We arrived at the fairly small Xavante village...picture bellow. Neither of us had ever been to a tribe here in Brazil before, so this was an incredible opportunity and we were SO happy to have been chosen to participate. Most of the team was made up of dentists, a doctor, nurses, and even someone to cut hair. This was the official reason we were there and invited to visit by the tribe, but a few non-medical people (like us) were allowed to come along too. Mainly we played with the children, spent time talking with the adults who spoke Portuguese, helped with logistics, and were present to help the medical team where possible.
What was the purpose of this trip? To minister in what limited way possible now, and to open doors for future contact and visits by Asas and a church in the main city (somewhat nearby :). From what I understood, none of the people in this Xavante village are believers (about 100-200 people) so sharing about Christ's love would of course be the ultimate hope. Here's a little info about the Xavante taken from good ol' wikipedia:
The Xavante (also Shavante, Chavante, Akuen, A'uwe, Akwe, Awen, or Akwen) are an indigenous people, comprising some 9,600 individuals (2000 est.) within the territory of eastern Mato Grosso state in Brazil. They speak the Xavante language, part of the Jé language family.
They were enslaved in the 17th century, after which they have tried to avoid contact. A temporary coexistence with westernized society in the 19th century in the state of Goiás, was followed by withdrawal to Mato Grosso. They were re-"discovered" during the 1930s. From 1946 to 1957, they were brought under dictator Getúlio Vargas’s National Integration Program, and experienced massacres and disease. Due to this history, they have a distrust of White or Portuguese men. Today they are still wary of any approach of non-Xavante, called "waradzu".
They were enslaved in the 17th century, after which they have tried to avoid contact. A temporary coexistence with westernized society in the 19th century in the state of Goiás, was followed by withdrawal to Mato Grosso. They were re-"discovered" during the 1930s. From 1946 to 1957, they were brought under dictator Getúlio Vargas’s National Integration Program, and experienced massacres and disease. Due to this history, they have a distrust of White or Portuguese men. Today they are still wary of any approach of non-Xavante, called "waradzu".
The people are renowned as aggressive and prideful. They may be most famous for their dualistic societal structure. Two clans, the Âwawẽ and Po'reza'õno compose the culture, and marriage is not allowed between members of the same clan. An example of inter-clan relationships are the traditional log races, where the two clans compete in a race to carry palm tree trunks weighing as much as 80 kg to a defined point.
The Xavante are also known for their complex initiation rituals for young males, such as when small wooden sticks are inserted in the earlobes at the age of fourteen. As time passes, the size of these adornments is increased for the rest of their lives.
If you made it through reading that, you can understand why the Xavante are pretty closed to the outside world, so this was a really unique opportunity that we had to treat with a lot of care.
The Xavante are also known for their complex initiation rituals for young males, such as when small wooden sticks are inserted in the earlobes at the age of fourteen. As time passes, the size of these adornments is increased for the rest of their lives.
If you made it through reading that, you can understand why the Xavante are pretty closed to the outside world, so this was a really unique opportunity that we had to treat with a lot of care.
There were 2 types of houses in the ring of about 20 homes that made up the village. About 1/2 were the kind of house you are seeing above, made out of palms and sticks (I believe) and about 1/2 had been constructed out of cement some time ago by the government.
There was also one REALLY unique structure that had been built by the government....a school. Each tribe that wanted a school built could pick how they wanted the structure to appear. One really creative man in the village named Agusto came up with the idea of making the school in the shape of a giant armadillo! He said that the previous generation used to hunt armadillos, but now they are getting harder and harder for the new generation to find so he wanted to build the school like this for the kids to know the tribe's history. How neat! We slept overnight inside the armidillo school. I don't think I'll ever forget this precious memory.
In the picture you can see Asas's mobile clinic where the dentists and doctors see patients.
Next up on the blog....Xavante kids. Stay tuned for LOTS of photos. Here's one to whet your appetite. This little cutie loved taking pictures and in this one accidentally shut his eyes, but I think it became one of my favorite pictures. The kids were so well mannered and sweet...but more on that soon :)
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