# Apyãwa (Tapirape) Mask MHNT.ETH.AC.1732

- By: Didier Descouens
- Date: Taken on 19 November 2014
- Classification: Photograph
- Museum: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apy%C3%A3wa_(Tapirape)_Mask_MHNT.ETH.AC.1732.jpg)
- Rights: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/commons/thumb/6/60/Apy%C3%A3wa_%28Tapirape%29_Mask_MHNT.ETH.AC.1732.jpg/1920px-Apy%C3%A3wa_%28Tapirape%29_Mask_MHNT.ETH.AC.1732.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Tawa or ype Mask. Tawa ceremony is one of the most complex rituals. This is a staging of ancient battles with neighboring tribes. During the ceremony, the spirit of the enemy incarnate by the mask ype. This type of mask is made by men in secret in the men's house. The Tawa is celebrated at the beginning of the dry season in several distinct phases. The first step is to appoint two emcees that must descend from a parent who killed an enemy. The second phase is the production of wooden masks. Sculpture trays is to give them an anthropomorphic figure. The plate is covered with feathers macaw whose combination of colors blazoned the identity of the group of which the mind of the enemy killed. The masks are kept in the men's house to celebrate the third phase of the ritual that features the old tribal wars and ended with the victory of Api'awa on their enemies. Population : Apyawa / Tapirape - Brazil, Mato Grosso, Indigenous Land of Urubu Branco Materials : Macaw feathers, ipe wood (tabebuia sp.), nacre, wax, cotton yarn Size :43 x 81 x 7 cm