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



For carrying and storing foodstuffs the Terena 

 used such containers as clay pots, calabashes, bas- 

 kets, and netted bags. In their houses they also 

 kept such tools and weapons as the digging stick, 

 stone ax, club, spear, and bow and arrows. Ma- 

 terials for weaving baskets and bags were kept in 

 corners, while dried meat, dried fish, skins of ani- 

 mals, and bags of vegetable foods hung from the 

 rafters. 



CLOTHING AND ORNAMENTS 



Both men and women wore a cotton loincloth 

 stretching from the waist to the knees, known as a 

 shiripd. A shorter black shiripd was worn by 

 men on war parties. During cold weather every- 

 one wore a sleeveless cotton shirt, repenoti. In 

 warm weather children went about unclothed. 

 Both men and women used pentagon-shaped 

 leather sandals fastened with a leather thong. All 

 body hair, including eyebrows and pubic hair, was 

 carefully pulled out with pincers. Hair was 

 combed back over the head and fastened with a 

 cord. 



The Terena were fond of wearing necklaces, 

 nakoti ; bracelets, imotdk'i; and anklets, imoheve. 

 These decoi'ations were made by stringing dried 

 seeds, animal teeth, and disks of shell and bone 

 on a cotton cord. In later days, glass beads and 

 bracelets and rings made from silver and even gold 

 were used. During ceremonials the Terena used 

 diadems made from red feathers and short skirts 

 made from rhea feathers. Yellow parrot feathers 

 could be used only by chiefs and usually signified 

 that the wearer had killed an enemy. War chiefs 

 wore, in addition, a robe made from jaguar skins. 



Discussing the dress and painted designs of the 

 Terena, Castelnau says: 



These Indians have no other clothes than a piece of 

 cloth which they wrap around their kidneys, their hair 

 is suspended at the back of the head and tied up to form 

 a tail. Both sexes have the habit of covering their bodies 

 with singular paintings, resembling those of the Guay- 

 curu. Their designs are often excessively delicate and 

 represent a harmony and delicacy which by no means 

 can be described. [Ibid., vol. 2, p. 471.] 



In connection with ornaments and body paint- 

 ings, Castelnau adds the following : 



Here are glass beads which are fastened onto cotton 

 cloths with wide stripes. There are scarlet feathers which 

 are tied together and cut to make head ornaments; over 

 there is a woman who is covering her husband's body with 



delicate drawings, or even an individual painting himself. 

 The painting is done with a small stick which is dipped 

 into a mixture of charcoal and "genipapo" dye. Some- 

 times they use a real seal to print a figure on the skin. 

 One of our companions could not resist the women's re- 

 quest to make an Indian out of him, as they said, and 

 soon his arm was covered with charming colored triangu- 

 lar figures, forming squares of decreasing size. [Ibid., 

 vol. 2, p. 472.] 



COLLECTING, HUNTING, AND FISHING 



The seasonal ripening of the various wild fruits, 

 the availability of roots and the tender shoots of 

 young jilants, the movements of game, and the 

 jDresence or absence of fish in shallow waters im- 

 jjosed upou' the Terena an annual cycle of produc- 

 tion and consumption. From November to Feb- 

 ruary algaiToba and tusca pods, the fruits of 

 mistol and chaiiar were gathei'ed and eaten. In 

 March and April the people depended upon such 

 wild foods as palmito and Barbary figs. May 

 and June were months of plenty. Cultivated crops 

 had, by now, matured and were ready for use, 

 many wild fruits were available, and fish entered 

 shallow waters to spawn. This was a time for 

 travel, visiting, and ceremonial activity. By July 

 and August lack of rain reduced the productivity 

 of the savanna, and people consumed the products 

 of their fields and gathered palm fruits and nuts. 

 October was a lean month during which the In- 

 dians depended largely upon what foods were 

 stoi'ed. This mouth, also, was the time for pre- 

 jjaring the fields for next season's planting. 



Algarroba and tusca pods were crushed in a 

 mortar, mixed with water, and eaten in the form 

 of mush. Sometimes algarroba pods were ground 

 into flour from which cakes baked over coals were 

 made. Most of the wild fruits were eaten either 

 raw or boiled. The terminal shoots of palms were 

 eaten raw, boiled, or baked. Palm fruits were 

 eaten raw ; the kernels were crushed and eaten or, 

 in some cases, the oil was extracted by boiling, 

 the oil being skimmed off the surface of the water. 

 Wild roots were baked or boiled. Algarroba meal, 

 pahn nuts, and certain wild roots could be stored 

 for several months after collecting. Storage of 

 wild foods, however, was not resorted to by the 

 Terena to the same extent as was common with 

 the tribes of the central Chaco. 



For several weeks during May or June the Te- 

 rena depended almost entirely on fish, the people 

 moving to the banks of the Paraguay River where 



