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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 12 



woman got together some things that her children didn't 

 need any more and sent them over to me. Wlien I have 

 to have medicine, tlie wife of the pharmacist in Boa Vista 

 gets it for me. Jly neighbor helped plant that patch of 

 beans there. When they came up, my father did the 

 hoeing and the weeding. They're doing fine, as you can 

 see; the vines are heavy with pods. If It doesn't frost, 

 we'll have plenty this year. The other day, a comadre 

 was here and took me with her to the sitio of Seu Antonio 

 and he gave me some lard and some salt. He also said 

 he would soon be digging potatoes and to come and get 

 some. 



My boy here is 11 years old. He sells vegetables for 

 Seu Lindoro "on thirds." Every few days he gets up 

 early and goes out to the farm to bring them in. It's fine 

 for him ; he's learning how to sell things. From another 

 farm he brings milk to three families in the village and 

 each family pays him 5 cruzeiros a month. I have a 

 godchild that lives on a farm. When I go there, he 

 catches a couple of chickens and says, "Here, godmother, 

 these are for you." 



COMPADRIO 



Among the primary mechanisms of solidarity 

 in the local society are the relations developed 

 within the system of compadno. Every child at 

 baptism has a padrinho (godfather) and a 'tnad- 

 rinha (godmother) selected for him by his parents. 

 He is ever after bound to these godparents and 

 they to him by special bonds of obligation and 

 expectation. At the same time, his parents are 

 equally bound to the godparents of their child, a 

 fact which is symbolized by the term they use in 

 addressing each other. It is compadre ( comadre) 

 or literally, co-father (co-mother). The use of 

 this term becomes so habitual that in most cases 

 it completely supplants given names or nicknames 

 or, if the compadres are relatives, the kinship 

 terms previously employed. 



At christening, another godfather is chosen for 

 a boy and another godmother for a girl. God- 

 parents are not chosen, however, for the first com- 

 munion. At marriage, each partner selects some- 

 one to accompany him to the altar and to act as a 

 witness to the ceremony. There is a tendency to 

 think of this person as another godparent, al- 

 though he is not considered a compadre by the par- 

 ents. In some cases, he may be the same person 

 as the baptismal or the christening godparent, but 

 such is not common. 



If, as usually occurs, a married person is se- 

 lected as a godparent of the child, the spouse is 

 always selected as the other godparent. There 



is no special ceremony attached to either the selec- 

 tion of a godparent or his notification of that fact. 

 It was once customary to select the father's par- 

 ents as tlie godparents of the first child, and the 

 mother's parents as the godparents of the second 

 child. This custom is no longer followed in all 

 cases. 



The system of com,padrio is functionally an ex- 

 tension of the family institution. It provides for 

 the child, as it Mere, a second set of parents. 

 Should, for any reason, either one or both of the 

 natural parents be unable to discharge their nor- 

 mal obligations toward the child, the godparents 

 will substitute them. In the meantime, the god- 

 parents are expected, as necessary, to supplement 

 parental care and counsel. At any time when the 

 parents are unable to meet a crisis in the child's 

 life, the godparents may be sought out and are 

 expected to do everything possible for the child. 



The relationship between compadres is of so in- 

 timate a character that certain proscriptions are 

 laid upon their conduct. Under no circumstances 

 may a compadre marry a coTnadre or have sexual 

 relations with her or dance with her. As an in- 

 formant put it, '"''compadre and comadre must have 

 great respect for each other." "Imagine it!" ex- 

 claimed a villager, "I hear that there in Piracema 

 a compadre married a comadre. Here in the vil- 

 lage there has never been anything like that. A 

 compadre and a comadre have a spiritual rela- 

 tionship. If they marry, maybe nothing will 

 happen in this life. But in the next, they'll suffer 

 plenty." 



The godchild is expected to be affectionate to 

 his godparents and to respect and obey them, an 

 obligation which is symbolized in etiquette. 

 Upon meeting a godparent, as has been indicated, 

 he is expected to ask his (or her) blessing and to 

 receive it with humility.^" Formerly, he was also 

 expected to kiss the hand of the godparent, but 

 this custom appears to be disappearing. 



Of several young men who were asked, "\Vltat 

 are the obligations of a godchild to his godpar- 

 ents?", the replies were: 



To respect them. 



To respect them as you do your own mother and 



father. 

 To ask their blessing and to respect them greatly. 

 To ask their blessing. 



™ See Etiquette, p. 121. 



