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



51 



ing their children in their arms. The only light is 

 a lantern or two in the house. The young men 

 stand around in small groups and when the music 

 starts they rush for their partners. After the 

 dance is over they leave their partners without 

 escorting them to their seats. While the dance is 

 in progress men and boys sit on the grass just 

 outside the dance circle and play cards and other 

 games. Usually there are a few intoxicated men 

 who provide a certain amomit of comic relief. 

 Quarreling and fighting are not common during 

 dances. Generally the dance is over by midnight. 



FOOTBALL 



The Terena say that football (soccer) was first 

 introduced into Bananal in 1933 from Taunay, the 

 nearest Brazilian settlement. The first captain 

 was Eleuterio. For one reason or another inter- 

 est declined until 1941 when Leao and Bertolino 

 formed a football club. The manager of the Post 

 is a football enthusiast and assists the Terena in 

 organizing games. There are, today, three foot- 

 ball teams in Bananal — two leading teams and a 

 third practice team. Plajers are selected by Berto- 

 lino and Leao, and anyone who is able to play or 

 is not a personal enemy of the two captains can 

 enter the teams. One team, however, is predomi- 

 nantly Protestant while the other is predominantly 

 Catholic. The manager of the Post favors the 

 Catholic team. The members of the No. 1 team 

 wear green-and-red-colored shirts and have a black 

 and white flag. Two football teams also exist in 

 the neighboring Terena village of Cachoeirinha. 



Each player has to buy his own shirt which costs 

 from 6 to 7 dollars. The wife of the manager 

 of the Post presented each player with a pair of 

 shorts and gave each team its flag. The captains 

 bought three footballs for about 1 dollar each. 

 About half of the players prefer to play barefoot, 

 the others using cheap shoes costing about a dollar 

 a pair. There is a football field located near 

 the Catholic church in Bananal where the teams 

 practice in the evenings and and where matches 

 are played against the neighboring teams. 



From observation it can be said that the Terena 

 are comparatively good players, for they win about 

 as many games against the Brazilians as they lose. 



They usually win when playing on their own field. 

 The Terena players follow the same rules of play 

 as the Brazilians. They do not play rough and 

 seldom try to retaliate if an opponent injures 

 them in play. They play because they enjoy the 

 game and are even willing to pay their own way 

 to the neighboring towns of Miranda and Taunay 

 to play against Brazilian teams. 



Games are played on Saturdays, Sundays, and 

 saints' days against the Taunay team. The Terena 

 are an enthusiastic audience and cheer their team 

 and also any good player whether in their own 

 team or in the opposing team. The games are 

 played alternately in Bananal and in Taunay. 

 Games with Miranda, Aquidauana, Cachoeirinha, 

 and Bodoquena are played on special holidays 

 only, as on September 7 (Independence Day), 

 November 1.5 (Proclamation of the Eepublic), 

 and on New Year's Day. 



HORSE It^CING 



Another form of entertainment in which the 

 Terena indulge is horse racing. There are no fixed 

 dates for racing, the matter being left to pairs 

 of horse owners who wish to challenge each other. 

 Horse races are always run in pairs. A man may 

 challenge another and bet a certain amount on 

 his horse. This wager is made before witnesses 

 and if the challenger backs out of his bet he can be 

 made to pay. On a race day, therefore, there may 

 be a number of pairs of races. 



The race course, about 100 m. long, is on the 

 outskirts of the village and consists of two paral- 

 lel paths. A pair of riders go to the starting 

 point and start by common agreement, usually 

 after a number of false starts. Sometimes handi- 

 caps are given, as most Indians know the speeds 

 of each other's horses. The public gathers at the 

 finishing point, and bets on the outcome of the 

 races are made by pairs of individuals. There are 

 no special rules or control over betting, which 

 ranges from 25 cents to 5 dollars. Even if only 

 one race is arranged the day before, it usually 

 happens that young men coming on horseback to 

 watch the races will challenge each other on the 

 field so that five or six races may actually be run. 



