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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 9 



grandson being tormed lualudl and granddaughter 

 being iuat. 



Terms for affinal relatives are as follows: 

 Father's brother's wife is called eiodo (mother), 

 and mother's sister's husband inechudi. Father's 

 sister's husband is termed inechudi and mother's 

 brother's wife yeachudo. The term for wife is 

 yocana and the term for husband is yodava. A 

 father-in-law is called yoshirodi, and a mother-in- 

 law is called yoshirate. The term for brother- 

 in-law is radedeude and the term for sister-in-law 

 is gnlate. A son-in-law is called iradi and a 

 daughter-in-law is virate. 



An individual is prohibited from marrying 

 parallel and cross cousins, or anj'one whom he 

 or she calls sister or brother. Marriage was gen- 

 erally monogamous, but chiefs sometimes had 

 several wives in the past. Residence is matrilocal. 

 Even today men reside permanently in the houses 

 of their wives' parents. Both the father-in-law 

 and the mother-in-law avoidance are still in force. 

 When questioned about these avoidances, one in- 

 formant said, "I don't have a very happy life in 

 my wife's home. She and her parents own everj-- 

 thing and run the house to suit themselves." 

 Questioned as to how he managed to work with 

 his father-in-law when he was supposed to avoid 

 him, he explained that "he looked the other way" 

 when he spoke to his father-in-law. This in- 

 formant also volunteered the comment that matri- 

 local residence and father-in-law and mother-in- 

 law avoidances were very unpleasant customs. He 

 was undoubtedly comparing his tribal restrictions 

 to the greater freedom permitted a husband among 

 his Brazilian neighbors. 



LIFE CYCLE 



Birth, eniti, takes place in the house and in the 

 presence of a midwife. After the umbilical cord 

 dries and falls off the mother keeps it, for if some 

 animal were to eat it the child would turn into 

 that animal. The placenta is buried beneath the 

 mother's bed. The child takes the name of one 

 of its grandparents. The father of a new-born 

 child gives a dance and feast according to his 

 means. 



Sanchez Labrador and other writers have com- 

 mented on the Mbaya practice of infanticide. The 

 Caduveo admit that they practiced infanticide 

 in the past and claim that even today expectant 



mothers bring about abortion or kill the child at 

 birth. When questioned about this custom the 

 Caduveo explained that as a woman was prohibited 

 from having sexual intercouree while nursing a 

 child she would often kill the child rather than 

 have her husband desert her. Another reason 

 which they give is that as the Caduveo were foi'ced 

 to move rapidly from place to place, especially 

 after they adopted the horse, infants were a bur- 

 den and were not sought by married couples. To 

 maintain their numerical strength they captured 

 boys and girls who were able to take care of them- 

 selves. 



When a girl reaches the age of puberty she goes 

 through a puberty ceremony, niga-andke. She 

 paints her face white and over the white paints 

 characteristic Caduveo designs. She paints her 

 body red with "urucu." She then sits on a mat in 

 the center of the house with her head down so 

 as not to look directly at people. She uses a spe- 

 cial scratching stick, for if she uses her nails for 

 scratching she will become covered with sores. 

 The women of the village come to visit her and 

 sing and dance around her. Men also come, but 

 they do not go near her nor do they speak to 

 her. The father of the girl then brings a cow, 

 which is cut to pieces before the house. The cow 

 is not killed, but dies in the process of being cut 

 up. After the meat is cooked and eaten the people 

 sing and dance. It appears that a puberty cere- 

 mony is not given when boys reach puberty. After 

 puberty the parents are careful to see that a girl 

 does not have sexual intercourse before marriage. 

 Before the age of puberty boys are not allowed 

 to drink alcohol or mate tea, or to smoke, or to 

 have sexual intercourse; after puberty, however, 

 they do as they please. 



Marriage, wado, is arranged by the parents of 

 the boy and girl, the boy's parents taking the initia- 

 tive. If the parents of a boy wish him to marry 

 a certain girl the boy cannot refuse. Gifts are 

 then exchanged by the i^arents. On the day set 

 for the wedding, the groom, his parents, and 

 friends go to the bride's home. On reaching the 

 bride's house the group remains outside while a 

 messenger enters and explains that the groom has 

 arrived. The group then enters the bouse and 

 the bride's father tells the groom to sit on the 

 bride's bed. The bride's father then offers food 

 to the groom which he refuses. After some time 



