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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 9 



The continuous occupation by the Caduveo of 

 an isolated territory in soutliern Mato Grosso foi" 

 at least one hundred years has led to social isola- 

 tion. Although there are no permanent mission 

 stations on the reservation, the Caduveo are occa- 

 sionally visited by both Catholic and Protestant 

 missionaries who perform marriage ceremonies, 

 baptize children, and hold mass or preach sermons. 

 But by no means all children are baptized or all 

 couples married by the church. There are no 

 stores on the reservation nor are traders permitted 

 for fear of importing alcoholic beverages. What 

 exchanges take place are between the Caduveo and 

 the Post manager. The great distances from the 

 towns on the Paraguayan border and the necessity 

 of traveling on the railroad to reach miportant 

 Brazilian towns has proved a bar against travel 

 to the outside. Even when trips are made they 

 are usually in connection with Post affairs. Al- 

 though the Caduveo work on the neighboring 

 fazendas they do so while they are young, stay- 

 ing away for a number of years after which they 

 marry and remain on the reservation. 



The important contact agent on the reservation 

 is the Indian Service Post of Alves de Barros lo- 

 cated at the foot of the Serra da Bodoquena. 

 Around the central Post building, occupied by 

 the manager and his family and the Government 

 school, are scattered the 17 houses of the Caduveo 

 who live at the Post. About 5 km. to the south 

 there is a small but much older Caduveo village 

 called Pitoco. At present, a representative of the 

 Indian Service is located there in charge of a herd 

 of Government-owned cattle. Part of his duties 

 consists in teaching the Indians how to take care 

 of livestock and in assisting them in the cultiva- 

 tion of small gardens. The largest Caduveo vil- 

 lage, Nalique, is situated near the southern boun- 

 dary of the reservation and is occasionally visited 

 by the manager. At present the Caduveo are 

 moving away from Nalique and establishing a new 

 village nearby. It is not uncommon, however, to 

 find temporary settlements of two or three houses 

 scattered over the reservation, determined, no 

 doubt, by the movements of game. 



As among the Terena, the manager of the Post 

 maintains order, listens to complaints, and tries 

 minor cases. In these activities he is assisted by 

 the Caduveo chiefs. At Alves de Barros there 

 is a head chief and several minor chiefs. The 



head chief still enjoys the prerogatives of the tra- 

 ditional form of chieftainship. Neither he nor 

 his family hunt, fish, cultivate gardens or work 

 outside the reservation. The local people provide 

 him with food and repair his house. The mana- 

 ger of the Post pays him for acting as a foreman 

 in performing various tasks around the Post. Al- 

 though he speaks and acts in a superior manner, 

 he is not above begging for empty tin cans and 

 discarded pieces of clothing. The minor chiefs 

 are descendants of the chiefly class of former days 

 but outside of their conceited manners there is 

 little to distinguish them from the rest of the 

 tribesmen. 



The economic functions of the manager of the 

 Post are far more important among the Caduveo 

 than among the Terena. As has already been 

 mentioned, the manager buys whatever hides and 

 skins the Indians have for sale and supplies them 

 in return with clothing, tools, and foodstuffs such 

 as mate tea, sugar, corn meal, and rice. For work 

 on the Post fields, in repairing the buildings, in 

 keeping the trails free from grass and under- 

 gi'owth, and for transporting Post supplies by ox- 

 cart, the manager pays the Indians 10 cruzeiros 

 a day. Work is so organized that all the family 

 heads get an opportunity to work for the Post 

 a given number of weeks per year. If the In- 

 dians require articles not in stock at the Post, the 

 manager arranges credit at a store in Taunay 

 where the Indians are able to satisfy their wants. 

 This device is necessary to prevent the Caduveo 

 from spending their money on "pinga" or cane 

 rum. 



The manager also stated that at various times 

 in the past the Government had supplied the 

 Caduveo with cattle but that as soon as an Indian 

 gets hungry he will kill his cow and eat it. The 

 Caduveo also like to give feasts, during which they 

 kill whatever cattle they have. In this way the 

 Caduveo soon dispose of their livestock. At 

 present the manager controls the cattle on the Post 

 and when an animal is butchered the people at 

 Alves de Barros share the meat. 



The wife of the manager is the school teacher, 

 and the Caduveo children receive about 4 years of 

 schooling. After 4 years' attendance a few are 

 able to read Portuguese, but none were found who 

 could write even the simplest letter. In addition to 

 her teaching activities, the wife of the manager 



