Category: Folk Culture and Spiritual Practice in Maranhão Brazil

Dona Capitolina, Ulisses Bispo Medonça:

Bumba-meu-Boi Linda Joía de São João

Matinha (Maranhao), Brazil

Dona Capitolina and Ulisses Medonca.  Together they are the leaders of the Bumba-meu-boi celebration group Linda Joía de Sao Joao (Beautiful Jewel of Saint John). Sao Joao/Saint John is the patron saint of the Bumba-meu-boi celebration throughout the state of Maranhao.

Dona Capitolina and Ulisses Medonca are old friends whom we have visited in Matinha several times in the course of our research on folk celebration in Maranhão. On a recent visit Dona Capitolina asked where are all these pictures. 

Here they are, at least of few. They are divided into several sets:

Part I. A gallery of portraits of Dona Capitolina, Ulisses Bispo Medonca, taken during several visits over the years

Part 2. Rehearsal and Preparation for performance Matinha 2017

Part 3. Performance of the group Linda Joía de Sao Joas (Beautiful Jewel of Saint John) Matinha 2017

Masked Cazumba, an iconic figure in the Baixada tradition,  It can represent  various spiritual entities, and those in the tradition will give many explanations.  Performatively, the cazumba interacts with the audience (especially children) and often maintains the boundaries of the performance when the crowd is mingling closely (as is often the case in village celebration)

Part I: A gallery of portraits of Capitolina taken during several visits.

 

Simone Ferro and Meredith Watts with Ulisses Bispo Medonca, Matinha 2017

The small city of Matinha in the interior of Maranhao is a center for celebration of the Baixada style (sotaque) of the Bumba-meu-boi celebration.  The festival is traditionally celebrated on and around the day of Saint John the Baptist (São João).  Customarily this occurs on the night of the 23rd into the day of the official day of Saint John, June 24th.

The name of the Bumnba-meu-boi celebration group — Beautiful Jewel of Saint John — reflects this lasting power of popular Catholicism in Northeast Brazilian folk culture..

The festival is held in a town square prepared as a performance venue and attended by a host of local leaders and hundreds (thousands?) of viewers.  In this small city, over a dozen groups will perform on festival night.

In 2017 we photographed them in the headquarters of the group — which is actually their home — during the days of the festival.

Part 2, Rehearsals and Preparations, Matinha Baixada Festival, June 2017

Part 3. Performance, festival of Bumba-meu-boi groups in the Baixada tradition

Matinha (Maranhao) June 2017

It is estimated that during the week or so of the celebration of Pentecost (Espirito Divino Santo/Holy Ghost), traditionally held 50 days after Easter, some 100 events are held in São Luís alone.

What is truly remarkable in the eyes of more secular cultures is the importance of these multi-day community events that bring together hundreds of people of all generations.  There is of course a “modern” part of Brazil that observes only the mass on Pentecost Sunday, but these events in Maranhao bring together parts of the community for many days of celebration.  The organizers, and the children and parents, will prepare for nearly the entire year. 

The female drummers — caixeiras  — are a traditional (and obligatory) feature of the celebrations.  It is said that some drummers may appear in as many as thirty events across the city.

A  mass for Pentecost is still held in the Catholic Church of course, but in the São Luís variation the priest normally leaves the pulpit and the caixeiras lead the children and celebrants from the church in a huge din of waving flags and rhythmic drumming.

Selected children are dressed as imperial royalty Portuguese colonial period and comprise the Tribunal or royal court.  The “seating of the Tribunal” of children is done in the spiritual house where in both Christian and Afro-Brazilian entities are displayed and worshiped.

Spiritual House in Santa Inês (Saint Agnes)

In this celebration in Santa Inês the caixeiras themselves opened an early event, without children or a “Tribunal.”  It is their personal celebration of the Holy Ghost a day or two before the actual day of Pentecost.

Casa de Mina Santa Maria, São Luís

“Seating the Tribunal”

Tenda de Fé em Deus, Pindaré

Procession of the Crown of Espirito Santo (Holy Ghost)

This procession preceded the entrance of the elaborately costumed children.  These young men are bringing in the crown of the Holy Ghost at a spiritual house in Pindaré.

After they enter and the crown is present, there is an elaborate banquet or cakes soft drinks and sometimes chocolate drinks for the children.  After the court is fed adults get the remaining cakes.  For a proper banquet in the city of São Luís there are usually several tables of cakes.  For this smaller event in Pindaré there were only a dozen or so cakes.

