Life in Amazonia to the man is occasionally strenuous, frequently a veritable dolce far niente; to the woman it is a ceaseless round of toilsome duties, broken only by the excitement of preparation for, and participation in, a tribal dance. The division of occupations between the sexes is possibly uneven, but very certainly strict. In many cases it amounts to a tabu, and as a rule the reason for this division is either apparent or confessed. It is absolutely a question of sex. To men appertain defensive measures, all that calls for physical strength and skill, war, the chase, the manufacture of weapons, the preparation of certain poisons and drinks, especially those that are used ceremonially. Men paddle the canoes, except in extreme cases, when a sufficiency of men is not forthcoming, and women perforce must lend their aid. They cut the wood and build the houses. They climb the trees to gather fruit, clear the plantations, and turn the soil. Woman is the housewife, the mother, and the cook, but she is also the agriculturalist and the maker of all purely domestic implements. She manufactures the hammocks, the rough pottery, and most of the baskets, although it would not be considered derogatory on the part of the man to lend a hand if necessary.

Besides this sexual differentiation various tribes have their special manufactures in which they excel their neighbours. The Menimehe are known as great pottery workers.