Mundurucu

The Mundurucu, also called Munduruku, are an Indigenous people of the Brazilian Amazon. Their historical reputation as warriors was closely connected with tattooing, headhunting and ceremony.

Fine lines, bands and cross-hatched patterns covered faces, limbs and torsos. Tattoos could express identity and maturity, while some interpretations connect them with spiritual protection.

Historical accounts describe heads taken from enemies and carefully prepared as trophies. Dried, coloured and decorated with feathers, they could be carried by warriors or kept in the men's house for ceremonies. Their role also involved beliefs about hunting and the spirits of game animals.

Children taken in raids could be adopted into the community. In later periods, rubber collecting became one among several livelihoods. Neither warfare nor forest work alone explains the history of a people whose communities and identities continue today.