Catholic Mass, then Procession and Celebration at Casa de Nagô (São Luís)

Casa das Minas, São Luís June 2017

“Bringing Down the Mast”

In groups that can afford it, the mastro/mast is raised early in the Pentecost week (levantamento do mastro) and torn down at the end (derrabamento do mastro).  Both are signal events opening and closing important events in the Pentecost celebration.

The one below at the Casa de Minas is a massive pole that requires several men, intricate coordination, and various rope and tools.

For contrast, at the very end is a more modest neighborhood mastro decorated with treats for children.

An Alternative Neighborhood Mastro

Not all mastros are formal and massive like the one from the Casa de Minas.  This one is in a modest neighborhood and decorated with treats for children.

 

Videos on the Bumba-meu-boi, and the Festa do São Gonçalo do Amarante and the Festa do Divino.

The Bumba-meu-boi videos were filmed and edited by Simone Ferro of performances at the June, 2015 celebration in São Luís.

This corresponds to our time with a Study Abroad course with dancers from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  If some of you were among that group, you may recognize these groups.

The videos are available on Vimeo and at the links below.

 

Bumba-meu-boi Encanto da Ilha (in the rhythmic style known as “Orquestra”)

 

Boi Lirio de São João (also in the Orquestra style, or sotaque).

This following video shows moments of  the Festa do São Gonçalo de Amarante and the Celebration of the Divine Spirit (Festa do Divino) in Pindaré.

It features the women drummers of Pindaré (called caixeiras), and especially the group led by “Maria Caixeiras,” a woman whose name carries her identity as a drummer.  In one sequence, the drummers of her group are joined by members from the quilombo “Communidade Vila Maria.” (A quilombo is a community or settlement formed by escaped and released slaves, sometimes with some indigenous people as well.  Maranhão has over 300 such communities.)

The post from November 2015 post contains photos and text describing more of these festivals.

 

Coming: More posts on the Bumba-meu-boia and a few brief clips from an Umbanda ceremony to Oxum, orixá of water.

 

An earlier post compares the Carnival in Rio with that in the smaller cities and the interior.  This post shows some elements of the Carnival period in São Luís, the capital of Maranhão.  It is not even remotely complete since much of the period was spent in the interior.

However, Maranhão has a wide range of cultural activity — carroças (floats), samba groups, blocos with African and indigenous identity, and a myriad of ad hoc groups that celebrate in the streets.

The celebration begins in the streets on weekends almost directly after the last celebrations of Christmas.  Actually, they overlap so that the ritual of queima da palinha (see earlier posts) and many celebrations in the Afro-Brazilian spiritual houses overlap both seasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An earlier post describes some differences between the Carnival in Rio and its smaller counterparts in the pre-Lent celebrations elsewhere in Brazil.

This post describes the event called “Carroça” in Rosário, named after a cart and sometimes used for what in U.S. English is called a parade “float.”

Here the carroça can also have its original meaning — as a donkey cart.  This you won’t see in the Rio parade of floats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An earlier post on “Carnival in Rio de Janeiro and the Interior” describes some of the differences in celebration in Brazil.  It can be read as a reflection on the celebration that is a preview of sorts for this photo description of a trip to two towns in the interior of Maranhão — Mirinzal and Central do Maranhão.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An interesting element that we had not expected was the importance of these massive speaker systems.  Really huge ones are mounted on trailers.  Smaller ones are mounted in the back of pick-up trucks or even in the hatchback of small cars.

They are portable street parties and can mobilized crowd for a demonstration or street parade through town.  They are not hampered by any noticeable noise pollution ordinances and may play all night.

This one was across the street from our hotel — which was open to the street side.  The sound was inescapable.  The bass speakers shook the bed, and the mid-range speakers and tweeters rattled the glass.  These are very sophisticated sonic devices and have become important to celebration in the interior.

They were first seen in parades in large cities, but are now a commercial venture in their own right.

 

 

 

 

This is the first in a series of several posts on the Carnaval season in Brazil.  A second post shows some aspects of Carnaval in two areas in the interior — Mirinzal and Central do Maranhão, and in Rosário.  A third shows some elements of the celebration in the capital city of São Luís.  The final post shows the parade or Carroća, in the town of Rosário.

The photo-based posts will appear above this one, but will refer to this as a source of reflection on how the smaller cities and the towns of the interior differ from the well-known Carnival in Rio de Janiero.

Carnival in Rio and elsewhere

 

 

Often when we describe our work in Maranhão people ask if that includes the Carnival (Carnaval) of Rio de Janeiro. Others have sometimes heard of the Bmba-meu-boi festival in Parintins in the state of Amazonas and ask if that , too, is in our research program.

