CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGE — PIERSON 



57 



consumed in the village and surrounding area, as 

 well as simple cakes and pastries. (No housewife, 

 as has been indicated, bakes bread.) 



One man in the community is especially adept 

 at making charcoal, and devotes most of his time 

 to this occupation. He takes great pride in his 

 work. He says : 



I have been making charcoal for nearly 30 years. When 

 I was a small boy, I began to build caiciras,^ only little 

 ones at first, of course, and then bigger and bigger ones. 

 Making charcoal is a beautiflul work, if you have the 

 knack for it. You do get pretty dirty, but if the job is 

 done right, it gives you real pleasure. I enjoy watching a 

 caieira burn well; I like to see that little spiral of blue 

 smoke come out while I control the burning and, when 

 the wood is all cooked, to take out that fine, firm, charcoal 

 of the best quality. A sack of charcoal, when the sacking 

 has been done right, is a pretty thing to see. At the mouth, 

 you put in a few long pieces, and then sew the sack with 

 string in a neat way. Sometimes, though, I take great 

 pains to do everything right and then when the buyers 

 come, they throw the sacks around any old way so that 

 by the time the charcoal gets to the city it's all broken up. 

 It hurts you to see those fellows doing that after you've 

 taken so much pains to make the charcoal just right. 



Twenty-eight men are at present employed in 

 preparations for quarrying.^^^ Eleven of them live 

 in the village. All were formerly farmers or farm 

 laborers. Most of the income of their families at 

 present, however, comes from this employment, 

 6 days a week, if the weather permits. When rain 

 is heavy, work has to be suspended and incomes 

 consequently suffer; this is especially true during 

 the rainy season, when work is often interrupted. 



There is no physician, nurse, dentist, or pharma- 

 cist ^^* in the community, the nearest specialist of 

 this sort being in the towns of Boa Vista and 

 Piracema. During the past few years, however, a 

 dentist who lives in Sao Paulo and whose sister 

 is the wife of the administrator of the fazenda 

 that lies at the edge of the village, has been spend- 

 ing week ends in the community, doing dental 

 work.^^ Disease is ordinarily treated by one of 

 at least three curandeiros ^"'^ in the community, one 

 of whom lives near the village, one some 5 miles 

 away, and the other on the margin of the com- 



'" See M.iking of Charcoal, p. 90. 



"-' See Preparations for Quarrying, p. 36. 



^■* Since this was written, a man from S.lo Paulo has moved 

 to the village and has on sale In his home a small stock of drugs. 



'^ Since this was written, the dentist has purchased a house 

 in the village and has begun to spend more time there. 



"I" Individuals who treat disease with herbs and other folk 

 remedies. Including magical formulas. 



munity; or by the iensedeiras, or "blessers," '^^ 

 three of whom live in the village, one about a mile 

 away and another near the bend in the river, some 

 8 miles from the village by road. One of the vil- 

 lage officials keeps on hand antitoxin and a syringe, 

 to use, on occasion, in the treatment of snake bite. 

 He also gives injections, the technique for which 

 he learned while in army training some years ago. 

 In addition, he sometimes sends a note to a phy- 

 sician in Boa Vista regarding the symptoms of a 

 person who is ill and receives and administers 

 remedies prescribed by the physician. 



The only sacred specialist who gives full time 

 to his employment is the padre. The capeldo,^^^ 

 however, the village sacristan and bell ringer, the 

 leiloeiro, the acolytes, and the patronesses also 

 assist, on occasion, in the rituals of religious cere- 

 monies and festivals. Each of the "blessers," who 

 also obviously are sacred specialists, has other and 

 more common employment. 



The activities of the padre are more fully de- 

 scribed in the section on Sacred Functionaries. 

 Although he gives full time to his profession, he 

 does not give full time to the village conmumity. 

 He lives at the Seminary in a neighboring city 

 where, on weekdays, he teaches. He comes to the 

 village each Saturday and remains over Sunday. 



A characteristic feature of village life is the 

 ringing of the church bells (see pi. 9, a) . The bell 

 ringer is a man 68 years of age, of low stature, and 

 crippled in one leg. He earns a frugal living tend- 

 ing a small piece of land, which he owns near the 

 village, and working for other farmers. His 

 status is more specifically defined, however, by his 

 work as the village bell ringer, combined with his 

 services as sacristan of the village church. He is 

 known throughout the community, and has been 

 knoM-n for years, simply as Jodo Sineiro (John, the 

 Bell Ringer), his original surname being long un- 

 used and largely forgotten. 



He takes great pride in his work. He plays 

 many improvised rhythms, at times gay and lilting, 

 at others, solemn and sad. The "announcements" 

 of Masses and rezas are played in a variety of 

 ways, rarely lapsing into mere routine, even when 

 repeated, as they are in May and June, day after 

 day. The bell ringer is quite conscious of his role. 



"2' Individuals who treat disease with magical formulas, 

 three curandeiros are also "blessers.'* 

 ^^ See Sacred Functionaries. 



The 



