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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 9 



dance and the "bate-pau"' are organized bj^ dance 

 leaders. In economic affairs there is some degree 

 of specialization, owing to the presence of stores, 

 masons, carpenters, and commercial agricultural 

 activities. 



The Terena as a people are linked to the non- 

 Indian world, first, by being made a part of the 

 Brazilian State through the activities of the In- 

 dian Service and its representatives, the Post 

 managers. Secondly, they are linked to the Cath- 

 olic and Protestant churches by means of the mis- 

 sionaries active among them. Thirdly, they are 

 economically linked to the fazendas and neighbor- 

 ing towns owing to dependence upon wage work. 



The attitude of the local Brazilian toward the 

 Terena is one of tolerant disdain. Like other In- 

 dians they are sometimes called "bugres," a term 

 of abuse associated with sodomy and heresy. The 

 Indian, a Brazilian will say, is "a drunkard, a 

 thief, lazy, and unreliable. He works when he 

 feels like it and will leave his job for no reason 

 at all." There is, however, no discrimination on 

 racial grounds ; if an Indian is educated and a good 

 worker he is accepted as an equal. The Brazilian 

 treats a Terena as a member of a minority group 

 and points out the social characteristics of this 

 group. A Terena, on the other hand, accejits 

 Brazilians in general as superiors but adds that if 

 he were better educated he could compete with a 

 Brazilian on equal terms. That these attitudes 

 are rather class attitudes than race attitudes is re- 

 vealed by the statement which a Terena made about 

 the Caduveo, "If the Caduveo would only stop 

 hunting and killing one another and start farming 

 like we do they would be better off." The Terena 

 recognize the fact that the Caduveo were once 

 great warriors and held a superior position. But 

 as they are now poor hunters they are considered 

 as having lower status than the Terena. Status 

 differences between the Indian groups and between 

 the Brazilians and Indians are, therefore, pri- 

 mai'ily based on economic and social conditions 

 rather than on racial differences. 



THE LIFE CYCLE 



BIRTH (II'UHICOTI-HIUKA) 



The Terena recognize that pregnancy is caused 

 by sexual intercourse. A woman becomes aware 

 that she is pregnant when her menses cease and 



she has spells of nausea and is particular about 

 her food. In general the mother of a young woman 

 informs her about her condition. The Terena 

 have two words for pregnancy, ikaikone and 

 hochuecJiati. Tlie Terena distinguish between a 

 married man who is a father and one who is not, 

 a father being called imn and a childless man, inda. 



In the past, infanticide and aboi'tion were prac- 

 ticed. Whether this was an original Terena cus- 

 tom or was taken over from the Mbaya is not cer- 

 tain. As the Arawak-speaking Guana did not 

 2>ractice infanticide there is a strong likelihood 

 that the Terena took over this custom from the 

 Mbaya. The explanation the Terena now give for 

 infanticide is that it permitted a family to have 

 male and female children alternately. If the first 

 child was a boy, the second should be a girl and if 

 a boy was born, he was put to death by being 

 strangled at birth by the midwife. If a family 

 had too many children, or if children were incon- 

 venient, the expectant mother would go to a sha- 

 man who would make her drink a beverage pre- 

 pared from certain roots. If this failed the mother 

 might still have the child strangled. If a male 

 child was due to .survive, twins, if they were a boy 

 and a girl, were accepted; but if both were boys 

 one would be killed. Twins were due, they be- 

 lieved, to the fact that the mother had eaten double 

 fruits. 



If the child was wanted, the mother, in the past, 

 gave birth in her own home, attended by her 

 mother or mother-in-law. Shamans were called 

 only in cases of difficult birth. The husband must 

 cut the umbilical cord, uro. As far as the Terena 

 remember, no special knife was necessary to per- 

 form this act. The uro was later used as a charm 

 in cases of difficult birth by being placed on the 

 abdomen of a woman giving birth. In order to 

 give birth the mother squatted on her heels, sup- 

 porting herself by holding on to some stationary 

 object. The midwife would massage her abdomen 

 and assist in the removal of the child. The mid- 

 wife then washed the child and gave it to the 

 mother ; she then rested for 6 days before resuming 

 her duties. 



After the child was safely delivered the husband 

 would go out in search of "palmito de bocaiuva" 

 for his wife, for these palm shoots were believed 

 to induce a bountiful supply of milk. It was the 

 duty of the paternal gi'andfather to give a name 



