KAYAPO People

The Kayapo people are an indigenous people in Brazil, living over a vast area across the states of Pará and Mato Grosso, south of the Amazon River and along the Xingu River and its tributaries. This location has given rise to the tribe's nickname of "the Xingu". They are one of the various subgroups of the great Mebêngôkre nation (meaning "people from the water's source"). The name Kayapo is used by neighboring groups rather than referring by the Kayapo to themselves; they refer to outsiders as Poanjos.

The Kayapó often don intricate, black body painting covering their entire bodies, with unique designs and patterns to each person. They believe that their ancestors learned the ways of life from insects, so they paint their bodies to mimic the invertebrates and to better communicate with the great spirit that exists in all things. The black body paint also allows them to blend into their surroundings when hunting in the forests. To help find their way through the jungle, the Kayapó paint their legs with a red pigment that rubs-off on the surrounding plants as they traverse through the vegetation. The colors that a Kayapó wears are representative of their tribe's colors.

Extended info about Kayapo people