PREFACE 



This study constitutes a part of the joint pro- 

 gram in which the Institute of Social Anthro- 

 pology of the Smithsonian Institution and the 

 Escola Livre de Sociologia e Politica of Sao Paulo 

 are collaborating. The primary objectives of this 

 program are the training of local research person- 

 nel in social science methods and techniques, par- 

 tially in the classroom but more especially in the 

 field, the meanwhile research is carried on with 

 reference to Brazilian societies and cultures. 



It is now becoming more widely known that, in 

 both area and population, Brazil constitutes ap- 

 proximately half of the South American con- 

 tinent; and that, in language, in various other 

 cultural elements, and in certain circumstances of 

 its formation, this vast and increasingly impor- 

 tant country varies from the rest of Latin America. 



Although the development of industry, es- 

 pecially in the Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro region, 

 has been increasingly evident in recent years, 

 Brazil is still a predominantly agricultural 

 country. Its rural population is therefore of es- 

 pecial significance. 



The present study seeks to reveal the life of 

 rural people in the hills not far frona the city of 

 Sao Paulo. Although relatively isolated, they 

 participate in what might be called the national 

 culture; that is, with reference to language and 

 other basic cultural elements, they do not con- 

 stitute a people apart. In fact, with the exclusion 

 of what might be referred to as "Indian country," 

 their way of life is characteristic, to a considerable 

 extent, of all rural Brazil. 



There are, of course, significant regional varia- 

 tions. In certain parts of the country, like, espe- 

 cially, the Eeconcavo of Bahia, the coastal region 

 of Pernambuco-Alagoas-Sergipe, the southern 

 portion of the State of Minas Gerais, and areas 

 around Campos in the State of Rio de Janeiro and 

 Sao Luiz in IMaranhao, a larger i^ortion of the cul- 

 tural and associational system is African in origin ; 

 while in other parts like, for example, central and 

 northern Goias and the State of Mato Grosso, a 

 larger portion is of Indian derivation. In certain 



parts of southern Brazil, especially the valley of 

 the Itajai in Santa Catarina and the valley of the 

 Jacui in Rio Grande do Sul, the European contri- 

 bution of other than Portuguese origin is pro- 

 nounced ; and in areas like that of the valley of the 

 Ribeira and the "Alta Sorocabana" in the State 

 of Sao Paulo, the Japanese contribution has been 

 considerable. In areas where circumstances of a 

 diiferent geographical character are particularly 

 operative, like those of the semiarid Nordeste ; the 

 humid, heavily timbered area of the Amazon and 

 its tributaries ; the grasslands of the central, south- 

 ern, and western states ; and the coastal belt, where 

 fishing is an important means of sustenance, other 

 significant variations are to be found. In certain 

 other parts of the State of Sao Paulo, agricultural 

 development is further advanced and is otherwise 

 of a somewhat different character. A considerable 

 part, however, of that which is here set down with 

 reference to the local society and culture, is prob- 

 ably characteristic of the rural population in all 

 Brazil, outside the principal cities and those re- 

 gions still inhabited exclusively, or almost exclu- 

 sively, by tribal Indians. 



With the assistance of a graduate student, Carlos 

 Borges Teixeira, a survey of southeastern Sao 

 Paulo and contiguous areas in the States of Minas 

 Gerais and Rio de Janeiro was made in the latter 

 part of 1946 and the first month of 1947. A num- 

 ber of small settlements, ranging from fishing 

 villages on the coast like Icapara in the State of 

 Sao Paulo to mountain towns like Paraisopolis in 

 Minas Gerais, were visited. Preliminary informa- 

 tion was obtained on the origin and development 

 of each settlement and its ecological base, society, 

 and culture (Pierson and Teixeira, 1947).'" 



This survey indicated that, even in the more 

 isolated areas, and in spite of a biological heritage 

 in which the Indian figures to a considerable ex- 

 tent, the process of "Europeanization" is far ad- 

 vanced; that is, that Portuguese culture, modified, 

 of course, by the mteraction of its culture bearers 



" References in parentheses refer to F.ibliograpliy, p. 220. 



V 



