Divided World: Apinaye Social Structure: 6 (Studies in Cultural Anthropology) - Tapa dura

The social structure of the Apinaye, a Central Brazilian Indian tribe, has puzzled anthropologists for forty years. Now, in this long-awaited book previously unavailable in English, Roberto Da Matta comprehensively describes Apinaye social life and the dualistic conceptual structure that underlies it. Special attention is given to the organization of daily and ceremonial life, the ideological aspects of kinship, the political system, and the confrontation between the Apinaye and the national Brazilian society. Da Matta then enlarges his account of the Apinaye to suggest a general interpretation of Indian culture in Central Brazil.

David J. Hess is an anthropologist and associate professor in the science and technology studies department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Roberto DaMatta is a Brazilian anthropologist and the Reverend Edmund P. Joyce professor of anthropology at the Kellogg Institute of the University of Notre Dame.