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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 9 



speak, read, and write Portuguese. But Terena 

 remains the language of the village. Among 

 themselves the Terena, young and old, use their 

 own language. It is but natural, therefore, that 

 certain Terena customs, beliefs, and values should 

 be perpetuated through the medium of the native 

 language. Shamanism, folklore, customs of 

 gi'eeting, and attitudes to one another and the 

 Brazilians are thus maintained. 



We iiave dealt, so far, with the conditions which 

 have led to the integration of the Terena as a 

 group and to the perjtetuation of Terena Indian- 

 ism. It still remains to be seen how the Terena 

 are articulated to the non-Indian world around 

 them. The primary contact agent and principal 

 molding force, of course, is the Indian Service as 

 represented by the Post manager. The manager 

 is the patron of the Indians. From him come 

 medical, legal, and economic assistance. The na- 

 ture of these interrelations has already been dis- 

 cussed. But in addition to these primary neces- 

 sities, the Post manager plays a role of far wider 

 personal significance. It is true that this role 

 varies with the personality of tlie manager but 

 all are required to provide leadership in main- 

 taining satisfactory relationship between the In- 

 dians and to develop a certain degree of patriotic 

 feeling among the natives under their charge. 

 This the manager does by displaynig the flag and 

 in leading the singing on important State holi- 

 days; in providing industrious natives with the 

 services of pure-bred bulls and roosters supplied 

 by the Indian Service; in giving small prizes to 

 children who do well in the school ; by supporting 

 at least one of the football teams by providing 

 sweaters and pennants; and by taking personal 

 interest in the families who measure up to the 

 demands of the Service. 



As the manager is the highest authority and 

 social leader in the village, it follows that status 

 among the Terena is measured in relation to the 

 patronage and good will of the manager. Out- 

 standing Terena are principally men who stand 

 high in the regard of the manager. To them the 

 manager gives positions of trust such as represent- 

 ing him in commercial connections with the fazen- 

 das, representing Indian affairs at headquarters, 

 and holding the position of policemen in the vil- 

 lage. To these men the manager gives special 

 assistance and materials in building houses and 



fences, and provides them with credit if they wish 

 to buy oxen, horses, saddles, and other equipment 

 beyond their immediate capacity to pay. On the 

 other hand, if the men are drunkards and shirk 

 their duties to their families and the Post, they are 

 required to work and receive not money but credit 

 for food and clothing at a certain store in the 

 nearby town of Taunay. It follows from this that 

 the manager has close friends and also enemies. 

 The present manager of Bananal claims that he 

 has an armed Indian bodyguard to protect him 

 from Indians who hate him for enforcing Indian 

 Service regulations. How much of this is really 

 due to specific Indian ill will or to the prevalent 

 custom in Mato Grosso of important men having 

 bodyguards is not quite certain. At least we can 

 say that social status or the lack of status is closely 

 connected with the manager of the Post. 



The other contact agent and molding force 

 among the Terena is the Protestant mission sta- 

 tion. The activities of the missionaries go far 

 beyond the inculcation of Protestant religious doc- 

 trine. Besides religious teaching the missionaries 

 supervise the moral behavior of their followers. 

 Smoking, drinking, dancing, and sex irregulari- 

 ties are prohibited, and the breaking of these rules 

 results in a loss of status, and of economic, medical, 

 and educational assistance. The son of the present 

 chief who had caused the pregnancy of a girl in 

 the village was asked by the missionaries to marry 

 the girl. For one reason or another the chief's 

 son refused to do so. The Protestant missionaries 

 were powerful enough to have the man exiled from 

 the village. This caused considerable disturbance 

 among the Indians, as neither the Indians nor the 

 Brazilians take the same view of the unmarried 

 mother as do the American Protestant mission- 

 aries. On the writer's last visit to Bananal both 

 the chief and his son had withdrawn from the set- 

 tlement and were living in a nearby town, at least 

 temporarily. Actually this matter had repercus- 

 sions on higher levels, for the Indian Service 

 closed the Protestant school for some months. 

 This event reveals the power and importance of the 

 Protestant missionaries in influencing life in the 

 village. Conformity to the Protestant way of life 

 is customarily achieved through economic and 

 medical rewards, and it does seem true that the 

 Protestant Indians have better and cleaner houses 

 and are educationally more advanced. Yet, it is 



