Ceramic figures: crocodile, jaguar, turtle

A collection of ceramic zoomorphic figures made by the Karajá people in Brazil. The three figures represent the most important animals for these indigenous people, who mostly reside in the Araguaia River valley and tropical forests in the vicinity of the Amazon basin.

The first figure depicts a spectacled caiman, the most common of the all the caiman genus, and the only one which tolerates salt water. Despite their size and sinister-looking teeth, caimans are often hunted down by jaguars, which are experts in the game. Both species of animals are at the centre of attention of the Karajá people, as they both live in the aquatic areas which are their natural habitats.

The next figure represents the jaguar (Panthera onca), regarded by the Indians of the Amazon jungle as being both “holy” as well as “cursed”. This dualism is a result of the awe and respect of this dangerous predator, as well as the fear it evokes. Paradoxically, the jaguar is strongly associated with an aquatic environment, it is an excellent swimmer and is not afraid of water. It leads a mostly lonely life, seeking out and ambushing its prey – in this sense, jaguars are also a real threat to people. The ecosystem and lifestyle of the jaguar fit in well in the world of the Karajá, who are also called “people of the river”. That is why both the caiman and the jaguar are constant themes in their ornaments, decorations as well as their artistic crafts.

The last of the fugres depicts a Cumberland slider – also called the Cumberland turtle (Trachemys scripta troostii) – which is native to Brazil, or the yellow-footed tortoise, also known as the Brazilian giant tortoise (Geochelone denticulata). The latter has a carapace (the convex part of the shell structure) of a dark colour, almost black with an orange-yellow spot on each scute (a feature which is similar to the one seen in the fugure), with a lightly-coloured, cream or brown plastron. The possiblity that the figure may be a Cumberland slider is due to the striped head and a light carapace. Furthermore, the Cumberland slier is semiaquatic, thus fitting in perfectly with the environment of the Karajá themselves.

The Karajá (pron: Karazha) people live across a number of Brazilian states, mainly in Goiás and Mato Grosso (as well as Pará and Tocantins). They are also known as the Caraja, Caraya, Xambioa, Chamboa, Ynã or Iny. It is thought that in pre-Columbian times they lived on the Ilha do Bananal (Bananal Island) on the Araguaia River, considered to be one of the largest river islands in the world. The Karajá language belongs to the Karajá subdivision of the Macro-Jê group. The presented objects were acquired in Brazil directly from the Karajá people in the years 1960-66 by Borys Malkin, a Polish entomologist and ethnologist, researcher and expert on cultures of the Indian indigenous peoples residing in sub-tropical forests.