Armband Item Number: 424/8 b from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Feathered armband consisting of numerous green and red feathers, with black colouring, bound together with fibre twine which is wrapped around a small rope of braided black hair. The end of the rope has thin twine wrapped around it along with a green fabric tie.

Narrative

This object came to the museum without provenance. It was identified as “Mebêngôkre (Kayapo)” through formal comparison with similar objects. Although they use the name Kayapo in international relations, the 22 communities that lived along the Iriri, Bacajá and Fresco rivers, and other tributaries of the Xingu, prefer to call themselves Mebêngôkre or “men from the water.”