126). To the Kayapo, a man who can overcome this fear or sex and
marriage is considered “sexually forward and aggressive”, and thus is brave and breaks
the mold of the average man (Altschuler: 126). As common as fear and uncertainty are
associated with the male Kayapo view on sex and marriage, “chastity is not particularly
valued, men in their twenties who claim to have had no sexual intercourse are not
uncommon” (Altschuler: 124).
This fear of sex and marriage and chastity is found only among Kayapo men, the
women of Kayapo culture traditionally have not feared intercourse. Overall, women tend
to “lose their virginity much earlier by way of the custom of night courtship” and thus go
through life without the uncertainty of sex that plagues Kayapo men (Altschuler: 127).
The “night courtship” ritual involves the deflowering of a teenage girl, and is carried out
by and older man (Altschuler: 126).
Due to the fear of courtship that is common among Kayapo men, it is not
uncommon for the particularly meek and weak spirited to use arranged marriages to find
a partner. “One way of arranging a marriage is for the father of a young man or woman
to ask one of the tribal officials to find a spouse for his offspring.” (Altschuler: 127). In
certain instances, a father of a “marriageable girl will ask an official to deliver her to a
specific man whom he fancies as a son-in-law.”(Altschuler:129). In addition to these
two forms of arranged marriage in Kayapo culture, there is a third method occasionally
used. The third form is where the family of a windowed or single man will decide he has
been single for too long, and will go about arranging a marriage and finding a partner
without the potential groom even knowing. “ They then bring the woman to the home of
the unsuspecting groom-to-be. The man may refuse the proffered one” however, “most
often she is accepted” (Altschuler:129). If the woman is turned down it can severely
sour the relationship between the families, as the situation becomes a burden and
bother to the woman’s family.
The Kayapo Indians of Brazil are a beautiful culture with intricate marriage rituals
that only add to the interest people find when studying them . There cultural values, and
overall feeling toward marriage make marriage a big deal in their culture . Unlike other
indigenous groups in their area, the Kayapo are committed to singular marriage
between one man and one woman. Differing from western culture is the prevalence of
uncertainty and fear regarding sex and marriage, Kayapo men fear sex while men in our
cultures embrace it. Kayapo men are happy with being celibate, while it is looked down
on for a man to be virgin in his 20’s. The Kayapo view of marriage is interesting to look
at, and adds to the overall interest that the Kayapo generate when being examined .
Bibliography
Altschuler, Milton. The Kayapa: a study in legal behavior. master\., University of Minnesota, 1964. HRAF
http://ehrafworldculturesbeta.its.yale.edu/ehrafe/citation.do?method=citation&forward=searchFullContext&col=collection('/eHR
AF/ethnography/SouthAmer/SD06')&docId=sd06-004&tocOffsetId=tocPubInfoP.
Taylor, Leslie. Rainforest Database, "The Kayapó ." Accessed April 27, 2013. http://rainforestdatabase.com/People/Kayapo/kayapo.htm.