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Tupi Featherwork And The Dynamics Of Intercultural Exchange In Early Modern Brazil, Amy J. Buono

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"The Tupi of sixteenth- and seventeenth century coastal Brazil were renowned as fiercely warlike and, more sensationally, as cannibals. They were also famed for their ritual featherwork capes made from scarlet ibis feathers, which were closely associated with both war and anthropophagic rituals (see figure). For the semi-nomadic Tupi, featherwork was highly valued, the capes being among the only things that they carefully preserved and carried with them as they moved from site to site."