Tepi – Bone and Beads

Tepi – Bone and Beads

A beautiful bone tepi decorated with tribal bead work. The beads are in the tribal style of mostly the Yawanawa and Katukina tribes using their sacred Kenês representing their spirit guides. In these tribes, bone kuripes and tepis are considered superior because they provide more pressure in the blow, and are more durable than bamboo, mainly because of the hardness of the material.

There may be slight varieties from batch to batch since this is a hand crafted product.

This model was made by our handicrafts experts at the Tete Pawã arts and crafts studio. They are located in the upper Juruá region of Marechal Thaumaturgo municipality, way up on the Amazon. The only way to get there is a two day boat journey or with a four seater airplane. They have been our close partners since 2014, always delivering state of the art handicrafts and their excellent Kuntanawa Rapés.