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



59 



attends to the simple medical wants of the In- 

 dians, binding injuries and dispensing such medi- 

 cines as aspirin, quinine, and laxatives. All these 

 services are available only to people who live near 

 Alves de Barros or who come there from more 

 distant parts of the reservation. 



The close supervision necessary on the reserva- 

 tion leads naturally to quarrels between the Cadu- 

 veo and the manager. The average Caduveo has 

 a high estimation of himself, and he has more 

 pride and independence than an average Terena. 

 Instead of performing his duties to the Post for 

 which he will be rewarded, he will spend weeks 

 out hunting, returning only when he is in dire 

 need to beg assistance from the manager. The 

 result of these quarrels leads to a constant state of 

 tension between the manager of the Post and the 

 Indians. Managers seldom remain at this Post 

 more than a few months. Some managers have 

 left in fear of their lives. 



ECONOMY 



The village of Alves de Barros, situated at the 

 foot of the Serra da Bodoquena, is the most ad- 

 vanced of the three Caduveo villages. Most of the 

 houses are mud and wattle one-room structures 

 with gable roofs thatched with grass or with palm 

 fronds. A few of the houses have palisade walls. 

 Sometimes the wall facing the path is only about 

 4 feet high or is missing altogether. Sometimes 

 three or four families build their one-room houses 

 end for end, leaving the front open. Low plat- 

 forms of bamboo, resting on forked stakes along 

 the back wall, serve as beds. These are usually 

 covered with cowhides or deerskins. The cooking 

 is done over small fires built on the floor of the 

 house. A few low benches serve as chairs. Fresh 

 or dried meat is hung from the upright house 

 posts, while ears of maize, manioc, and squashes 

 are kept in baskets or netted bags suspended from 

 the rafters. In most houses water is kept in a large 

 globular pot resting on a wooden tripod. Cooking 

 is usually done in iron pots although clay pots 

 are still widely used. 



Caduveo villages are not laid out in the or- 

 ganized pattern of Terena villages. The houses 

 occupied by the Caduveo at Alves de Barros are 

 scattered around the Post headquarters joined by 

 narrow paths. The small cultivated plots usually 

 surround the houses. The village of Pitoco con- 



sists of a few houses located around a small lake 

 or pond with adjoining cultivated areas. As 

 Caduveo villages are located near permanent 

 streams, water is always available and the sur- 

 rounding scrub forest provides a ready supply of 

 firewood and building material. 



Like the Terena, the Caduveo today dress in 

 European type of clothing, consisting of a pair of 

 trousers and a shirt. The men usually wear shoes 

 and a straw hat when they are riding or hunting. 

 Every man who can possibly afford it carries a 

 six-shooter in his belt. The hair is cut in the 

 modern European manner. Women buy cheap 

 cotton print from which they make dresses and 

 underclothing. Women are fond of necklaces 

 made from colored glass beads and old silver coins. 

 Even tin cans are turned into narrow tubes strung 

 on string alternating with beads or coins. Rings 

 and bracelets are made from silver obtained by 

 melting down silver coins. Women sometimes 

 paint designs on their faces, using soot mixed with 

 oil, the designs being related to those which the 

 Caduveo use in decorating pottery and leather 

 work. The hair is cut across the forehead and 

 tied at the nape with a cord. A few individuals 

 were seen with filed upper incisors. 



The major portion of their food supply the 

 Caduveo acquire by hunting and fishing. They 

 use old Mauser rifles which they obtain from the 

 Paraguayans by exchanging for them hides and 

 skins. The Paraguayans in turn obtained their 

 rifles from the Bolivians during the Chaco war. A 

 few old .44-caliber Winchester carbines are also 

 to be seen. The Caduveo buy black gimpowder and 

 lead and load their own cartridges. To save pow- 

 der and to prevent the old guns from blowing to 

 pieces the cartridges are loaded very lightly. The 

 gims are never cleaned, so in order to kill an animal 

 the hunter has to be within a hundred feet of his 

 target. Muzzle loaders, which are still widely used 

 in Brazil, were not seen among the Caduveo. The 

 game hunted are various kinds of deer, tapir, wild 

 pigs, capybaras, monkeys, jaguars, the rhea, and 

 other land and water birds. Various kinds of fish 

 are caught with hook and line and by poisoning 

 pools with "timbo." Meat is boiled, and if large 

 quantities are obtained some of the meat is dried 

 for future use. The Caduveo hunt not only for 

 food but for hides which they sell to dealers at 



