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Closeup of Tupă Matis, demonstrating facial tattoos on her cheeks. Tupă is
the first wife of Bina Tucu, the secondary cacique of the Matis tribe. She
is one of the two wives of Bina Tucum who is also married to her sister, a
common practice among the Matis Indians. Women are highly respected in Matis
society and are given equal status in many tribal functions. For example
during tribal elections, their vote is given equal weight to that of men.
In certain rituals such as poison frog ceremony, it is a women, rather than
a man, who applies the poison frog secretions to the receiver.
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