CRTJZ DAS almas: A BRAZILIAlSr VILLAGE — PIERSON 



25 



FERTILITY AND LONGEVITY 



There are 24 women in the village who are over 

 50 years of age and hence presumably past the 

 time of child bearing. To these women, 176 chil- 

 dren, or an average of more than 7 children each, 

 have been born. One woman has given birth to 

 15 children and 2 women to 14 children each. Two 

 women have had 12 children, and 2 others, 11. 

 Three women have given birth to 10 children each 

 and 3 to 9 children. One mother has had 8 chil- 

 dren. Two women have had 5 children each and 

 2 others, 4 children. One woman has given birth 

 to 2 children and 2 have had only 1 child. One 

 woman is a spinster and 2 married women are also 

 childless. 



Unfortunately, no statistical data on fertility are 

 available for the present community as a whole. 

 In the village, however, there are 66 women be- 

 tween the ages of 15 and 44 inclusive, and 58 

 children under 5 years of age. For the village, 

 therefore, the fertility ratio is 879 children to 

 1,000 women. If only the women who are between 

 the ages of 20 and 44 inclusive are taken into con- 

 sideration, the ratio is 1,137. Obviously, these 

 samples are small and perhaps too limited for a 

 valid statistical statement. 



The Federal census of 1920 listed 632 children 

 in the community under 5 years of age. Unfortu- 

 nately, in the published returns, the 40 to 49 age 

 group is not broken down into its 5-year compo- 

 nents so that one may know precisely how many 

 women there were from 15 years of age up to and 

 including 44 years of age. There were 1,018 

 women between 15 and 49 inclusive; 703 between 

 20 and 49 inclusive. This would give a fertility 

 ratio of 620.8 per 1,000 in the first case; 899.0 

 per 1,000 in the second case. It should be borne 

 in mind, however, that this ratio is derived from a 

 group 5 years older than that customary to use as 

 a basis when comi^uting fertility ratios. Data from 

 the 1934 and 1940 censuses on age groups in this 

 community have not been published so that fertil- 

 ity ratios can be comi^uted for these more recent 

 years. 



The live births recorded for 1920 were 130. If, 

 then, the total population as given in the census 

 for that year was 4,310, the crude birth rate for 

 1920 would be 30.2 per 1,000 population. In 1934, 

 when the State census gave 3,780 persons in the 

 community, there were 148 live births; and in 



1940, when a subsequent census gave 2,723 persons 

 in the community, there were 93 live births. The 

 crude birth rates for these 2 years, therefore, were, 

 respectively, 39.2 and 34.2. 



Obviously, the accuracy of these ratios is de- 

 pendent upon the accuracy of the censuses and also 

 uiJon how completely births are recorded. The 

 1940 census was taken by the svb-delegado (see 

 Division of Labor, p. 59), a rather competent 

 man and one who is intimately acquainted with 

 the community. As either relative or compadre, 

 he is closely related to a large number of families. 

 The registration of births for 1940, however, may 

 have been incomplete. As has been indicated, 

 only 93 births were i*ecorded in that year. For 

 the previous year, births were given as 152, a siz- 

 able variation. It is unfortunate that no data 

 are available on the total population in more re- 

 cent years, since the present registrar of vital sta- 

 tistics appears to be making a complete record of 

 births. He is an able man who takes pride in 

 the efficiency of his work. 



During the 25 years from 1923 to 1947, there 

 were recorded in the distrito 1,769 deaths, includ- 

 ing 930 of males and 839 of females, the percent- 

 ages being 52.6 and 47.4, respectively." For 1940, 

 the crude death rate was 20.9 per 1,000 inhabi- 

 tants. If, then, the crude birth rate for the same 

 year is 34.2, the favorable life balance for that 

 year was 13.3. 



These comparatively high rates of natural in- 

 crease are reflected in the attitude of the inhabi- 

 tants. A 52-year-old villager is proud of the 

 fact that he has had 23 children, 12 by his first 

 wife and 11 by the second.^'* The latter is again 

 pregnant. Another villager tells of a man living 

 near the neighboring town of Paratinga who has 

 22 children, all by the same mother. The wife 

 of a village official says with pride that her mother 

 had 15 children, 6 girls and 9 boys.*^ The legend 

 is told in the village of a father of 25 children 

 in a nearby community whose sons formed their 

 own soccer team. "Although only 5 of my 15 

 children lived to be over 3 yeai's of age,"' said a 

 farm woman, "and the youngest is not yet mar- 

 ried, I already have over 40 grandchildren." 



*' No accurate data on causes of death are available. Few 

 mortal illnesses are attended by a physician and, even in these 

 cases, circumstances do not always permit thorough diagnosis. 



°^ Only 11 of the 23, however, are now living. 



™ All of the girls are still living but none of the boys. 



