50 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 9 



every night so that every sequence can be executed 

 more or less automatically. The two leaders de- 

 mand strict discipline, reprimand careless dancers, 

 and are careful about the selection of the drum- 

 mers and flute players. Drinking is forbidden 

 during the practice period. 



On the appointed day the dancers meet at dawn 

 in one of the broad streets in the village of Bananal. 

 They form two parallel lines, the dancers stand- 

 ing abreast of one another about 2 feet apart, each 

 line being headed by its dance leader. Facing 

 them are the musicians. Wlien the music starts 

 the leaders guide their resjjective columns, one 

 turning to the right, the other to the left, but 

 each man in the column must come to the posi- 

 tion first held by his leader before he begins mak- 

 ing the turn. In this way the two columns form 

 circles, the leaders meeting where the rear men 

 in the columns began, then dancing abreast they 

 come to their original positions. During each of 

 these turns the dancers go through a different 

 sequence. In the first turn one end of the stick 

 rests on the thigh while it is held upright in the 

 hand. This sequence has a characteristic step. 

 In the next the stick is carried like a spear. In 

 the following step the stick is held in the middle 

 and following the leaders each man strikes his 

 stick against that of the man abreast of him — 

 once below, twice above — making a triple clack, 

 clack-clack .sound. In one sequence the bow is 

 used instead of the stick. In another the dancers 

 intermingle in small circles, beating their sticks. 

 The dance begins slowly, the tempo increasing as 

 the dance continues. The movements give one the 

 impression of contest between two columns, as if 

 they were going through a mock battle. 



After the sequences are completed, the colunms 

 separate, each following a drummer and a flute 

 player. They go through the village and dance 

 before each house, receiving coffee or some other 

 beverage from the occupants. The two columns 

 keep dancing until one by one the two leaders lose 

 their followers. The leader who loses all his fol- 

 lowers first is the loser. The winning dance leader 

 is then carried on the shoulders of his followers, 

 seated on a stretcher made from the dancing sticks. 

 The chief of the village then provides food and 

 drink for all the dancers. 



To an observer the non-Indian characteristics of 

 the kohi-shoti-kipahi', or "bate-pau," are at once 



ai^parent. While it is true that the body paint- 

 ings, the rhea feather skirts and diadems, and 

 the flutes and the bows aj^pear to be of Indian 

 origin, one is nevertheless impressed by the Euro- 

 pean tempo of the dance rhythm. The drum used 

 is not the skin-covered pot used in the chukuchu 

 but a European-type drum suspended in front 

 by a strap aiound the neck. The manner in which 

 the sticks are used is European in appearance. 

 There is no singing, so common in Indian dances. 



When questioned about the "bate-pau," which, 

 literally, means "beat the stick," the Terena say 

 that it is post-Chaco, in other words, that it was 

 danced only after the Terena settled in their pres- 

 ent location in Brazil. They say that it was re- 

 vealed to one of their shamans in a dream, who 

 then taught the Indians how to dance it. Actu- 

 ally the Brazilian origin of the "bate-pau" is as 

 easy to trace as the origin of the Iiiia. In Brazil 

 there is a pageant known as the "mozambique" 

 wliich is danced by the "caboclos." Like the "con- 

 gada," it is a reenactment of the historic conflict 

 of Christian and Moor in Portugal. The Terena 

 no doubt observed the "mozambique" while they 

 were working together with the Brazilian "ca- 

 boclos" on the fazendas and adopted it, adding 

 to it their own body paintings and costumes. The 

 opposition between Christian and Moor fitted into 

 the Terena pattern of moiety opposition in cere- 

 monial activities. 



In addition to the dance of the shamans and the 

 "bate-pau," the Terena dance modern dances 

 (polka and one-step) which they have learned 

 while working on the fazendas. A dance is gen- 

 erally held on Saturday night, additional dances 

 being held on saints' days and political holidays. 

 The music is jarovided by a violinist and an ac- 

 cordion player, the tunes being Paraguayan and 

 Bolivian in origin. The typical Brazilian samba 

 has not diffused this far west as yet. 



Usually a man invites people to a dance at 

 his house and arranges for the music. About 7 

 or 8 o'clock in the evening the young people 

 wander slowly to the place where the dance 

 will be held, the girls and young men going in 

 separate groups, only married couples going to- 

 gether with their children. The owner of the 

 house places benches outside his house on which 

 the girls sit. A little to one side sit the musicians. 

 Older people squat on the ground, the women hold- 



