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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 9 



head of livestock -with him. Later he worked on 

 roads and with the money earned lie bought more 

 livestock and a cart. He is well acquainted with 

 the larger towns in southern Mato Grosso. He 

 claims that he does not make enough money from 

 his livestock to live and has to work for the Post 

 on occasion. 



SHOEMAKER 



Feliciano de Morais was born in Miranda, his 

 father being Portuguese and his mother Guaicurii. 

 He married a Brazilian woman, whom he left ow- 

 ing to her bad conduct. He then married a Terena 

 woman, who left him because they always quar- 

 reled about his Guaicurii ancestors, whom his wife 

 despised. He later heard that the Guaicurii were 

 a famous people and felt more pleased. Being 

 married to a Terena woman gave him the right to 

 live in Bananal. 



Feliciano, his son, and two daughters, live in a 

 stake-walled one-room house, one side opening 

 onto a shed where he has his work bench. 



Feliciano learned to read and write when he 

 was a boy. He is a Catholic, but gets on very 

 well with the Protestants. He was trained to be 

 a carpenter but later learned shoemaking and 

 leatherwork. He now makes and mends shoes and 

 repairs harness for people in the village and for 

 people on the ncigliboring farms. He is quite sat- 

 isfied with his life in Bananal and wants to re- 

 main. He does not associate much with the 

 Terena because he claims they are dangerous when 

 they get drunk. He is, however, always willing 

 to help them by giving remedies and blessings to 

 the sick. The Terena like him. 



Domingos Verissimo Marcos, who is about 20 

 years of age, is the son of Terena parents. He 

 learned to read and write at the Protestant mis- 

 sion school. He reads the Bible and sometimes 

 newspapers. 



After leaving school he worked as a laborer on 

 farms, where he learned to be a mason. For a 

 while he worked as an assistant to Aurelio's son 

 who is a mason in Aquidauana. At present, he is 

 living with Domingos Miguel, the storekeeper, 

 but intends to go out to work for a while before 

 he marries and settles down in Bananal. 



THE VILLAGE OF BANANAL, 



The village of Bananal (P. I. Taunay) is situ- 

 ated about 4 km. north of the railroad station of 

 Taunay. Bananal and the surrounding Indian 

 lands are located on a low plateau which rises 

 gently from the valley of the Aquidauana River. 

 The soils of the plateau, laterites and tropical red 

 soils, are derived from a crystalline base. The 

 native vegetation belonging to the savanna belt 

 of Central Brazil consists of scrub forest and 

 grass, with heavier forest in the permanent water 

 courses. The plateau is cut by numerous streams 

 which are practically dry in the dry season but 

 swell into relatively large streams during the rains 

 extending from October to Ajiril. Erosion is 

 superficial, as the vegetative cover has not been dis- 

 turbed by overgrazing or extensive plowing. 



The village is laid out in rectangular blocks 

 separated by broad streets lined with mango trees. 

 The central avenue forms part of the road which 

 runs from Taunay to the Terena village of Ipegue, 

 .';ome 3 km. northeast of Bananal. Surrounding 

 Bananal and Ipegue are large fazendas, many of 

 which are connected by minor roads or paths. 



The water supply for the inhabitants of the vil- 

 lage is furnished by 12 wells, ranging in depth 

 from 40 to 50 feet, 6 of which were constructed 

 by the Government. At least two of the Govern- 

 ment wells are furnished with jDumps, one being 

 operated by a windmill. Water for the stock, 

 washing clothes, and taking baths is furnished by 

 two dams on the outskirts of the village. Fire- 

 wood for cooking is cut in the scrub forest out- 

 side the village. Areas not fenced in for farming 

 are used as common pasture. 



The official center of Bananal is the Post, con- 

 sisting of such buildings as the residence of the 

 manager, the school, the hospital, and the official 

 visitors" building. These buildings are all made 

 of red brick with tile roofs and unglazed tile floors. 

 They are fenced in and surrounded by orange, 

 lemon, and mango trees. None of the buildings 

 have more than one story. In addition to these 

 Government buildings, there is the Protestant 

 mission school and the Catholic church. The rest 

 of the buildings belong to the Indians. From a 

 total of 86 buildings in the village, 75 are occupied. 



Terena houses vary, not so much in size and 

 shape, as in the material from which they are con- 



