Indigenous tribe tragically forgot how to dance, sing and make fire

Until recently, it was believed that certain aspects of musicality were universal in all human cultures, but an indigenous population in Paraguay has just destroyed this assumption.

Known as Aché do Nortethis community that lives in the forest is the only known human group that Don’t sink for your babies or danceaccording to the.

“This shows that dance and children’s songs – including packing songs – are not absolute universals,” he said Manvir Singhfrom the University of California, in Davis.

“A human being without culture It will not be spontaneously involved In these activities, some kind of cultural transmission is needed for children and children’s songs, ”he explained.

But after all what happened to the culture of the northern Aché?

In a new study in the newspaper Current BiologySingh and the co -author Professor Kim Hill describe how the latter spent 122 months of fieldwork to live among the northern Aché between 1977 e 2020period during which the population of tribe grew from 547 to about 800. However, in the 1930s, the community consisted of only 240 members.

All the time he lived among the indigenous group, Hill never heard an adult sing to a baby, nor did he see anything that could be classified as a dance. In addition, the northern Aché did not know how to fire, although some individuals reported that their ancestors knew, suggesting that this skill was lost relatively short time.

However, the northern Aché are relatives and descendants of other language groups tupi who sing songs of packing, dance and fire. Many of these groups also practice shamanism and horticulture and build canoes – none of this is present in the culture of the northern Aché.

According to the study’s authors, the ancestors of the North Aché probably dedicated to all these activities, but “the reduction in the size of the population, which limited cultural complexity“It eventually erased many of these characteristics.

“At some point before the emergence of the Aché, they lost shamanisma horticulture e [um sistema social baseado em clãs]»Says Singh, who has launched a new book about Shamanism. “Later, there was a division between the southern Aché and the northern Achémoment when the fire and dance was lost [nos últimos]. But after that, the northern Aché went through other demographic turmoil“.

For example, Singh explains that “in mid -nineteenthJesuit missionaries and slave hunters in Brazil depoved the part of Paraguay [habitada pelos Aché do Norte]”So, in the 1970s,” diseases and forced migration – essentially kidnapping by Paraguayans – led to a Demographic collapse Even bigger, ”Singh.

A situation worsened even more so when the northern Aché were forced to live in reserves, when other cultural practices, such as the Magic hunting and Polyginia were lost.

Despite all this, individuals are at northern sometimes sing to themselves. Also “often calm babies, agitated using a playful language directed to children, funny grimaces and smiles or laughs,” explain the study’s authors.

No Entanto, a absence of songs of packaging and dance contradicts theories Existing that these aspects of musicality are universal behaviors that serve important evolutionary purposes, such as promoting group cohesion and the bond between mother and child.

“Now does that mean that music has not evolved into these benefits? It’s still a little complicated“Says Singh.“ We can use fire as an example. People can forget the fire, but it is still clear that our physiology has adapted to depending on cooked foods and therefore may have adaptations to these behaviors, but they still require a lot of culture. ”