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ABSTRACT
The Mbyá culture forms a part of the Guaraní ethnic group that mainly inhabits the territories of south-eastern Brazil, in the Province of Misiones – Argentina, and the Republic of Paraguay. This article will focus mainly on field observations I have made in different communities in these countries, and which will try to synthetically reveal aspects of musical transmission that cross horizontally with an analysis thereof. It forms part of a larger work of investigation which dates from the year 2001, arising from my professional concern to address a gap in the knowledge available to student teachers taking the subject of Didactics of Music during Teacher Training course for Primary School. As a basic requisite of the course, the students were asked to do some research work concerning the native guaraní music, but unfortunately they were not able to find regarding material. The manifest lack of information led me to develop a training programme for teachers in the Province of Misiones that was called ‘The Mbyá Sound Art as a Pedagogical Instrument, in the service of education for the cultural identity’, which was sanctioned by the Ministry of Culture, Education, Science and Technology of the Province. My objective was to communicate general aspects of Mbyá history and culture, to teach also the musical expressions through the implementation of workshops that included the construction of the mimby etá Footnote1 and the learning of dances and songs.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributor
Zulma Mónica Pittau Sevilla is Master in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Extremadura, Spain; Professor of Musical Education graduated from the Centre of Education and Research in Music, Córdoba, Argentina, and Professor of Music specialist in flute by the Graduate School of Music of the Misiones Province. Specialist in Pedagogy and Curriculum, and Graduate Diploma in Educational Management and Latin American Education by the National University of Misiones, Argentina. She has worked in all scholar levels, from beginning to graduate. Summoned by the Education Ministry to develop curricular design for the Music Faculty of Misiones, and Commissioner with exclusive dedication of three years as coordinator and trainer of courses for teachers on Mbyá Guaraní music. This is the concentration area of Pittau’s research. Since 2008 works as Rector of the Higher School of Music of Misiones Province, Argentina, and as professor of didactics of music in the institution 21 years ago. Currently, serving as visiting Professor in the Research Department of the Teacher Training Faculty of the University of Extremadura, Spain.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS
Mister Marcos Manuel Otaño
Notes
1 Wind instrument composed of five to seven bamboo sticks, similar in rudimentary style to the pánicas flutes.
2 Data from the Department of the Mbyá Guarany Nation of the Province of Misiones, year 2016.
3 Nimuendajú (Citation1978).
4 Ruiz (Citation2012).
5 Chamorro (Citation2004).
6 Patio: community space in the centre of the village, generally located in front of the Opy, or house of prayer.
7 Opyguá or Shaman is a spiritual leader of Mbyá community. Sometimes, he is accompanied by his wife who also performs functions of shamanic help. In most cases, it lives in the Opy, which is translated as ‘house of prayer’ or ‘temple’, built with mud and kneading and tacuaras (bamboo) a west orientation. In this sacred house baptism ceremonies and healing rituals and other sacred meetings are held.
8 Pittau Sevilla (Citation2015).
9 Term used by Mbyá-Guarani to name the western culture, likewise the Guarani word Juruá meaning mouth with hair or hairy face.
10 Cacique: Chief in charge of all aspects related to the political leadership in the community or village, serving as ‘mayor’, chosen by the votes of the majority in town inside the communities. His nomination must be analysed and proposed by the Council of the Elders of the community. In turn, there is a first general chief and a second general chief who are chosen by all the chiefs from the different villages in the Province, and are those that handle all issues concerning general problems and needs of the ethnia.
11 Preiss (Citation2008, 20).
12 Piaget (Citation1980).
13 Tupá in the Mbyá cosmogony correspond to one of their principal deities, creator of light and the universe.
14 Aracu’í, known as Saracura or Chiricote (Aramides cajanea), whose habitat is located in a wide neo/tropical region from the south of Mexico to the northern Argentina, are characterised by their singing at dawn and sunset, moving around in jungle rivers and creeks or wetlands with dense vegetation.
15 I consider the Ravé denomination is a variant of the word Rabel, since in the Guarani langue the initial R is not fricative, and also the words always end in a vowel. Therefore while adopting the word and adapting it to their own language, they did it by their own linguistic characteristics, easing the beginning r, accentuating the final vowel, and changing the b with v, because the b is only used unfailingly with m: mb.
16 Derived of the word Maraca, a vessel rattle. In this case, the word Mbaraká refers to the element previously used to build the instrument, a big dry bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) still used in small dimensions to elaborate their Mbaraká or maracas.
17 Professor of the University of Extremadura, Director and lead researcher of the MUSAEXI group, coordinator of the Project ‘Music, dance and ritual in the Iberoamerican encounter’.
18 The Merostachys clausenii is a bamboo species with peculiar characteristics. Usually it is 8 meters long, very flexible with thin walls. It has a hollow interior, without a corky structure, making it specially suitable for the manufacture of recorders. In addition, from its cortex are extracted thin slices used in craft by the Mbyá, basically in weaving baskets.
19 Verá Chunú means ‘shining’. His Spanish name is Antonio Morinigo, aged 36, and is the Katupypy’s village spiritual leader. He has been my privileged informant over the past three years.
20 Sequera (Citation1987).
21 Marcos Arévalo (Citation2008).
22 Original text: ‘La tradición, de hecho, renueva el pasado desde el presente. El presente es el legado cultural en marcha, con significado social, que carga a la tradición de sentido’.
23 Meliá (Citation1981).
24 Understood in its meaning of sexual differentiation.