Video

We Gather as a Family (Eu Já Seu Irmão)

Vincent Carelli

1993, 32:00 minutes, colour, Portuguese

TAPECODE 262.09

Directed by Vincent Carelli

This tape documents a cultural exchange between the Parakatêjê of Pára and their "relatives", the Kraho of Tocantins. It profiles the ideas, strategies and personality of Kokrenum, the charismatic Chief of the Parakatêjê, who has fought the cultural transformations suffered by his people for the past twenty years. Kokrenum decides to organise a visit to the Krahô, who speak the same language and maintain their traditions, bringing with him fifty young people to take part in an initiation ceremony.

Among other things, the ceremony consists of singing, body painting, and preparations for the long strenuous relay race through the forest carrying and passing huge logs shoulder-to -shoulder. The tape goes on to focus on the testimony of the youths themselves who, deeply moved by the beauty and intensity of this ritual, articulate their impressions, voice a renewed awareness of their identity as Parakatêjê, account for their inability to speak their native tongue and express their aspirations for the future.

The second part of the tape takes place the following year, when the Parakatêjê return the invitation, and the Krahô travel to participate in celebrations organized by the Kokrenum. In addition to preparing for and running the race, two chiefs exchange gifts, discuss cultural issues and finally seal a pact of friendship between their respective groups.

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