The Satere-Mawe is an indigenous tribe located in the Brazilian Amazon, with an estimated population of about 7,000. The Satere are most famous for the cultivating and extracting process of guarana

Guarana

Guarana , Paullinia cupana, syn. P. crysan, P. sorbilis) is a climbing plant in the maple family, Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guarana features large leaves and clusters of flowers, and is best known for its fruit, which is about the size of a coffee bean...

.

The Mawe share little contact with the outside world. The Mawe language

Mawé language

The Mawe language of Brazil, also known as Sataré , is one of the Tupian languages. It is spoken by 7000, many of them monolingual....

 belongs to the Tupian

Tupian languages

The Tupi or Tupian language family comprises some 70 languages spoken in South America, of which the best known are Tupi proper and Guarani.-History, members and classification:...

 family.

Initiation rites

The Satere-Mawe people of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 use intentional bullet ant

Paraponera

Paraponera is a genus of ant consisting of a single species, commonly known as the lesser giant hunting ant, conga ant, or bullet ant , named on account of its powerful and potent sting, which is said to be as painful as being shot with a bullet. It inhabits humid lowland rainforests from Nicaragua...

 stings as part of their initiation rites to become a warrior.

Further reading

• Alvarez, Gabriel O. Pós-dradiviano: parentesco e ritual. : sistem de parentesco e rituais de afinabilidade os sateré-mawé. Série Antropologia (Brasília, Brazil), no.403. Brasília: Departamento de Antropologia, Universidade de Brasília, 2006.
• Gordon, Nick, Hildy Rubin, and Jessica Siegel. Gremlins Faces in the Forest. Nature video library. South Burlington, VT: WNET/Thirteen, 1998. (video - Satere Mawe customs involving marmosets)
• Lattas, Andrew. "Anthropological Knowledge, Secrecy and Bolivip, Papua New Guinea: Exchanging Skin." Ethnos 74.3 (2009): 433-435.
• Lorenz, Sônia da Silva. Sateré-Mawé: os filhos do guaraná. Coleção Projetos, 1. São Paulo, SP, Brasil: Centro de Trabalho Indigenista, 1992.
• Salzano F. M., T.A. Weimer, M.H.L.P. Franco, and M.H. Hutz. "Demography and Genetics of the Sateré-Mawé and their Bearing on the Differentiation of the Tupi Tribes of South America." Journal of Human Evolution 14.7 (1985): 647-655.
• Vilaça, Aparecida, and Robin Wright. Native Christians: Modes and Effects of Christianity Among Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Vitality of indigenous religions. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate, 2008.
• Uggé, Henrique. Mitología sateré-maué. Quito, Ecuador: Ediciones ABYA-YALA, 1991.

External links

• Encyclopedia entry at SocioAmbiental