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



29 



feathers. The war chief had considerable au- 

 thority over warriors both on war parties and dur- 

 ing periods of training. The position of the war 

 chief was not a hereditary one altliough his son 

 could succeed him. A new chief was always se- 

 lected from among outstanding warriors on the 

 basis of merit — he had to have killed at least one 

 enemy and to have otherwise distinguished him- 

 self as a leader and a man of courage. 



The ceremony during which a new war chief 

 was chosen was a serious and solemn occasion. 

 The moiety chiefs called all the men of the village 

 together and extolled the merits of the candidate 

 for war chieftainship. The men-in-council would 

 then signify their assent. After the selection was 

 made, a slave would fill and light a clay pipe and 

 offer it to the old war chief, who, owing to age, 

 illness, or wounds, no longer wished to go to 

 war. After taking a few puffs the old war chief 

 would kneel on one knee before the candidate and 

 oU'er him the pipe saying, "I am now being relieved 

 of the responsibilities of leadership and hope that 

 you will carry on my task with success." He 

 would then rise, take off his jaguar skin shirt 

 and offer it to the new chief as a symbol of his 

 new status. The new war chief would accept 

 it often with tears in his eyes, as he knew that 

 he must now be in the forefront of all battles 

 and that his life was in great danger. 



While in the Chaco the Terena carried on war- 

 fare for captives, hoi-ses, cattle, sheep, and other 

 loot. During large raids many villages combined, 

 the ablest war chief being selected to lead the 

 war party. The moiety chiefs fought with the 

 tribesmen but not in the front rank ; this position 

 was reserved for men who had committed some 

 criminal act, and if they succeeded in killing an 

 enemy they were considered free men. Fighting 

 was carried on with a bow and arrows pointed with 

 deer antler, often poisoned and feathered with 

 vulture feathers; the javelin which in historic 

 times had an iron head ; and a heavy wooden sword. 



From what has been said we get a general pic- 

 ture of Terena social organization during the time 

 the Terena were living in the Chaco. That they 

 were village-dwelling agriculturists appears to 

 be corroborated by the accounts of Sanchez Labra- 

 dor. How much this village life was modified by 

 the introduction of the horse is not quite so clear. 

 From statements made by the Terena it seems 



that mobile warfare and the increasing dependence 

 upon loot in the form of livestock and war cap- 

 tives led to a degree of nomadism and a band 

 type of organization, with the war chief guiding 

 the movements of several villages. Although the 

 unati and tlieir relatives remained the class of 

 highest rank, they state that the war chief was 

 the individual of highest rank ; this would appear 

 to support the assumption that once raiding be- 

 came important, the mobile band also became im- 

 l^ortant much after the pattern of the Mbaya. who 

 were organized into bands. Yet the Terena never 

 quite gave up their dependence upon agi-iculture 

 and appear to have planted crops whenever pos- 

 sible. When we first hear of the Terena in the 

 accounts of Sanchez Labrador in the year 1767, 

 they, along with their Chami brethren, were agri- 

 culturists settled near the Apa tributary of the 

 Paraguay River. Just prior to their movement 

 to their jjresent location in 1845, they had moved 

 near the present site of Corumba, 300 km. to the 

 north. This fact, therefore, also seems to add 

 evidence to the assumption that the horse inaugu- 

 rated a nomadic type of life. 



The law-enforcing group was the extended fam- 

 ily. If a man committed murder the relatives of 

 the murdered maai would try to kill the murderer 

 in revenge. By custom, only 1 day was allowed 

 for retaliation. If the murderer escaped to his 

 own relatives and an attempt was made to kill him 

 a feud would follow. To avoid this, custom de- 

 manded that the murderer be placed in the fore- 

 front in the next raid. If he succeeded in killing 

 an enemy, the crime would be expiated. If he did 

 not succeed, he would have to continue until he 

 killed an enemy or was killed himself. This rule 

 applied to members of all classes. It is said that 

 the relatives of the murdered man saw to it that 

 the murderer had little chance of avoiding death 

 at the hands of the enemy. 



If a man caught another in the act of adultery 

 with his wife, he could kill the man, which would 

 settle the matter. He could kill his wife also, but 

 he usually contented himself by beating her. But 

 if the adulterer killed the husband it, also, was not 

 considered murder, as he was defending his life. 

 This, however, brought shame to the husbands 



