Xingu Feather Headdresses 

Indigenous Art

Silhouettes of Xingu Indians wearing feather headdresses and preparing to leave the maloka for a Xingu Indian ritual of the flutes. Each Xingu tribe has characteristic headdresses, often made of feathers of parrots or other colorful birds such as macaws. In this particular case, they make use of the colors yellow and orange in the skillful way only true artists could achieve. Indeed, these traditional peoples and their use of color, form, and texture to produce works of art are the master artists of the Amazon Rainforest. Although some would call this "primitive art," it is art in the truest sense of the word in that the end results are appreciated by the viewer as visually stimulating masterpieces of art. Indeed, many Xingu headdresses can be found at the Smithsonian Museum.