Basket, woman's mayaku burden basket
date: label: Accession Date
content: 20 Mar 2018
label: Collection Date
content: 1981 to 1983
name: label: Collector
content: Ms. Emilienne Ireland
label: Donor Name
content: Ms. Emilienne Ireland
notes: label: Notes
content: Basket made from split bamboo, some dyed. Rim is round, while bottom is square with interior wooden frame anchored with white cotton thread. Woven pattern in black and red with 4 cotton tassels, one at each corner. Cotton binding just below rim. Buriti strings cross across the opening. Painted design on the bottom is black and yellow of two arcs and two fish, and two other animals.
label: Notes
content: Notes by the collector, Emilienne Ireland: All-purpose basket, carried exclusively by women and girls, for carrying loose items on top of the head, or for storing items at home. ESPECIALLY FINE SPECIMEN. Large twill-weave basket, with unusual use of both red and black in the woven design. At least three woven designs: (1) "leaf-cutter ant trail" (kutákumá áhinabúla), possibly referring to leaf-cutter ant of the genus Atta, commonly called Saúva in Brazil; (2) kájujúto otáapáka (macaw's cheek), referring to stripes under the eyes of the Blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara ararauna); (3) a small segment that appears to be "top of the anaconda's head" design (walamá onéputáku), referring to Green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) with a single bar of "winding river" design (wénewénesukú). The underside of the basket is painted with four additional designs: (1) "jaguar" design (yánumáka), referring to Panthera onca; (2) "hummingbird" design (kumési) (species not specified) (3) "piranha tooth" design (ímitséwe); (4) "inside the ball court" design (yetulaganaku), referring to a traditional ball game played with the knees (not the feet or hands), with a ball made from the latex of the mangaba tree (Hancornia speciosa). The Wauja no longer played this game in 1981, but remembered it.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 3 Jan 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Piyulaga village, Mato Grosso, Brazil, South America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Wauja (Waurá)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2074242
label: USNM Number
content: E435251-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Basket
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 67 cm
label: Width
content: 65 cm
label: Height
content: 24 cm