Book
The process of assimilation of the Terena
Museu Nacional • Rio De Janeiro • Published In 1960 • Pages: HRAF ms: i-iii, 1-219 [Original: 166 , 14 plates]
By: Oliveira, Roberto Cardoso de, Brunel, Ariane.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This source attempts to record and interpret the processes of social interaction between Terena and Brazilian society, with the ultimate goal of determining the operative socio-cultural mechanisms that have affected the more specific process the author calls assimilation. In recording these processes of social interaction the author has adopted the following methods: (1) the reconstruction of pre-European tribal life based on information provided by the old men of the tribe in conjunction with the facts of daily life actually observed; (2) the comparison of different communities where European-Indian contacts have been extensive; and (3) the collection of 'case histories' to show the extent and nature of contact change. The author gathered his data for the study from approximately eight months of relatively discontinuous field work, four of which were spent in the aldea of Cachoeirinha, a 'representative' Terena community, and the remainder in eleven other Terena aldeas, including Aldeinha, a Terena suburb of the city of Aquidauana, and in the Brazilian cities of Campo Grande, Aquidauana and Miranda. The information gathered from the above is organized for presentation into eight chapters which give a brief identification of the Terena as a Guana subgroup; the Mbaya-Guana 'symbiotic' relationship which existed for many years; a brief account of the traditional Terena-Guana culture; a study of the Brazilian settlement patterns in southern Mato Grosso, and their effect on the modification of the regional native situation; a record of the most significant episodes in the history of each Terena local group (as obtained from older Terena informants and supplemented by documentary research), with a comparative examination of these data in an attempt to ascertain the emerging variables so as to indicate the pattern of modern tribal behavior; acculturation and mobility as two facets of the assimilation process; and finally the mechanisms of assimilation themselves which the author bases in part on the theory of Daniel Glaser which includes the situation of 'segrated,' 'marginal,' 'desegrated,' and 'assimilated' as sociological categories arranged in a 'continuum' by means of which the dynamics of ethnic identification can be understood. The author's conclusions to this study are summarized on pages 216-219 of the text. It should be noted in this source that most of the data presented pertain to the Terena living in their native aldeas or to the urbanized Indians, with only scant information on the 'detribalized' Terena living on the Brazilian farms or fazendas. The bibliography and index will be found only in the foreign text, pp. 155-160 and 161-166 respectively.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Acculturation and culture contact
- Sociocultural trends
- History
- External relations
- Settlement patterns
- Urban and rural life
- Organized ceremonial
- Community structure
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Terena
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2010
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southern South America
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 1966-1968: John Beierle; 2009
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1955-1958
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1580-1958
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Southern Mato Grosso, Brazil
- NotesAdditional notes
- Roberto Cardoso de Oliveira ; preface by Darcy Ribeiro
- Translation of: [O processo de assimilação dos Terêna]
- Translated for the HRAF files by Ariane Brunel in 1966-1968
- Includes bibliographical references )p. 155-160)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 64051762
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Guana Indians
- Terena Indians
- Acculturation