24 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 9 



trees, particularly, are not only fruit producers but 

 provide excellent shade for humans and animals 

 alike. The best soils are in the bottom lands along 

 the stream beds. Soils from the slopes have 

 washed down to these level areas and denser vege- 

 tation has provided a top soil of humus. The In- 

 dian takes care, however, not to select his field 

 too near the streams as flash floods during the 

 rainy season are common. Sugarcane, particu- 

 larly, is grown in these moist areas. Rice also is 

 sometimes grown here, but since moisture condi- 

 tions are too uncertain the Terena are gradually 

 giving up the attempt to gi'ow rice near the village. 

 When a Terena has selected his field he fences it 

 to keep out the cattle and horses which roam 

 freely over the Post lands. If his field is small 

 he puts up a brushwood fence, if it is large the 

 manager of the Post supplies him with barbed 

 wire. Barnyard manure is not used except on 

 areas cultivated by the Post. After a year or two 

 the Indian abandons his field and moves to another 

 site. Although land is plentiful, good areas tend 

 to be selected farther and farther from the village 

 and this tendency has led some of the Terena to 

 build houses on their lands and to settle perma- 

 nently away from the village proper. 



When a Terena has selected his field and fenced 

 it, he clears off the trees and undergrowth with 

 an ax and a machete. The trunks and large limbs 

 of the trees are cut up for firewood and carried 

 to the village. Branches, weeds, and tall grass 

 are burned and the ashes spread over the field 

 and hoed into the ground. The field is now ready 

 for planting. 



Manioc. — As manioc is the principal food and 

 article of trade of the Terena it is also the prin- 

 cipal crop. About half of the total cultivated land 

 is planted in manioc. Both sweet and bitter 

 manioc are cultivated. As bitter manioc is the 

 source of manioc meal, more of this variety is 

 grown than of the sweet variety. 



Manioc is planted at the beginning of the rainy 

 season, that is, in late August or September, in 

 rows about 3 feet apart. In each row a man makes 

 holes about 2iA feet apart and 6 inches deep with 

 a hoe. Another person follows, sometimes the 

 man's wife or son, placing pieces of manioc cut- 

 tings in the holes and covering the holes with his 

 foot. After 20 days the field is weeded to give the 

 young plants an opportunity to grow. Thirty days 



later the field is weeded again with a hoe. After 

 this weeding the manioc plant is strong enough to 

 overcome the weeds and no more weeding is neces- 

 sary. Sweet manioc takes 8 months to mature, and 

 bitter manioc 1 year. Even then, mature manioc is 

 left in the ground until required. 



Sweet manioc is dug up as needed for daily use, 

 the tubers being boiled or baked. Less often, boiled 

 sweet manioc is mashed, made into cakes, and 

 baked. Sweet manioc is also widelj' used in soups 

 made with dried meat and onions. This latter dish 

 is probably of Brazilian origin because one meets 

 it in a "caboclo" hut as well as in a first-class hotel. 



Bitter manioc, on the other hand, cannot be used 

 until the poisonous acid is expelled. Bitter manioc 

 is dug up by rows and processed. An Indian will 

 say, "Today I am going to dig up two rows of 

 manioc,'' which means that he is going to prepare 

 a certain amount of manioc meal. In collecting 

 manioc a man is usuallj^ assisted by his family, all 

 carrying netted bags or large baskets and digging 

 sticks. The stalk is pulled up and the dark brown 

 tubers, ranging from G to 18 inches in length, are 

 dug up and placed in the bags and baskets and car- 

 ried home. At the back of the house the women 

 clean the tubers, scraping off the loose dirt, small 

 roots, and skin. The white tubers are now ready 

 for grating. There are at least three principal 

 types of graters. The simplest kind consists of a 

 board with many nails driven through it so that 

 one side is covered with spikes protruding about a 

 quarter of an inch from the board. A woman then 

 passes a tuber over the grater until it is reduced to 

 shreds. Another type of grater resembles our 

 kitchen grater, being a piece of tin with many 

 holes punched through it, and is used in the same 

 manner. A more efficient grater is made by cover- 

 ing a wooden cylinder with a sheet of tin punched 

 full of holes. This roller is then fixed to the 

 center of a special table and is turned by hand, 

 the gi'ated manoic falling into a vessel below. 



The Terena no longer squeeze manioc pulp in a 

 cotton cloth with sticks at both ends to give added 

 purchase. Today, following the Brazilian custom, 

 they put the pulp in a wooden press and squeeze 

 out the juice, which contains a poisonous acid. 

 The resulting semidry mass, called hihi, is first 

 dried in the sun, then put through a rough sieve, 

 and later toasted over a fire in a large iron pan. 

 The meal, yunia, is then i-eady for use. It is eaten 



