Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
and emotional associations that reach far beyond the sole exchange of property - a
“system of total services” (Mauss 1990:5). The fairness of the leader's distribution
of goods is not put into question, nor is there a concern for immediate material profit
in this vast system of services rendered and reciprocated.
Meanwhile, an employee of Funai, the Fundação Nacional do Índio (National
Indian Foundation) in Brazil, standing nearby nervously operates his calculator,
attempting to stipulate a price for each arrow he intends to buy from the Juruna
and resell in Brasília, the country's capital. Antonio's reasoning is based on the
monetary profit he customarily earns from the sale of indigenous “art craft.” Waving
the number of Brazilian cruzeiro
2
bills that represent a “fair” price for the 20 arrows
he wants, Antonio is outraged when Tarinu Juruna, Carandine's son, remarks that
“only 7 arrows are for sale,” and that he himself will calculate their monetary
value. The reasoning behind the “exorbitant” price Tarinu arrives at is far beyond
Antonio's comprehension. Unwilling to accept or understand a system that attributes
different values to goods, Antonio angrily tosses the piece of paper listing Tarinu's
calculations and shouts in indignation:
I came all the way from Brasília to help you guys and you want to cheat me?
Where on earth does 7 times 5 equal 125? I've pacified
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more than 500 Indians
in my life, I've caught malaria more than 100 times in 20 years and you guys
want to charge me 125 cruzeiros for 7 arrows! I could get arrows just like
those anywhere in Brasília for as cheap as 2.50 a piece! You lazy Indians know
nothing about money, about buying and selling. It's true what people say, that
Indians are too stupid to learn mathematics. [January 1982]
Figure 1.2. Pofat Kayabi. Aldeia Capivara, Xingu Indigenous Park, 1992.
