A identidade dos índios Ticuna partindo da coleção Nimuendajú (Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi)

Abstract

The ethnographic pieces in museum collections imply an ethnic decharacterization, i.e., they suffer a decontextualization by being removed from their place of origin. However, conservation practices within museums make it possible, as in the case of MPEG's Ticuna collection, to document and contextualize it. The purpose of this study is to analyze aspects of Ticuna identity, based on the observation of an ethnographic collection. We conducted the survey of the collection in the Tombo books, handling and description of the masks that are in the MPEG's Technical Reserve, using bibliographic references about the ethnic group, in mythical, historical and economic terms. Concepts such as contact theory, material culture, and identity are operative in the development of the work. The set of artifacts that the ethnologist Curt Nimuendajú collected among the Ticuna Indians, Upper Solimões River - AM, in 1941/4?, during the period when he was an employee and the first ethnologist hired by MPEG, is a collection of 444 pieces. The focus was on the category dance ritual clothing, which involves masks (26), mask garments (26) and mask complements (16), totaling 68 pieces. The masks play an important role in the Ticuna initiation ritual for women, called "Festa da Moça Nova," which, despite undergoing some adaptations and modifications due to contact with white people, remains to this day. The analysis, in order to understand such identity, goes through the understanding of the set in which it is inserted, involving the myths told during the referred 'Festa'. Each type of mask is associated with certain myths that make specific reference to its legendary and supernatural origin. The masks reflect a symbolic and social reality transmitted by the myth, and are related to the Ticuna identity by representing a specific dynamic within the group.