he women and children. The men’s houses are called “eksa”, and when boys turn 13, they go to live in the men’s house. The Mundurucu is a very spiritual society. In the men’s house there are scared flutes called Karokos that can only be played by men and are symbolic of the sex and gender of the Mundurucu society. In addition to playing these flues, they care for them, hold, and feed and treat them as if they were their own children. The men believe that the rituals with their flutes are extremely important in order for the society to live on. The men also hunt and provide the secondary source of food.One the other hand, women in the Mundurucu society used to have control of the sacred flutes, but lost the power. Women are extremely vital to the survival of the Mundurucu society. First of all, they provide the primary source of food supply through gathering, harvesting, and food processing. They are also in charge of cleaning, reproduction and childcare. Because of the many responsibilities that women have in the Mundurucu society, they are able to find out what goes on in the men’s houses as well as develop strong relationships with other women, children and their husbands.Although the Mundurucu was a patriarchal society, the women challenged male dominance in Savannah villages in several ways. First of all, the sacred flutes that were kept in the males’ house once belonged to the women in the society. Because of the fact that they have had such a sacred object, gives them potential for obtaining the sacred flutes again. Secondly, women challenge male preeminence in the Savannah villages by their residence. The women have “matrilineal local rule”. Women in the Mundurucu society obviously have the ability to create, and carry on life. Most importantly, they are the main source of food. If the women do not produce and or gather food, the entire village would starve. Women definitely pl...
