Ritos de uma Triho Timbira

This volume deals with the Krahó Indians, a subgroup of the Eastern Timbira which comprise a portion of the Jê linguistic family. The work is based largely on Melatti’s doctoral dissertation (1970), with additional material added from a field session in 1971. The author attempts mainly to describe and analyze some forty of the rites carried out by the Krahó. Unfortunately, the treatment—which is a valuable and interesting addition to our ethnological knowledge of this group—is very irregular in both quantity and quality from instance to instance. Although Portuguese is the lingua franca utilized among the various groups of Timbira, it would seem possible that something literally may be lost in translation, in that the author indicates that he picked up only a limited number of phrases and nouns (“no verbs”). Despite its apparent shortcomings, this work may well serve as a basis for augmentation of the ethnological and ethnohistorical research and, perhaps, for comparative work among the various initial subjunct groups making up the Timbira family. As an interesting initial incursion into the daily practices and psychology of the Krahó, the book is to be lauded for its contribution; as a definitive work, it is lacking. Future investigations in the area will undoubtedly help to refine Melatti’s six field sessions, the results of which are contained in this publication.