Producer unknown to us
Feather headdress
Americas, Brazil, Araguaya River
1900–1956
Plant fibers net, wooden sticks, heron feathers
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Erich Wustmann (ethnologist, author) undertook numerous expeditions and journeys to collect items for museums. He sold the acquired objects to the museums in Leipzig and Dresden.
Purchased by the museum from Wustmann in 1957
SAm 21522
This is an Iny-Karajá feather headdress. Its basic structure is a wide-meshed net woven from plant fibers. Numerous bales of raw cotton with different colored rosettes are tied to its base.
The Iny Karajá community lives in 20 villages along the Araguaya River in central Brazil. Its population is about 3,000. Their language, Inyribe, belongs to the Macro-Gê family of languages. After heavy losses in colonial conflicts in the 18th and 19th century, the Iny established lively trade relations with Brazil, which promoted a steady acculturation. The female ceramists (ceramistas) were highly respected in the communities for their wealth of knowledge. This included knowledge about the “Ritxoko,” dolls that convey knowledge about what it means to be an Iny-Karajá, with references to their gender roles, social traditions, and worldview.
Ethnologist and author Erich Wustmann (1907–1994) acquired the feather headdress during his research trips in the 1950s.
Frank Usbeck