56 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 9 



place and it is the obligation of the initiate to ofTer re- 

 fresliments to Iiis masters. They drink until they lose 

 their senses. During the drinking the initiated one 

 efjuipped with his lodani and otigadi . . . continues to 

 sing during the entire night. 



They have persuaded the people that tliey can com- 

 municate with the devil, and that this evil spirit tells them 

 the causes of sickness and the cure, and also about the 

 healUi and death of a i>atient. And in case the sick i)erson 

 becomes impatient, they pretend that the spirit appears 

 to tliem and sits beside them giving instruction in familiar 

 conversation. 



Practices of the nigicnUji. First, they cure the sick 

 without any science, as we shall see below. Secondly, at 

 night, or any tixue which pleases them, they take their 

 lodani and sing, lulling other pi>ople to sleep, protecting 

 them so that they might go on sleeping without fear of 

 enemies or misfortunes. Thirdly, they sing and shake 

 their calabashes when the sky darkens and a storm threat- 

 ens. They say that they can foretell the coming of 

 storms and can dissi[)ate them with their tricks. They 

 actually breathe hard in the clirecti<in of a cloud as if 

 they were blowing it away. Fourthly, when a child is 

 horn and after being washed in cold water, it is taken 

 to a nigicnigi who sings it a happy future . . . Fifthly, 

 when the.v go on a journey they lock themselves in the day 

 before and their oracles tell them about the fate of the 

 journey . . . Sixthly, they dream that their lalcniyi, or 

 devil, takes tliem away, flying over the clouds and reveals 

 to them from this lieight all the evil.s, illness, hunger, etc., 

 which can affect people and which they prevent from fall- 

 ing on the Eyiguayegui due to their great gifts . . . 



Tliey have the evil custom of making others believe that 

 if anyone enters their mat-house while they are curing 

 or chanting for something else, as punishment . . . the 

 person will lose his life or at least his sight. [Ibid., vol, 2, 

 pp. 32-35.] 



Sanchez Labrador then goes on to describe a 

 curing ceremony. The sick man is taken to the htit 

 of a sliaman which is usually walled in with mats 

 to keep people from seeing what goes on. "While 

 the shaman chants over the patient he shakes his 

 rattle with his right hand and holds the tufts of 

 rhea feathers in his left hand. Sometimes the 

 spirit of the shaman goes to the cemetery to request 

 the ghosts of the dead to allow the soul of the 

 patient to return to its body. Sometimes, too, he 

 sucks the painful part of the body extracting a 

 straw, a thorn, a piece of bark, a small fish, or a 

 worm from his mouth (Sanchez Labrador, vol. 2. 

 pp. 3.5-37). 



About their religious beliefs he says the 

 following : 



They have elementary notions about the immortality of 

 the soul. From the natural piety which they exhibit 

 towards their dead and in the practices which they per- 

 form while dressing the corpses, etc., prove that they 



know that the soul is immortal and that it will go on 

 to another life. But its lands are not different than those 

 in which it lived while in the village. They do not believe 

 that good deeds are rewarded in heaven, nor that evil 

 ones are eternally punished. The dead enjoy a better 

 status, participating in feasts, amusements and other 

 functions which do not fatigue them. But all this they do 

 near the najiiog or mats in which they are buried. [Ibid., 

 vol. 2, pp. 53-54.] 



THE CADUVEO TODAY 



In contrast to the Terena, the Caduveo have, 

 during the last hundred years, enjoyed a much 

 greater degree of isolation and i^ermanence in set- 

 tlement. As one would expect, this isolation has 

 contributed to the perpetuation of certain tradi- 

 tional practices in economy, social organization, 

 and religious and ceremonial life. This isolation 

 is primarily due to the location of the territory 

 which the Caduveo selected for their home ij 

 and which they held against foreign encroach- I 

 ment imtil the beginning of the present century 

 when their rights of occupation were recognized 

 by the Brazilian Government. 



The Caduveo claim that they selected their jires- 

 ent location not only because it was rich in game 

 but because it was easy to defend against Indian 

 hunters and Brazilian cattlemen. To the east the i 

 steep escarpment of the Serra da Bodoquena was a I 

 natural barrier against surprise attacks from the 

 Brazilian and Indian settlements in the Miranda 

 River Basin. To the north and south the marshes 1 

 surrounding the Nabileque and Aquidaban Rivers 1 

 were similarly a hindrance to encroacliment by 

 hunting bands and cattle herds. 



Just as the location of the reservation afforded 

 protection in the past, it is today proving a bar- 

 rier to contacts with the outside world. The 

 nearest Caduveo village lies 54 km. south from the 

 Noroeste Railroad and can be reached only on 

 horseback or by oxcart over difficult trails. Dis- 

 tances to i^arts on the Paraguay River are even 

 greater. The reservation is flanked by large cattle 

 fazendas whose owners, while they recognize 

 Caduveo territory, are suspicious of people mov- 

 ing over their lands to reach the reservation. An- 

 other circimistance that contributes to this isola- 

 tion and independence is the great size of the 

 reservation. The Caduveo have large areas over 

 which to hunt, to herd what little livestock they 

 have, and to shift their settlements. 



