THE WILLIAM LIPKIND COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM: TRACING ANTHROPOLOGICAL ROUTES BETWEEN BRAZIL AND THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

This article examines the “Karajá Collection of William Lipkind" which consists of 527 artefacts (454 of which have been located) collected by the North American anthropologist William Lipkind, belonging to the Ethnology and Ethnography Sector of the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro (Museu Nacional, RJ). The son of Jewish-Russian emigrants, Lipkind arrived in Brazil close to the start of World War II and lived for 14 months, from 1938 to 1939, with the Karajá of the Araguaia valley. His research was facilitated by the director of the National Museum, Heloísa Alberto Torres, who also facilitated the work of other students from Columbia University, including Buell Quain, Ruth Landes and Charles Wagley. The study of the collection’s itineraries, and the relationships between William Lipkind and other actors and institutions in Brazil and the United States, affords new knowledge about the collection itself, the history of anthropology in Brazil and the United States.

Key words:
William Lipkind Collection; Karajá; History of Anthropology