Education in the context of Wauja puberty seclusion

Abstract

This article examines the production of adult personhood among the Wauja of the Upper Xingu by describing female and male seclusion practices (the former associated with first menstruation). The reports and descriptions presented are the result of ethnographic research conducted by the author among his community in the Ulupuwene village, Xingu Indigenous Territory, and include participant observation and interviews. The phases, rules, and dangers of seclusion are discussed, along with the learning processes among the young people during this period and the production of adult corporality, beauty, health, and happiness through the life histories of the Wauja community. The collected ethnographic data are then contrasted with other ethnographic texts and descriptions and the anthropological literature on seclusion practices in the Upper Xingu region and elsewhere in the Amazon. The author sheds light on how and why the Wauja understand the puberty seclusion process to be the foundation of social production of adult individuals, arguing that this process simultaneously produces adult bodies and masters of the traditional culture.

Keywords
Wauja people; Seclusion; Education; Production of adult bodies, beauty; health and happiness