The process of assimilation of the Terena

Oliveira, Roberto Cardoso de; Brunel, Ariane

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.

Abstract
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.

Acculturation and culture contact

HRAF PubDate

2010

Region