Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1924-12-29
Wild Tribe ON
RIO ROOSEVELT
Scientist Finds Race in
! Which Women Are
Virtual Slaves
Ey MAURICE Y

NEW YORK. Dee. 2O.-lhe Wh!tc man
Knows All his neighbors now.
In South American jlngles beyond
Theodore Roosevelt's River Of Doubt,
Americans have udicd and photograph
led what is b licved TO the last people
.on earth 10 come under the gaze OF the
/ white scientists.
The Joseph McGoldrick cxp edition Of
/ Philadelphia travelled up the Amazon
River. Up the "Riv,r of Doubt now
called the Roosevelt River, and into the
%iuneIes far beyond 70 lind these pc,
pie. Il took 40 days. from Manoas, the
last whi.e settlement, to reach these
tribes.
white men probably have never been
there before" said Alec Besso, guide
and interpreter To the expedition. which
has Just returned.
Women Like Slaves
The beliefs ard customs Of this prini-
tive group, which has never been in con
tact with white people, are unique. We
men are virtual slaves Of the men.
ave mct two different tribes" Bcsao
says. "lhe Pirahas and Parintintins. The
latter are the more w%ariike, the most
ferociou..
They battle continually betw en-
themscles ana their cnnity ie a bitter
one.
Their marriage views and social Gus
tom II far q boy. as soon as he become
Il OF II years Of age. go ont and prove
\ his courage. He must fight. Once he has
4 and fish. He must fight. Once he has
i -.~-.l b, ON ,.I.. o.ra .1E EiDl-ulf 10
is allowed II choose his wife.
Mary at 10
"The wife usually IS a girl Of 10 Or
II years Of age. They are married.
Thefe isn't any ceremony, but the re-
~laticns between man and wife is just
as rigid as if there were a million cere-
monies.
"Sometime it happens that the father
of a little girl takes a liking to a hey.
Even when the girl ~ too young to mar
ry-say three Oh four-he gives her to
the boy. who, takes her into his fathers
house and cares for her. This continues
until she becomes about 10 and then
their marriage is considered as GEM
pleted.
"Scciety, in one sense, is much like
in the United States and among the
wild tribes of Brazil. An unworthy wo-
man Is stunned BY other women just as
she is Stunned up here.
within the Parintintins are two
clans. Thu Moutouns wild turkey and
the Quandus ~(hawk>). Every member Cf
the 1000 in the tribe belongs to one or
the cther tribe. A Moutun woman must
mary only a Quandu man. A Moutun
man can only we'd a Quandu woman. IN
this way they keep the blood Of the
tribe clean.
THAT they nave been successful il
evident. They are wonderfully built
creatures and fight like tigers"
Solved Problem
incidentally this expedition to Bra
I'll erased the question mark which ha'
hung over the River Of Doubt ' ever
since Theodore Roosevelt first named
it that on his famous trip to South
America.
Roosevelt, after p%lunging through this
Jungle came out at the source e a
river the identity Of which he then was
in doubt Hence it's name. At first
it was thought to have been a branch
Of the Aripuana River which flows in,
10 the Amazon. But the expedition es-
tablish he'd the fact that the River of
Doubt" now called River Roosevelt, is
the main stream and the Aripuana ia
merely a branch cf il.
A wreath was placed by members Of
the expedition al the marker made by
the Roosevelt expedition. In canoes
Besso and his party went up the stream,
Fast. dangerous rapids were encounter
ed. but otherwise the trip was uncvent-
full until they were about 1000 miles
from ManoS where Pirahas and the
P~arintintinS range.
Mature provides for these Savage7
wonderfully" r 4 said. The warriors
and hunters make strings for their bow
from wild cotton that grows everywhere
in the jungle.
There is always plenty Of wild game
to shoot and plenty Of fish 70 catch
Natives are skilled in the art Of spear
ing fish. But the most interesting thing
to know about this phase Of their lives
is that they eat considerable monkey
meat.
Clothing is not worn in these re-
gions. When we brought them dress
es and other articles OF clothing they
were much delighted. They put it on
for the purposes of some pictures. but
no sooner had the cameras clicked than
off came the clothing. They have nc
false modesty."