Jaguar Pot (Iaiá cabocla)

Red clay with glaze, 33 x 18 cm, Artist’s Collection (Photo: Edgar Kanaykõ Xakriabá)

Iaiá cabocla (Lady Jaguar) is our grandmother, the one who protects us. She was a Xakriabá woman who went hunting with her sister. When she became hungry, she decided to become a jaguar in order to catch an animal more easily. She prepared a pipe with hallucinogenic herbs and smoked it. Handing the pipe to her sister, she told her that when she returns, she should put the pipe in her mouth in order to break the spell. But when she came back from the hunt in the form of a jaguar, her sister became frightened and ran away with the pipe in her hand—without breaking the spell. She remained an enchanted jaguar forever, becoming the protector of the Xakriabá people. Even today she continues to communicate with our shamans.

The glaze was extracted from black rock.

Jaguars modelled by my mother Dalzira Xakriabá. Photo: Edgar Kanaykõ Xakriabá