A música na tradição indígena Wai Wai : uma descrição etnográfica sobre as flautas (raatî)

Abstract

This dissertation deals with the history of music in the tradition of the Wai Wai indigenous people, a karib-speaking group from the Guyanese region. The research takes place among the Wai Wai of the Mapuera River (northern of the Pará). Here I deal with the definition of what music and musical instruments are to the Wai Wai, of what the Wai Wai call instruments to produce sound or music from the different types of materials used in their manufacture. I illustrate, from a list, the lyrics of the Wai Wai songs, translating them into Portuguese. I describe the stories of the old places where the Wai Wai used to live, on the Baracuxi River (Kikwo yewku), the names of the villages and the names of the main people who lived there, and then describe the feasts to celebrate these events. At these feasts there was a lot of music, dancing and fermented beverages, when the (Christian) religion of the Americans had not yet arrived there. Finally, I also talk about the healing rituals conducted by the shamans (yaskomo). From the report of each research interlocutor of each people (Wai Wai, Cikiyana, Mawayana, Katwena, Xerew) I treat the songs used to attract women, as well as the names of the main songs they know how to sing through their flutes. The wai wai songs are, at the same time, thought and sung or played through a musical instrument. Finally, I bring some data to think about musicality in the wai wai villages today, its tradition and modernity.