Manioc farmers
back to Lifegivers of Tahuantinsuyu
Blessing a Child : Argentina | Potters at Santarem: Brazil
Ceremonial corn-grinding: Ecuador
Copyright 1988 Max Dashu
The women are hoeing their crops, as a blue hummingbird hovers nearby. (The patterns in her wake are drawn from Venezuelan pottery.) The golden head at the right is modelled after clay sculpture of the northern coastal region of South America.
Below, a ceramic female figure with painted eyes and body. Her legs are heavy and rounded like breasts, and terminate in nipples. She wears a tassel of bright red yarn. This is the old style of the Karaja figurines. Women still make small versions today, but now they are sold for the tourist trade.
The Karaja live on the great island of Bananal, surrounded by the Araguaya river. This Brazilian people traditionally placed greater emphasis on matrilineal descent.