The Canela: Bonding Through Kinship, Ritual, and Sex

by Jean Crocker and William H. Crocker

This ethnology follows the lives of the Canela Indians of Barra do Corda, Maranhao, Brazil from the 1890's to the present. Based on more than five collective years of fieldwork since 1957, the book relates how this surviving nation of the Timbira group has retained its traditional culture, including an elaborate bonding system of kinship, ritual - including daily meetings and complex festivals and sex. This case study challenges Western conceptions...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0030733286
• ISBN13: 9780030733284
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great ethnography about a very facinating people.

William and his wife Jean are very successful in executing a both interesting and seemingly accurate investigation of the Canela. Like Chagnon's book Yanomamo, but less harmful,Crocker's, The Canela keeps the reader reading. The introduction sets the scene well and the historical context chapter is helpful in understanding the tribe and its origin. The following chapters on bonding through kinship, ritual and sex are easily understood. I also enjoyed the epilogue which answered a few of my questions on the Canelas current state. All in all, a successful ethnography.