Basic Data

• Name: Xavante
• Alternative Names: Xavánte, Shavante, Chavante
• Auto-Denomination: A'uwẽ
• Language Classification: Macro-Gê, Gê, Akwén cluster, Xavante
• Population: 10,000+
• Location: Eastern Mato Grosso, 60 villages

About the Xavante

The Xavante are a strong and proud people, having the reputation of being very aggressive and warlike. The first attempt to pacify the Xavante occurred in the 19^th century, when the governor of the province of Goiás rounded up many Xavante in that area and placed them in a number of official village settlements with other tribal groups and non-Indians. They were not content to stay long, however, and eventually fled back into the jungle. They were relatively undisturbed and uncontacted till the 1940s and 50s. By the end of the 50s, all of the Xavante factions, which had since migrated to the state of Mato Grosso, had been pacified—the last of the large tribal groups in Brazil to initiate regular contact with the outside world.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Xavante society is its dualistic nature; the division of the whole tribe into two clans – âwawẽ and po'reza'õno. Marriage is only permitted between members of the opposite clan. Some of the other distinctive features of Xavante culture include the complex and lengthy initiation rites for boys, culminating in the ear piercing ceremony – at which time small rounded wooden sticks are inserted into their earlobes. These sticks are worn in progressively increasing size for the rest of their lives. The Xavante are also famous for their traditional log races, where the two clans compete in a baton-passing style race for several kilometers carrying buriti palm trunks weighing up to 80 kilos. The women weave an amazingly strong kind of basket which they use for carrying their newborn babies. The basket's wide strap is placed across their forehead while the basket lays against their back, freeing up the woman's hands for other tasks. A traditional village is built with the houses in a horseshoe shape, with the open end facing the river. A woman's domain is the home, whose opening always faces the center of the village. The man's domain is the meeting place in the center of the village, where all the important decisions are made in the men's daily counsel.

The Xavante language has 13 consonants and 13 vowels – four of which are nasal. Honorific and endearment terms are used to refer to others such as one's in-laws or grandchildren. Many of these key relationships are actually reflected in the grammar of the language. For example, when speaking directly to his son-in-law, a man will use the indirect (third person) grammatical forms instead of second person. (For more on this see the paper on this website entitled Xavante Morphology and Respect/Intimacy Relationships (312 kB).)

Publications

Ancient Legends of the Xavante People (362 kB)

Burgess, Eunice, 1971, Duas Análises das Sílabas do Xavante (in Portuguese, 117 kB) Estudos Sobre Líguas e Culturas Indígenas: 96-102.

———, 1987, Foco e Tópico em Xavante (in Portuguese, 194 kB), Série Lingüística Nº 9, Vol. 1: 11-38.

Hall, Joan, 1979, Os Sistemas Fonológicos e Gráficos Xavante e Português (in Portuguese, 462 kB), Sociedade Internacional de Lingüística, Cuiabá, MT.

———, 2009 (1961), Xavante Noun Phrases and Morpheme Classes (300 kB), Associação Internacional de Linguística, Anápolis, GO.

Hall, Joan, Ruth McLeod and Valerie Mitchell, 1987, Pequeno Dicionário: Xavante-Português, Português-Xavante (in Portuguese, 779 kB), Sociedade Internacional de Lingüística, Cuiabá, MT.

McLeod, Ruth, 1974, Fonemas Xavante (in Portuguese, 128 kB), Série Lingüística Nº 3: 131-152.

McLeod, Ruth & Valerie Mitchell, 2003, Aspectos da Língua Xavante (in Portuguese, 355 kB), SIL publications, Cuiabá, MT. (Version with sound examples. Note: very large file, 4459 kB)