The Guarani Altar
BY L . ANTONIO CURET AND FRANK WEAVER
nation to the National Museum of the Ameri- can Indian, comes with multiple dimensions of meaning, involving many actors. The altar evokes the struggle of a Guarani
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Indian group from Paraguay, the Pai Tavytera, for recognition and survival in a national environment that tends to ignore their rights. This group is part of an indigenous move- ment demanding respect for sacred sites such as the Amambay Hills near the border of Paraguay and Brazil, where the Pai Tavytera mostly reside. This movement is rallying for a more sustainable and ecologically friendly use
he altar looks simple. A wooden “box” is surmounted by a “rack,” from which hang several ceremonial objects. But the sacred installation, constructed specially as a do-
of resources but it faces a government biased in favor of powerful economic and political interests. More broadly, indigenous groups are leading a cultural and religious revival movement. They seek to protect basic aspects of their lifeways and ethos against the harmful effects of hired-labor and western influence. The Pai belong to a larger ethnic group
named Nande Pai Tavytera. The name Pai Tavytera comes from two sources, Pai, which is the way the gods refer to them, and Tavytera which means “the inhabitants of the center of the earth.” The wood altar is considered a sa- cred sanctuary and a focus of the community. Called the Mba’e Marangatu (meaning sacred, privileged object in Guarani), it is the central institution of the Pai Tavytera’s religious sys- tem. Lacking the sacrificial function that most altars have, the Mba’e Marangatu is more of
A Donation Tells a Deep Story
a sacred “place” to keep the instruments and objects used in ceremonies. These objects are sometimes called santos (“saints” in Span- ish). It represents what anthropologists call the axis mundi, a point in space where the natural and supernatural worlds intersect or are connected. As the best location to conduct ceremonies, it is also the focal social point of the community. The altar is a place where the community gathers to worship or to discuss important matters.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 21
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