The Zo’é people are often bare-chested and do not use anything to cover their bodies. Additionally, this tribe is considered one of the most egalitarian in the world, where both men and women can have as many partners as they desire.
The Zo’é live in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil. The Zo’é tribe is unaware of the outside world and lives in a communal style reminiscent of primitive communism. It wasn’t until 1987 that they had contact with outsiders when missionaries established a base on their land.
The Zo’é people.
The Brazilian government has officially recognized the land ownership rights of the Zo’é and controls it to minimize the risk of spreading dangerous diseases like influenza and measles.
The Zo’é live in rectangular thatched houses that are open on all sides, where multiple families coexist. They sleep in hammocks hung from the rafters and cook over fires along the sides of the house.
Large gardens surround the homes of the Zo’é, where they grow cassava, various tubers, peppers, bananas, and many other fruits and vegetables. They also cultivate cotton for body decorations, hammocks, arrowhead bindings, and woven belts for carrying infants.
Notably, the Zo’é practice polygamy, and both men and women can have multiple partners. In Zo’é society, everyone is equal, with no leaders, but those men who are eloquent, known as ‘yü’, have a greater voice in matters of marriage or when establishing new communities.
Zo’é men are skilled hunters, often hunting alone but sometimes gathering together during specific times of the year.
From a young age, Zo’é children wear “m’berpót”, a long piece of wood inserted in the lower lip. Children begin to pierce their lips around the age of 7 for girls and 9 for boys, later replacing the wooden piece with a larger one as they mature.
Zo’é women wear hats made from the soft breast feathers of king vultures and paint their bodies with bright red urucum powder made from crushed annatto seeds. Like many tribes in South America, they use annatto powder for body and facial decoration.
