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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



concerned. One villager who owns several pieces 

 of land is referred to by other villagers as a miser 

 and is said to have money secreted about his house. 

 Most villagers and farmers live too near the actual 

 subsistence level to possess other than a meager 

 supply of currency. 



Land is the principal symbol of wealth and the 

 desire to possess it is universal in the community. 

 Of 15 sitios visited, 13 were owned by the occu- 

 pant. Another farm was being rented from a rel- 

 ative who lives in the community. The remain- 

 ing farm, composed of only 2.5 alqueires (15 

 acres), was being tended by a man given this 

 privilege in return for overseeing the production 

 of pinga at the engenho located on the farm. ( See 

 Distillation of Pinga, p. 89.) Of the 15 properties, 

 12 had been inherited by the present owner ;^*^ 

 3 had been purchased. 



All the land in the community presumably is 

 registered on the tax rolls. The official records 

 kept in the capital of the State, list 381 separate 

 pieces of property held by 335 owners. These 

 properties total 9,088 hectares (22,456 acres) . The 

 largest has 2,152 acres and is the only property 

 owned in the community by this taxpayer; the 

 smalle.st has 0.38 of a hectare (0.93 of an acre) and 

 similarly is the only property owned in the com- 

 munity by this taxpayer. The average holding is 

 24.2 hectares (59.8 acres) ; the mode is 9.7 hectares 

 (24 acres). Of these properties, 310, or 81.3 per- 

 cent, consist of less than 60 acres each. 



The total value of these properties as carried on 

 the tax rolls is 5.239,290 cruzeiros, which is equiva- 

 lent to about US$14.19 per acre. All but six prop- 

 erties are owned by individuals. One of the six, a 

 farm of 3,701 acres, is owned by the State govern- 

 ment. Another is held by a corporation which ex- 

 pects to exploit mineral wealth.'^'* The remaining 

 four properties are owned by three firms, one of 

 which is located in Boa Vista and the other two in 

 Sao Paulo. The five of these properties which are 

 privately owned total only 624 hectares (approxi- 

 mately 1,543 acres). 



Since, 

 there are 



then, according to 



the official records, 

 in all, including both the properties 

 owned by individuals and those owned by firms, 

 only 23,989 acres in the distrito, and the population 



"= In two cases, part of the present holding also had been 

 purchased. 



183 gee Preparation for Quarrying, p. 36. 



totals 2,723, the average acreage per person is about 

 8.8. The distribution of properties by size of hold- 

 ing is given in table 12. 



Table 12. — Number and size of landholdings, distrito of 

 Cruz das Almas, 1948 ^ 



' Source : Tax records on file in the State capital. Not included 

 is a property owned by the State, composed of 3,701 acres. 



As has been indicated, all the farms in the com- 

 munity except four are known locally as sitios; 

 these four are called fazendas. One of the latter is 

 owned by the State government. Two others are 

 owned by absentee landlords, each of whom lives 

 in Sao Paulo and delegates the care of his property 

 to an administrador. In the fourth case, the owner 

 himself resides on the property and oversees the 

 work on it. 



The boundary lines of properties often used to 

 be marked by valos, or deep ditches, some of which 

 still exist (pi. 11, e). 



Of the 73 houses in the village, 40 are owned by 

 the families occupying them, 31 are rented, and 2 

 are used without charge by relatives of the owners. 

 Many of the houses which are rented have been 

 occupied for many years by the families now liv- 

 ing in them. Rents range from 10 cruzeiros to 200 

 cruzeiros a month ; the average is 46 cruzeiros. 



