ARTE Distribution

The Kaiapo Indians, a tributary of the Amazon, are unsurpassed in the art of featherwork - an art which reflects the importance of birds in their world view.

The Kaiapo Indians currently number an estimated 3,500. This population is spread over a vast area of Brazil that stretches along the banks of the Xingu river, a tributary of the Amazon.
The Kaiapo are unsurpassed in the art of featherwork - an art which reflects the importance of birds in their world view. In the Kaiapo belief-system, only birds can lift themselves above the treetops and so see things which are invisible. They can travel to the furthest corners of the East, the end of the world, which is bathed in everlasting light. It is difficult to get to because a giant spider's web between the sky and the earth bars the way. The Kaiapo believe that only shamans and birds can penetrate the spider's web and reach the sky.
Although the shaman represents the ideal Kaiapo individual, others also adorn themselves with feathers so that they will be recognised as Kaiapo, decoration of the body with paint and feathers being an essential feature of their culture.
Ceremonial headdresses are chosen amongst the largest accoutrements, which may be over a metre long and 70 cm to a metre wide. These brightly coloured ornaments are made of the feathers of macaws, eagles or herons and are attached behind the head.
The Belgian ethnologist Gustaaf Verswijer has been working with the Kaiapo for over 25 years. He was responsible for assembling the three largest museum collections of Kaiapo feather regalia in Europe and has filmed ceremonies during which they are worn, such as the name-giving ceremony, in which body paint, the wearing of specific accoutrements, dances and chants play a role in a rite of passage in which children become Kaiapo in their own right.