The answer is “no,” because neither is in our specific research focus. But in another sense it is, of course, “yes” because of the interconnectedness of Brazilian celebration culture.   Each of these immensely popular celebrations figures in our work, but mostly as a cultural reference that helps us understand the differences in the way celebration takes place in the smaller capital of São Luís and, most of all, how different is the celebration in the interior of Maranhão.

 

 

The first point of reference is that the Carnaval of Rio de Janeiro is a huge entertainment and economic enterprise in its current form. The Sambadromo in Rio holds tens of thousands of spectators. They sit in high grandstands on both sides of a long “passarella” along which the schools of samba parade. To am American’s eyes it looks like an auto drag strip with a long, unobstructed pavement. Seen in the off-season there is, well, virtually nothing to be seen other than the physical facility and its well-known arches that (unlike McDonald’s) resemble the buttocks of a very leggy woman with generous buttocks. It is not a model of subtlety, an all its monumentality.

During the night(s) of the parade/passarela, groups (schools of samba, as they are called) parade along the runway for 1 ½ hours each. Usually six groups are chosen for the final parade. Taken one after the other the parade of spectacular groups take a minimum of nine hours. It is broadcast on television and goes on all night. There are other groups in lower categories that parade at other times. Most important is that the entire process is competitive and extremely expensive and, for the winner, lucrative.

At one time the schools of samba were supported by the neighborhoods that were their homes. That is still at least partly the case, but the logistics, costumes, and business elements are now staggering. Even tourists can pay the equivalent of a few hundred dollars for the experience of participating in the group. They also have to attend rehearsals, be talented and fit enough for the show, and provide their own costumes. Participants like this have become a source of income to help feed the entertainment machine.

The street parades are different. Here everyday Brazilian citizens wear costumes and party in the streets. This element has some resemble to street parties associated with the Mardi Gras in New Orleans or Fasching in some German cities. These are real people, for the most part, partying in public.

 

Foreigners may have a picture in mind of Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro), the famous 1960s film of the Rio Carnaval blended with the myth of Orpheus in the underground. There is a kind of romance of the favela where the groups originate, and a love story from classical mythology. The luscious atmosphere of the film is filled with darkness and color, anonymous romance, personified death, and the darkness of voodoo or macumba.

What you see on Brazilian television from Rio now is a daylight party with a lot of drinking, colored hair, cross-dressing, and ordinary people in imaginative costumes. There is no sign of darkness, mythical figures, death, or even anonymous sex with strangers. That is later.

So, the romantic Carnaval may be in the darkness.   But what is common with street parties in the interior is the presence of everyday citizens and some sponsored groups, celebrating in public. The floats in the interior have little in common with those of Rio – many of which resemble space stations, alternate universes, Macy’s parade on steroids, jumbled together with huge amounts of bare human flesh that has to stay covered in colder climates.

What we discovered here is that many Brazilians in the interior experience the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro just as people in the northern hemisphere do – on television. Their own celebration is smaller, grittier, and close to home. Like the street parties in Rio, the ordinary citizens are remarkable and often unconstrained in their costumes – in fact they may be all the more interesting because they are done more with imagination than with money.

 

There is one more theme that is common in commentaries on the Carnaval. Anthropologists called on Bakhtin and DaMatta point out that these may be “Rabelaisian” inversions of authority and a satire on conventional power and authority. Politicians and religion are mocked, sexual mores and conventional customs are scorned, and there is for a time a “popular” ownership of the streets. This element certainly exists in the celebrations in the interior.

The most common element of mockery is not the Church or the profane power structure, however. It is in the mockery of stereotyped heternormative gender roles. Cross-dressing seems to be the most common “transgression,” even in the interior. There are many variations. Some are “macho drag” with men in cheesy costumes. Others are more serious in their costumes, and some are elaborate and genuinely imaginative and sexy in their presentation. Somewhere in between are young men who seem to by trying out cross-dressing and gender variation in a safe way. Some simply use the occasion to advertise that “Homophobia is prohibited. A crime.” This popular t-shirt slogan is stating the anti-discrimination law of Brazil that prohibits homophobic discrimination along with gender, sexual orientation, handicap or race.

It may be exaggerated to say that the Carnaval is a Rabelaisian protest against “normal” society and norms, but it is indeed true that it provides a temporary space for alternative expressions – especially of gender definition and sexual orientation.

 

 

 

Queima da Palhinha (Burning of the crèche), Casa de Iemanjá (São Luís, Maranhão)

One of the celebrations reported in an earlier post is the ceremony of Queima da Palhinha – the symbolic removal of the crèche/nativity scene and honoring of the Christ child.

