CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGE PIERSON 



one of the stores to make purchases or when a 

 passing truck or automobile attracts peeping eyes 

 to the windows. 



A few hours after sundown silence settles over 

 the village. A single light can be seen shining 

 through the upper window of the church. A few 

 last purchases are being made at the stores. By 

 8 o'clock or shortly thereafter, they will be closed. 

 The lantern in the har will continue to throw its 

 light out into the street for perhaps another hour 

 when the har too will close and then only the 

 moon, if it be up, and a wakeful dog or two, will 

 be at vigil. The rest of the village is asleep. 



The silence is so intense that the chirp of a 

 cricket can be clearly heard. The sound of foot- 

 steps on gravel of a man coming home late from 

 visiting friends or from a fishing or hunting expe- 

 dition falls heavily on the ear. Before daybreak 

 the next morning, the crowing of cocks and the 

 voices of early risers echoing outside the window, 

 awaken one who is accustomed to the noises of 

 the city more quickly than the city's roar. 



In the community of which the village is the 

 center, live a few hundred of those several mil- 

 lion Brazilians who are the rural inhabitants of 

 a predominantly rural people. Biologically and 

 culturally they represent to a considerable extent 

 the nonurban population of the vast area between 

 the eastern coast and the westernmost point of 

 settlement. Although there are clearly defined 

 regional variations, this population has much in 

 common. In general, it is composed of relatively 

 isolated, nonliterate (or only partially literate) 

 descendants of assimilated Indians, mixed in 

 varying degrees with Europeans and, in many 

 cases, with Africans. Although there are regional 

 variations in the number of words and expres- 

 sions of Indian or African origin which are 

 commonly employed and also other dialectal 

 differences, the language throughout this area is 

 basically Portuguese. And although from region 

 to region the Indian or African contribution to 

 the culture and to the forms and processes of col- 

 lective life vary, these also are extensively, and 

 in most cases basically, European. 



With the development of the cities a class of 

 cosmopolitan character has emerged whose mem- 

 bers are in direct contact with such world cen- 

 ters as New York, London, and Paris. If it may 

 be said that this class represents the "icing" of 



the Brazilian "cake," the rural inhabitants con- 

 stitute its solid substance. 



These rural inhabitants are known by different 

 names in different parts of Brazil, all of which em- 

 phasize their rural and largely nonliterate char- 

 acter. In the area under study, they are called 

 caipiras, a term which distinguishes the rural in- 

 habitants of the Sao Paulo planalto from the 

 cai<;a.ra8 of the coastal shelf of this State. The 

 difference in terminology, however, defines only 

 a limited difference in the character of popula- 

 tion, society, or culture. 



The last Indian in the region is said to have 

 died in a public institution of a neighboring 

 town several years ago. No present resident has 

 known Indians in the community. The vestiges 

 of Indian culture which still persist are extremely 

 few. The population, however, gives evidence of 

 a considerable contribution of Indian blood to its 

 highly mixed but predominantly European char- 

 acter. The African contribution, which for the 

 most part has been more recent and is more visible, 

 has not been negligible. Few vestiges of African 

 culture, however, still persist. It would seem that 

 the cultural imperialism of the Portuguese, a par- 

 tially conscious, partially unwitting process, has 

 been as effective as their deliberate policy of 

 racial mixture. Freely mixing with other 

 peoples, they nevertheless have maintained rather 

 tenaciously their own culture; modified in parts 

 here and there, it is true, by contact with Indian 

 and African forms and, even more importantly 

 perhaps, by the interaction that has proceeded 

 under the conditions of the new habitat, but still 

 basically European. 



The development of the means of transportation 

 and communication in this region during recent 

 years has been breaking down isolation. At the 

 same time, the inhabitants of this community are 

 still to a considerable extent culturally isolated 

 from the influence of the cities, although economi- 

 cally and politically they are being more and more 

 drawn into the larger society. Mobility, although 

 apparently always considerable and although in- 

 creasing in recent years, is still comparatively low 

 and literacy is limited. The society is relatively 

 simple and homogeneous and is based largely upon 

 kinship, compadre^ and status relations. Contacts 

 within the community are almost exclusively pri- 

 mary. Interpersonal relations are informal, in- 



