The Matis people (also called Nutioy, Bimbos, Mikitbo, and Mushabo) are an indigenous people of Brazil.
The Matis are commonly named as the Jaguar people. They live in two separate villages with total population of roughly 290
.
They live in the far west of Brazil, in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory, an area covering 32,000 square miles. The men of the Matis tribe of Brazil are skilled hunters; they have to be, otherwise they might miss out on that whole “eating” thing.
However, before they are allowed to go on a hunt, they must endure a series of painful rituals to strengthen their bodies and minds.The first ritual involves dripping a bitter juice into their eyes. The juice causes intense burning, but is supposed to help them see more clearly. Next, the potential hunters are whipped to build up their courage and instil discip
line.
In fact, they believe so strongly in the practice of whipping, that they extend the courtesy to young children and pregnant women. When a hunter reaches the third ritual, their skin is broken with a hot coal, and poison from the green tree frog is rubbed into the wound, causing vomiting and diarrhea. After completion of these trials, the young men are considered worthy to join the hunt.
Before contact, the Matis assumed passenger airplanes were xokeke, the spirits of their ancestors. They also assumed bush planes were binkeke, a kind of strange demon-bird. This tribe saw the two kinds of airplanes as distinct phenomena, since passenger planes would appear to be smaller than the bush planes (which fly closer to the
ground).
Time has probably given the Matis a better understanding of events surrounding and following their first contact over 30 years ago. Whereas elder Matis traditionalists are keen to retain and in some cases readopt their old way of life, the younger Matis have been influenced by the modern outside world and want closer ties with modern Brazil, particularly for education.
