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



27 



When the water boils, the woman of the house 

 puts a handful of mate leaves into a special mate 

 calabash and pours the boiling water over the 

 leaves. Every one, starting with the father, then 

 sucks mate through a tube, the calabash being 

 passed from liand to hand until all have had 

 enough. The tube may be of cane or if the family 

 has enough money it may even be of metal. A 

 decorated silver tube is a luxury which few Terena 

 can afford. After drinking mate the people eat 

 whatever is left over from the last evening's meal, 

 such as boiled sweetpotatoes, meat mixed with 

 manioc meal, or whatever fruit may be available. 



After breakfast the men take their tools and go 

 to work, either to their fields or to their carpentry 

 or building. Unless field work is urgent the women 

 and children remain at home, the women prepar- 

 ing manioc meal, sewing, washing clothes, and 

 preparing the noonday meal. Right after break- 

 fast the women go to the wells in the village to 

 draw water. They fill their water pots and carry 

 them to their houses on their heads. Often many 

 women meet at a well, each taking her turn at 

 drawing water with a metal bucket attached to 

 a rope. In the meantime, the other women are 

 engaged in conversation, usually amid peals of 

 laughter. 



When the sun reaches the zenith, the men return 

 to their houses where the women have prepared 

 a meal of beans, manioc, and dried meat. Each 

 one fills his dish from the cooking pots and sits 

 apart to eat, sometimes sitting on a low stool but 

 usually squatting on the ground. Mothers provide 

 the food for the younger children. Mate is drunk 

 after the meal. Eating is a private act, while 

 drinking mate from a common calabash brings 

 everyone together. The Terena consider mate 

 drinking an important social activity. After eat- 

 ing, both men and women lie in hammocks to rest. 

 Around 2 or 3 o'clock they arise to return to woik. 

 In order to prevent the siesta from becoming too 

 long the Post manager rings a bell sometime be- 

 tween 2 and 3 o'clock. 



Near sunset the men return home, rest awhile, 

 drink mate, wash themselves, and put on clean 

 clothing. The wives then call the men for the 

 evening meal, which usually consists of beans, 

 rice, manioc, and perhaps some kind of meat. 

 Sometimes the people eat "rapadura" or perhaps 

 sirup with manioc meal before drinking more mate. 



78S507— 49 3 



After resting, the men saunter around the village 

 visiting their relatives and friends and discuss- 

 ing their crops and activities of the day. The 

 women remain at home but men gather in small 

 groups in front of the houses aiid are served mate 

 by the women. Conversation goes on for some 

 time after darkness falls. By 9 o'clock the visitors 

 return to their respective houses and retire for 

 the night. In hot weather people sleep naked, 

 covered only by a thin cotton cover. In cold 

 weather the men sleep in their shorts. If the 

 mosquitoes are bad, thin cotton cloth serves as a 

 makeshift mosquito net. No proper mosquito nets 

 are used by the Terena. 



During the rainy season when the crops are 

 growing the men often remain at home repairing 

 their houses or assisting one another in building 

 new ones, repairing saddles, making handles for 

 axes and hoes, and weaving fans, baskets, and 

 mats. During this period the women spin cotton 

 yarn, weave hammocks, make pottery, and sew 

 clothes for themselves and their families. As 

 everywhere in the world, the women have such 

 constant duties as cleaning the house, cooking, 

 washing, and taking care of the children. The 

 older children, when not at school, are with their 

 parents assisting them in everyday activities, little 

 by little learning the conunon duties and tech- 

 niques of adult life. 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 



MOIETIES 



Terena informants relate that when they were 

 in the Chaco they lived in villages and were di- 

 vided into endogamous moieties. One moiety was 

 called the »uki)'ikion6 or gentle people ("mansa" 

 in Portuguese) , and the other the shumono or wild 

 people ("brava" in Portuguese). Although these 

 moieties were primarily ceremonial units, they 

 exercised some social control over their members 

 by regulating marriage and acting in council to 

 settle matters concerning group decisions. 



Each moiety had a chief {unatl ashe). Any vil- 

 lage of any size, therefore, had two moiety chiefs. 

 The symbols of moiety chieftainship consisted of 

 a small calabash {kali itd'aka), a trumpet made 

 from a cow's horn, and a loincloth somewhat 

 shorter than that worn by nonchiefs. There was 

 no head chief for either moiety nor for the Terena 

 people as a whole. Each chief was the ceremonial 



