THE TERENA AND THE CADUVEO OF SOUTHERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL OBERG 



of view of the standards of living, health, educa- 

 tion, and social status, the Terena are, today, su- 

 perior to their former leaders, the Mbaya-Caduvoo. 



The Mbayii are a good example of a people who 

 developed a specialized culture. Emphasis upon 

 warfare enabled them to achieve great successes 

 through the domination of weaker tribes. Just 

 how the Mbaya acquired these Spartan qualities is, 

 of course, hidden in their pre-Columbian history. 

 Whether their warlike propensities were borrowed 

 from Andean sources or were developed in the 

 incessant tribal conflicts of the Chaco we may never 

 know. But it is clear that when first discovered by 

 the Spaniards they were, along with the other 

 Guaicurii-speaking tribes, the military masters of 

 the Chaco. Once the conditions favorable to war- 

 fare and domination were removed, the Mbaya 

 declined rapidly and were left with hunting as the 

 only traditional means of livelihood. 



An interesting comparison between the post- 

 Columbian development of the North American 

 Plains tribes and the Mbaya can also be drawn. 

 After the adoption of the horse the North Ameri- 

 can Plains tribes became buffalo hunters, prac- 

 tically attaching themselves to large herds of buf- 

 falo, warfare being practiced against other horse- 

 using tribes as a means of acquiring horses and 

 prestige. In the Chaco there were no comparable 

 herds of wild animals to hunt, but with the adop- 

 tion of the horse the Mbaya were better able to 

 exploit their weaker neighbors as a source of both 

 wealth and social prestige. 



Although efforts were made to take physical 

 measurements of the Caduveo, their suspicion of 

 the measuring instruments could not be overcome. 

 Today, the Caduveo are the result of a mixture 

 with their former Chamacoco slaves and with the 

 Guana as a result of intermarriage over a long 

 period, so it is doubtful wliether any knowledge of 

 the physical type of the original Mbaya could have 

 been obtained in any event. Early writers appear 

 to be unanimous in their description of the Mbaya 

 as a tall, well-built, athletic people (Sanchez Lab- 



rador, 1910-17, vol. 1, pp. 244-245). Rodrigues 

 Prado describes the Mbaya as follows : "They are 

 tall so that among them there are many men six 

 and one-half feet in stature. They are well-built, 

 well-muscled and with an almost indescribable ca- 

 pacity to endure hunger, thirst, and sustained 

 effort" (Prado, 1908, p. 23). 



Measurements taken among the Terena show 

 the following summary results. Of 28 adult males 

 measured, the average height was found to be 161.7 

 cm., average cephalic index 81.9, avei'age facial 

 index 85.4, and the average nasal index 76.1. Of 

 17 adult females, the average height was found to 

 be 149.7 cm., average cephalic index 81.9, average 

 facial index 83.9, and the average nasal index 77.3.^ 



The field work upon which this study is based 

 was carried out during the months of December, 

 January, and February of 1946-47. I gratefully 

 acknowledge the assistance of Fernando Alten- 

 felder Silva, Mauricio Segal, and Juarez Lopes, 

 the three students of the Escola Livre de Socio- 

 logia e Politica of Sao Paulo, who accompanied me 

 to Mato Grosso and participated in the gathering 

 of field data. I want to thank also Dr. Cyro Ber- 

 linck, the director, and Dr. A. R. Midler, the as- 

 sistant director, of tlie Escola for making it pos- 

 sible for the three students to carry on field work. 

 I want to thank, too, the director and field person- 

 nel of the Servigo de Protegao aos Indios, whose 

 assistance in providing transportation and lodg- 

 ing helped to make the field trip a success. 



I am particularly grateful to Dr. Donald Pier- 

 son, the director of the Brazilian Branch of the 

 Listitute of Social Anthropology, Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, for his kind cooperation in planning the 

 field work and assisting in obtaining the equip- 

 ment necessary for carrying out research in the 

 field. Finally, I wish to thank Adelheid Ham- 

 burger for her industry and patience in organiz- 

 ing and typing the field notes and the draft of this 

 monograph. 



' Prepared in cooperation with Dr. Emillo Wlllems, professor of 

 anthropology, University of Sao Paulo. 