The “straw” of the manger is burned – in this case an the herb murta which gives off a dense smoke and incense smell.

An earlier post showed the ceremony in a private home and in the Casa das Minas. The one in these photos took place in the House of Iemanjá, a spiritual house dedicated to the orixá of the sea.

It was a mixed ceremony with Christian songs and prayers in Portuguese. Later, there was another ceremony devoted to other entities of the house that are in the African-Brazilian tradition.

An unusual feature of religious life in São Luís, and in Maranhão generally, is the blending or juxtaposition of different spiritual traditions.

The photos below are from the queimada ceremony, except for the final photo which shows the pae de santo leading the ceremony that followed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the interior of Maranhão, about 1 1/2 hours from São Luís by car, the town of Rosário rests on the Itapecuru River which provides much of the areas economy.  The thick clay on the banks turns to choking dust in the dry season, but it is heavy and ideal for artesanal pottery.

The area has several pottery workshops (olarias) that rely on this clay.  There are modern brick factories using this material. bit we visited smaller artisans with older, “traditional” methods.

Having spent many summers with my grandparents on a simple farm in central Illinois, seeing this old equipment reminded of childhood memories of rooting around in my grandfather’s barn.

The first shop, in the city

 

 

The second shop, closer to river and the source of clay

 

 

 

 

 

Rosário also has a native industry making hammocks.  Our apartment, and most hotels have hook for hanging a rede, or hammock.

I use them for hanging my hat, but the older buildings have hooks in every room and many houses use the hammock as the chief place for resting/sleeping.

They are comfortable, though it takes some practice to get out of them in even a remotely skillful fashion.  In older places with dirt floors, the rede is safely off the ground.

 

 

 

 

“Popular Catholicism” is a term used in Maranhão for practices that are not sanctioned or conducted within the official church.  They are carried in the culture of faith and devotion of members of the community who continue the practices on their own

Sometimes the practices are mixed with celebrations in terreiros, spiritual houses of Afro-Brazilian practice.

Queima da Palinha

Queima da Palinha, Private home in São Luís

The burning of the murta herb is symbolic of the end of the Christmas season and the dismantling of he créche.  It is also a celebration of the Christ child from whom blessings are sought.

 

The family and friends celebrate with a litany from a text that includes several devotional stages.

 

 

 

 

 

The actual queimada, the burning, is done in an urn in the home, but there is a tremendous amount of smoke that is like incense.

Some readers may have experienced a 12th Night ceremony in the U.S. during which Christmas trees and wreaths are symbolically burned.

 

 

 

 

Nossa Senhora de Belém, Iguaraú

The photo below is of an umbanda terreiro in the community of Iguaraú.  It was not our destination, but worth a look because it is representative of a number of hybrid practices that contain some Christian elements mixed with other entities and practices.  That is a cross in front, with the dove of the Espirito Santo just below the crest of the roof.

Aside from Saint Enofre, celebrated in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, the figures on the wall represent various entities from other practices.

 

 

There are extensive connections in Maranhão between practices in Catholicism and in other spiritual practices.  The house of Saint Enofre honors Christian and non-Christian figures.  The church below has some features of an “official” Catholic church, but does not have a permanent priest or staff.  The practice of honoring Our Lady of Bethelem is accompanied here by a churchman, but is also a part of what is here called “popular Catholicism” — practices originating in the Church (perhaps as far back as the Middle Ages), but now carried by groups of devotees in homes and informal “churches.”

Photos below are from such a community church in the community of Iguaraú, not far from São Luís.

 

 

 

 

 

The festival of “Our Lady of Bethlehem” celebrates the life of Mary in that city.  It is closely related to the nativity story and is at the close of the Christmas season (like the Queima da Palinha above).

 

Children are a central part of the ceremony — here throwing flowers to a girl dressed as Our Lady of Bethlehem.

 

 

 

 

 

An unusual part of the ceremony is in fact a second ceremony of drumming and singing/dancing that is part of a tradition called tereco.  This part of the celebration lasted about an hour, but in heritage practice would go on all night, overshadowing the Christian ceremony before.

Here it was part of the joint celebration, followed by the universal religious sacrament of a table covered with cakes.

 

 

Queima da Palinha, Casa das Minas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The end of the queimada (burning) and close of the season of Christmas celebration.

Though Christians associate this sort of ceremony with an organized church, it is here celebrated in the Casa das Minas, a house in the jejé tradition that traces its roots to 18th and 19th century Dahomey.

