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



53 



The Guana, according to Sanchez Laborador, 

 appear to have been serfs of the Mbaya. The re- 

 hitionship of these two tribes, however, is not 

 exactly described: 



On the western bank tliey (the Mbaya) intermarriecl 

 with the pagan Guanft whom they call the Nlyolola and 

 who consider them (the Mbayii) at present as their feudal 

 lords. We could not determine that they were conquered 

 by arms, but only that they were united by marriages. 

 Some of the Eyiguayegui chiefs or captains married, 

 according to their rites, with Guanfi chieftainesses. Their 

 vassals, after their death, continued to consider the 

 descendants as their feudal lords. Thus they have con- 

 tinued until this day as we shall see below. I know 

 toda.v, two Eyiguayegui chiefs, one of whom was married 

 to n Guanil woman, but left her at the time I arrived, 

 and the other, being the famous Caminigo whose wife has 

 many Echoaladi vassal.s which form a numerous Guana 

 group, all of them being serfs. In those days there were 

 few Guanii, but at present they occupy seven settlements, 

 one of which, although not the largest, has more than nine 

 hundred families. The lands of these Guand are on the 

 western bank of the Paraguay, from one to four leagues 

 from the water. They are situated between parallels 19° 

 and 20° south. [Ibid., vol. 1, p. 2G7.] 



Di.scussing how the Mbaya treat tlie Guana, 

 Sanchez Labrador states : 



The ones that suffer the most from the Guaycurfl spirit 

 of robbery are the pagan Niyolola. They toil and cultivate 

 fields on difficult terrain. However, a great part of their 

 products is used as food by their vagabond masters. The 

 latter know very well at what time the maize, tobacco, 

 pumpkins, etc., ripen and they then visit the Niyolola fre- 

 quently and collect either by free will or by force, the 

 produce cf their efforts. [Ibid., vol. 1, p. 305.] 



In another section Sanchez Labrador seems to 

 imply that the Mbaya did not treat the Guana 

 too badly: 



The Ghana appreciated the Eyiguayegui coming to their 

 settlements. They lack knives, ransoms (rescates), and 

 similar things which their guests generally have. Thus 

 it happens that a Ghana vassal says to his master : "I have 

 no knife, etc., my chief." And tlie latter, if he has one 

 leaves it with his serf. And so women ask for glass 

 beads . . . and the Mbaya generously divides all his 

 dearest geegaws with her. [Ibid., vol. 2, p. 26S.] 



He also states that only the Mbaya chiefs had 

 Guana serfs which they acquired by marrying 

 Guana women : 



This is why only the Eyiguayegui chiefs have servants. 

 The common Guaycurfi acquired no such rights over these 

 people. This is why the Niyolola call the Guaycurfl chiefs 

 and their relatives "our chiefs." The rest of the popula- 

 tion and those not related to the chiefs they call "our 

 brothers." [Ibid., vol. 2, p. 267.] 



Although the above quotations leave no doubt 

 as to the superior position of the Mbaya, there 

 seem to have been differences in the degree in which 

 the Mbaya exercised their power. The ascendancy, 

 in some cases at least, was attained through inter- 

 marriage rather than by force. In some cases the 

 Guana welcomed their masters and received gifts 

 from them; in other cases the Mbaya took what 

 they wanted by force. Direct subservience ap- 

 pears to have been shown only to the Mbaya chiefs 

 who had made themselves masters through inter- 

 marriage with important Guana women. Dif- 

 ferences in treatment may also have varied from 

 one group to another. On the basis of the in- 

 formation supplied by Sanchez Labrador it would 

 appear that the bonds linking the Guana to the 

 Mbaya were those of kinship rather than military 

 domination of one entire group by another. 



The number of slaves among the Mbaya in- 

 creased rapidly after the adoption of the horse, 

 reaching their maximum figure about the end of 

 the 18th century, at which time they outnumliered 

 their masters in many Mbaya bands. These slaves 

 were not only Indians but Spanish and Portuguese 

 women and children. On the basis of informa- 

 tion given by Azara, Herbert Baldus says the fol- 

 lowing about the duties of the slaves : 



About the division of labor among the social strata, 

 Azara writes that the slaves of whom even the jworest 

 Guaicuru have three or four, fetch wood, cook, construct 

 houses, take care of horses and cultivate the soil, while 

 tlieir masters reserve for themselves the rights of hunting, 

 fishing and warfare. [Boggiani, 1945, p. 35.] 



Discussing the political and military organiza- 

 tion of the Mbaya, Sanchez Labrador stresses the 

 hierarchical divisions in the chiefly class or 

 nobility : 



Two classes of chiefs are found among these pagan 

 people. To the first belong those who are chiefs by right 

 of birth ; to the second, those who are elected chiefs by 

 favor. All of them are called Niniotagi but with this 

 difference, the real captains add to their title "great cap- 

 tains" whereas the others add "little captains." Cap- 

 tains by birth are, in the first place, the chief or head of 

 the settlement who is master of all the others. He is 

 the ninioiagicliodi or great captain. Secondly, all the 

 descendants and relatives of the chief of both sexes in any 

 line or degree also belong to the chiefly class by blood . . . 

 They are ninionif/iUonigi or lesser captains. The second 

 cliiefly class consists of all those who in their cradles re- 

 ceived their titles at the birth of a chief's son. They are 

 smaller captains and this is shown by calling them 

 vinionig-iguaga. The difference between these two classes 



