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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper which examines how Mundurucu gender roles change from the traditional Cabrua culture to the modern trade society of the Cururu River culture, how these changes occurred, and considers whether or not this was advantageous or detrimental to Mundurucu society. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGmundu.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
primitive culture (Murphy, 1960). It was an area in a constant state of war, and the Mundurucu cultural survival depended upon the success of the male warriors. The
tribes would strike at each other without warning, decapitate their human conquests as trophies, kidnap children, and burn villages behind them (Murphy, 1960). Gender roles were clearly defined, and
much like Western culture, the Mundurucu society originated as very much a patriarchy or mens club. But according to legend, the "sacred kar?k? trumpets" changed everything (Wilson, 1999, p.
200). In his historical text entitled Indigenous South Americans of the Past and Present: An Ecological Perspective, David J. Wilson (1999) explained, "One day three women went into the
forest, where they heard music coming from a lagoon. Returning with nets, they caught three fish, which turned into three kar?k?. The women kept this find a secret
for a while, leaving the kar?k? in the forest, but the men found out and insisted that the women bring the trumpets to the village. The women complied but
for their part insisted that the men permit them to occupy the eks?. Thus ensconced in the eks?, the gender roles and status of the men and women were
completely reversed: The men were confined to the separate houses in the village and the area around it, where they drew water, gathered firewood, and gardened" (p. 200). Matrilocality
was born, and as a result, there was a marked shift in gender roles, which became embedded in the Mundurucu Cabrua traditions. The agricultural economy was dependent upon the
trading of farinha, or manioc flour, which was controlled by the women (Murphy, 1960). While the men hunted and cleared forests for garden cultivation, the women were responsible for
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