Until the 28th of June this year, there is an exposition in the Ethnographic Museum in Antwerp (Belgium) by Marita de Sterck, a belgian antropologist and youth book author, about the most important festivities in the Tikuna culture: the so-called pelazón. In 2007, Marita de Sterck was a witness of this event in a Tikuna community in Brasil. Mostly, the event is described as the initiation ritual of a girl into a woman, but as is characteristic for most Tikuna traditions, it also about many, many more cultural and historical details which are only known to the real insiders of the show! If you can´t travel to the Amazon, Belgium might be an opportunity to learn a little more! The exposition flyer (in dutch): Flyer Tentoonstelling Pelazón and the museum website: http://museum.antwerpen.be/etnografisch_museum/
Some might remember my second newsletter in which I write about my experiences at a pelazón in a colombian Tikuna community called San Juan. To refresh your memory, this newsletter is pasted again below (in dutch). In San Martin de Amacayacu, there have also been several small pelazón events (picture above) over the last few years. This year, two bigger ones have been planned!
