Macushi
Makuusi | |
---|---|
Roman Catholicism |
The Macushi (Makuusi, Portuguese: Macuxi) are an indigenous people living in the borderlands of southern Guyana, northern Brazil in the state of Roraima, and in an eastern part of Venezuela.[2]
Identification
The Macushi are also known as the Macusi, Macussi, Makushi, Makusi, Makuxi, Teueia, and Teweya people.[2] Macushi, as well as the Arecuna, Kamarakoto, and Taurepan are considered sub-groups of Pemon.[3]
Language
Macushi people speak the
Macushi were hesitant to teach their language to outsiders, thus the language was threatened in the 1950s, as it was considered "slang" compared to the official Portuguese.[4]
Housing and lifestyle
They live in villages linked together by tracks and paths, with houses built round a central courtyard. When married, the Macushi couple lives in the wife's family's village and the father-in-law is of great importance in Macushi kinship.
Macushi practice hunting and agriculture methods such as shifting cultivation and fish-poisoning.[5]
Similar to other indigenous groups in the area, Macushi traditional life relies a great deal on the bitter cassava, and cultivation tasks are divided by gender. Men traditionally clear the land and women tend and harvest. In Macushi lore, cassava was created for cultivation purpose and is overseen by a Cassava Mother (kisera yan). Women are the main processors, and the main products are cassava bread, farine, parakari, wo (drink), starch tapioca, and casereep. Village status is correlated to success in cassava farming.[6]
History and culture
Macushi
The earliest recorded mentions of Macushi was in 1740 in context of Luso-Brazilian slave raids led by Irishman Lourenço Belforte. From the 1700s to the late 1800s, the Macushi were pushed north by Brazilian raids, and south by Caribs and Akawaio proxies for the Dutch and English, limiting the extent of their lands to the
Prior to European colonization, Macushi were semi-nomadic, but permanent settlements have since formed usually around Catholic or Anglican missions or government-built schools. By the 1900s, many Macushi worked as laborers doing balata-bleeding or cattle-ranching.[5] Brazilian indigenous policies have had a more visibly significant effect on Macushi culture compared to the Guyana side, which on the most part had been to leave them alone.[8]
Brazil
During the 18th century in Brazil, non-native people occupied Macushi territory, establishing mission villages and farms and forcing Macushi people to relocate.[10]
The Brazilian Government have set up schools, as well as hospitals for the Macushi and since 2005 they are campaigning for land rights to be recognized throughout Brazil. Macushi are the largest indigenous group in the Roraima, and make up a segment of the population of Boa Vista. Raposa Serra do Sol is a recognized indigenous area of the Macushi.[4]
Guyana
In Guyana, the Macushi settled in the Northern Rupununi Savannah.
The
Notable people
- Sydney Allicock (~1954), Guyanese Vice-President.[14]
- Alister Charlie, (born 1977 or 1978), Guyanese politician[15]
- Jaider Esbell (1979-2021), Brazilian artist, activist, author[16]
- Bernaldina José Pedro (1945–2020), Brazilian activist and tribal leader.[17]
References
- ^ a b c d "Macuxi". Socio Ambiental. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Macushi." Ethnologue. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-904180-86-2.
- ^ ISSN 2317-1448.
- ^ a b c d Jafferally, Deirdre (January 2017). "The Implications of Changing Makushi Identity and Traditional Practices for Forest Conservation in Guyana" (PDF). p. 38. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ Elias, Marianne; Rival, Laura; McKey, Doyle (Winter 2000). "PERCEPTION AND MANAGEMENT OF CASSAVA (MANIHOT ESCULENTA CRANTZ) DIVERSITY AMONG MAKUSHI AMERINDIANS OF GUYANA (SOUTH AMERICA)" (PDF). Journal of Ethnobiology.
- ^ "I figli del Sole" (PDF). survivalinternational.org (in Italian). 1998. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ a b Myers, Iris (1993). "The Makushi of Guiana - Brazilian Frontier in 1944 A Study of Culture Contact" (PDF). Anthopologica. 80: 3–99.
- ^ ISSN 2572-3626. Retrieved 2 March 2021 – via ResearchGate.
- ^ "Macuxi: Introduction." Archived 15 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine Instituto Socioambiental: Povos Indígenas no Brasil. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "Amerindian nations". Ministry of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
- ^ "The Interior." The Jesuits in Guyana. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- JSTOR 481091.
- ^ "Sydney Allicock: the man from Iwokrama". Caribbean Beat. November 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ "Breaking the glass ceiling - Guyana Chronicle". guyanachronicle.com. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ "Bittersweet triumph at Venice Biennale of late Indigenous artist Jaider Esbell". The Art Newspaper. 21 Apr 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ "Bernaldina José Pedro, Repository of Indigenous Culture, Dies at 75". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- Cuthbert, Cary-Elwes. Bridges, John, ed. Rupununi Mission: the story of Cuthbert Cary-Elwes. London: Jesuit Missionsstka, 1985.
External links
- Dramatic video shows attack on Indian village 20 June 2008