FIG. 169.—Miranha Indian of Rio Yapura.
(Phot. Crevaux, Coll. Soc. Anthr. Paris.)
Physically the Arawaks present several types, as might have been expected from the wide diffusion of this group. Those of the Guianas, as well as the Ipurinas and their congeners are a little lower in stature (1 m. 55 and 1 m. 59 according to Ten Kate and Ehrenreich) and a little more brachycephalic (ceph. ind. 83.4) than the Caribs of the same regions. Those of the upper Xingu, on the contrary, are a little taller (1 m. 64) and more dolichocephalic (ceph. ind. 78.2) than their Carib-speaking neighbours. Their face is somewhat broader and their eyes often oblique. The difference between the tribes of the north and those of the south is thus more pronounced among the Arawaks than among the Caribs. The Ciboneys, to judge from the skulls found in Cuba and Jamaica, were hyper-brachycephalic in consequence of deformations (Haddon). The occurrence of individuals with wavy or frizzy hair is also as frequent among the Arawaks as among the Caribs. From the ethnographical point of view there are some differences between the Arawaks of the north and the south. The use of the blow-pipe is very general among the Arawak tribes of the upper Amazon and its tributaries, but it is unknown among others. With the exception of tribes influenced by the Quechua-Peruvian or European civilisation, the Arawaks are unacquainted with the weaving of cotton, and are still in the stone, and especially the wood age. Their scanty garments are made with plaited fibres or with beaten bark; their ornaments are birds’ feathers and the teeth of mammalia.
FIG. 170.—Same subject as Fig. [169], seen full face.
(Phot. Crevaux, Coll. Soc. Anthr. Paris.)
3. The tribes composing the Pano linguistic group, as established by R. de la Grasserie,[658] chiefly inhabited the north-west of eastern Peru, but they are likewise met with in the west of Brazil (the Karipunas of the banks of the Madeira), and in the north of Bolivia (the Pacaguara), separated from their racial brothers by a series of tribes speaking the Arawak dialects. The principal Pano tribes in Peru are: the Kassivo, cannibals of the upper Ucayle who resemble the Fuegians; the Conibos of the same river, very low in stature;[659] the Panos, of whom there remain but a few families.[660] The Araunos, of the region comprised between the two principal branches of the Madeira (Madre de Dios and Beni) speak a Pano language, but with a considerable admixture of Quechua elements.
4. The tribes of the banks of the Iça and the Yapura have received from their neighbours the name of Miranhas, which, it appears, means “rovers.” Ehrenreich employed this name to designate various tribes whose dialects presented a certain family likeness. Of these tribes, which are rarely visited by the Brazilian-Portuguese merchants, the following are the chief: the Miranhas properly so called (Figs. [169] and [170]), between the Iça and the lower Yapura, mentioned long ago by Martius; the Kœrunas on the left bank of the Yapura; the Tucanos and the Jupuas to the east of the last-named, in the vicinity of the river Uaupes. The Miranhas have maintained their primitive condition. Of a very warlike disposition, they use as their principal weapon a particular kind of club, a sort of broadsword of hard wood. They employ the drum language (see p. [134]). Though living on the banks of fish-yielding rivers, they do not fish, but confine themselves to hunting, like the ancient Quechuas, by means of nets stretched out between trees, into which they drive, with cries and gestures, the terrified animals (Crevaux).
In addition to the tribes forming the four families just described, several others, whose languages have not yet been classified, should be mentioned.