The Mehinaku village is located approximately four-fifths of a kilometer east of the Rio Kulesau (one of the major tributaries of the Rio Xingu) in the Xingu National Park in central Brazil.
Like many indigenous tribes, the Mehinaku do not keep detailed, chronological historical records going back more than a few generations. The oldest known village established by the Mehinaku was set up around or before 1850 and was called Yulutakitsi. Because the community no longer exists, however, the exact location of its former site is unknown.
According to the Mehinaku, historical villages were along the Tuatuari river, north of the main Aweti village. The Mehinaku claim their older villages were much larger; which is likely because European explorers had not brought the diseases that indigenous people had no immunity to. These communities were likely abandoned for a variety of reasons, overused soil, an intrusion of leaf-cutter ant colonies, and a tribal taboo associated with living in places where many people had died.
The Mehinaku have no provision for privacy in their social arrangements and live with striking transparency. Huts that house families of ten or twelve people have no internal walls and are situated around an open area is in constant view. On the rare occasions when members of the group are out of sight, their curious fellow villagers, who can recognize, can infer their activities (and draw from memory) each other’s footprints.
Gregor sums up the situation by writing: “Each individual’s whereabouts and activities are generally known to his relatives and often to the community. A Mehinaku has little chance of staying out of the public eye for any length of time.” First marriages are usually arranged by parents and involve a young woman (of approximately 14 years) and an older man (approximately 18 years).
The ritual of marriage is quite simple. The young man’s hammock is carried across the village plaza to his bride’s house, while the men of the tribe, assembled in front of the men’s house, imitate the cries of a newborn baby (“wa, wa, wah …”) to ensure that the marriage will be fecund.
Once settled in the bride’s house, the groom must provide a wide range of services for his wife’s family, including fishing, cutting a garden, and making a canoe. Only after the birth of several children can he move back to his own house. However, the rules of postmarital residence are quite flexible, so that some villagers live in the groom’s house, and others switch back and forth as they and their parents wish.
The Mehinaku believe that their community is surrounded by spirits in the forest, the rivers, and the air. From the perspective of the villagers, there is a reciprocal relationship between them and the spirit world, in which they “take care” of the spirits and are themselves looked after in return.
