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



13 



which was fitted into a notch in another stick ly- 

 ing on the gronnd. Dry fibers were used to catch 

 tlie sparks. When tlie fibrous material began to 

 smoulder the firemaker would blow on it gently 

 until a flame appeared. Dry gi'ass and wood 

 then were added. As this task was an arduous 

 one, fires seldom were permitted to go out in the 

 village. 



RAIDING 



Some economic importance must be imputed to 

 the raids which the Terena made upon their neigh- 

 bors. They mention raiding the Ilai, but who the 

 Ilai were is not clear. It is possible that the word 

 "Ilai" is a Terena word for the Chamacoco, for the 

 Chamacoco were being repeatedly raided by their 

 eastern neighbors, particularly the Mbaya. The 

 Terena tell of capturing horses, sheep, and cattle 

 and, above all, slaves. The practice was to put 

 men and women to death, keeping only the young 

 boys and girls. After these young slave children 

 grew up they were part of the tribe and it was 

 difficult for them to escape and return to their own 

 people about whom they now knew very little. 

 Slaves were made to cultivate the soil, hunt, fetch 

 wood and water, build houses, tend livestock, and 

 to take part in warfare and even assist in cere- 

 monials. Besides their economic importance, 

 slaves, of course, enhanced the social prestige of 

 their owners. 



PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE 



The Terena can now give only very sketchy in- 

 formation about their past property rights and 

 inheritance. Whether they ever had a common 

 tribal territory is not clear. What appears most 

 likely is that the members of each village laid 

 claim to the cultivable lands surrounding the vil- 

 lage and to certain hunting and fishing grounds. 

 Each family group had its own house and fields 

 under the trusteeship of the family head which 

 passed to the man's younger brother or son after 

 his death. Individuals owned their own clothing, 

 tools, weapons, and ornaments. Livestock and 

 slaves were the property of the warrior who cap- 

 tured them, but their use and services were avail- 

 able to the members of the household in which the 

 warrior lived. The Terena state that the produce 

 of the field and the chase, although owned by indi- 

 vidual households, would be shared if anyone was 



in want owing to illness or misfortune. Livestock, 

 slaves, houses, and cultivated lands were the only 

 forms of property that were actually inherited. 

 The practice of burning a dead person's private 

 l)roperty, consisting of clothing, tools, weapons, 

 and ceremonial objects, over the person's grave 

 solved the problem of their disposal. Even the 

 houses were sometimes burnt, although the gen- 

 eral practice was to change the doorway so that 

 the ghost of the deceased could not find its way 

 back. 



ORGANIZATION OF LABOR 



It appears, from what the Terena say, that the 

 household was the primary economic unit. Both 

 the men and women of the household, with what- 

 ever slaves they might have possessed, participated 

 in agricultural labor. The men performed the 

 heavy work of clearing and hoeing the ground, 

 while the women and older children assisted in 

 planting, weeding, and harvesting. The prepara- 

 tion of food, cooking, si^inning and weaving, and 

 pottery making were the activities of the women. 

 Men's work consisted of hunting, fishing, tool mak- 

 ing, preparation of skins, basket making, and war- 

 fare. Both sexes participated in collecting wild 

 plant foods. 



The men of the village would participate in a 

 communal hunt on horseback if such large action 

 was deemed advisable. If land was difficult to 

 clear, several closely related households would 

 assist one another in the work of clearing. Kins- 

 men, even when dwelling in different households, 

 would assist each other in economic activities. 



PRESENT-DAY ECONOMY OF THE 

 TERENA 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 



The migration of the Terena into their present 

 location in Brazilian territory was followed by 

 many changes in their economy. Here they 

 found a new physical and social environment. 

 Southern Mato Grosso was ali-eady under effec- 

 tive Brazilian control. Brazilian cattlemen were 

 pushing westward, seeking land and labor for 

 their new enterprises. The old free life of culti- 

 vation, hunting, fishing, and raiding came to an 

 end — the Terena had to settle down. On the lands 

 allotted to them, they began to cultivate plots of 

 manioc, maize, sugarcane, cotton, and other crops 



