The “Kanhgág Law”: Moiety System and Other Amerindians Classifications

Abstract

On a daily basis, the kanhgág use classifications in order to situate their relationships. Some terms refer to the Moiety System (Kamé e Kanhru), such as regre e o jamré, and others reach the way of behavior: the pure indian and the indian. Between these two positions, which seem to be diametrical, surge, respectively, the terms kanhkó e misturado. These terms break the opposition and configure the group of relatives as unities, which distinguish the other indian groups from white people. This paper aims to present and explore the particularities of these denominations and problematize these elements in the framework of amerídio dualism. According to the ethnographic research conducted in the indian land Nonoai and in the villages Por Fi Ga and Fosá, it was possible to conclude the elements used for the distinctions make the same conjunct active in the moiety system and, in the same way, it embraces the diametrality, the concernism and the triadism.

Keywords

• kanhgág; moiety system; social organization; indian ethnology.