 

 

 

Celebration of São Sebastião

Saint Sebastian is a complex figure in Maranhão celebration.  Historically the Catholic saint is revered as the 9th century Christian martyr.  He is usually depicted pierced with arrows.

In the Casa das Minas he is associated with an entity known as Averequete  In other traditions he may be associated with Oxóssi (the hunter).  In yet others he is fluidly connected to Rei Sebastião, the 16th century Portuguese who was lost in Morocco during the Crusades.

In one legend King Sebastion is reincarnated in the Dunes of Lencoìs in north Maranhão.  His enchanted figure appears on the dunes as a black bull with a red star on his head.  This legend links many elements of the boi/ox in the lore of Maranhão and is one of the connections of the heritage Bumba-meu-boi celebration.  This complicated set of links also involves São João (Saint John) is often celebrated with a boi/ox.

Because of the diversity of practices and traditions, these various links are not codified, but fluid in the multiple oral traditions of Maranhão.

 

 

 

 

The altar in the Casa das Minas, with its mix of religious symbols and traditions.

 

 

 

A celebration of São Sebastião (and maybe other entities) at the Casa de Iemanjá, São Luís.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The celebrations above all show the resilience and depth of devotion in São Luís and Maranhão in general.  All of these celebrations are in the Christmas season or shortly thereafter, but none is held in an official church.  A private home, an informal country church without a priest, and two different terreiros that have a mix of practices.

The official Church has, in the view of some, “abandoned” these heritage practices but seems to have a general attitude of tolerance toward them.  Evangelicals are increasing in number and are generally more aggressive toward the non-Christian practices since they honor a variety of non-Christian entities.  These houses were once persecuted by the church and the police, but they are now protected under Brazilian law as legitimate religious practices..

 

The Festival of Kings (Festa dos Reis) is the celebration at the conclusion of what are called the festas natalinas, the many celebrations held during the period of Christmas on the Catholic calendar.

In Maranhão  these celebrations may once have been promoted and organized by the institutional Church — now they are spread throughout the region in many forms.  The community celebrations are part of what is known as “popular Catholicism,” practices that may originally have originated in he Church but now carried on by communities themselves.  These two festas in the photos below are community celebrations organized by community groups.  There were no clergy present at either of the festas shown here.

This church below is  simple community building but not the center for a parish or official Church sanction.

Like many such “churches” throughout Maranhão, they have evolved their own forms of celebration that are now part of popular — rather than official — culture.  A feature of popular Catholicism is that the culture producers are the “people,” and not any formal institution.

 

 

An earlier post describes festivals of São Gonçalo and the Festa do Divino in two communities in the interior of Maranhão.  In both cases the celebration, ritual, and liturgy were conducted by the community and held in a “church” that is an informal community building.

This celebration is based on the nativity story of the visit of the three kings to the new-born Jesus.  A centerpiece is the nativity scene which, in Maranhao lis likely to contain animals and entities that reflect the communities’ spiritual practices (Catholic or other).

There is a somewhat similar observance of “Three Kings’ Day” in New Orleans, and many communities celebrate the 12th night of Christmas with a ceremony and burning of trees.

This is, more of less, the last celebration of Christmas.  There is one more event called the “quemada palinha” in which the straw of the manger (the créche, presépio) is burned.  Many celebrations use an herb or shrub called murto, which when burned gives off a sweet, pungent odor like a powerful incense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Popular culture in Maranhão, as elsewhere, is a mix of heritage culture — such as that celebrated here — and mass media entertainment.  This was only one activity gong on at this commercial bar/entertainment center.

Tourist and ethnographic accounts sometimes give the impression that everyone is there; however, in the hybrid world of contemporary Maranhao culture, many are next door drinking and dancing.

As researchers we were at the Festa dos Reis.  We have seen people drink and dance before, and didn’t need to document that.

 

Two Nights of Celebration at the House of Iemanja in Codo, Maranhao

We offer our deep gratitude to Bita Barao, the spiritual leader (pai de santo) of the group that appears here, and to his daughter, Janaina (mai pequena of the group) who is shown as Iemanja in the photos below.

Their spiritual house (terreiro) in Codo, Maranhao is a huge complex with a courtyard, statues, and residence for the leaders and at least some of the devotees during the celebration.  We are deeply grateful for their giving us access to this complex and allowing us to observe and photograph/video their celebrations.  They were even so kind as to invite us from the sidelines (outside an observation wall) to a place inside the ceremonial area that is reserved for devotees and celebrants.  More than that, some of the devotees would occasionally motion to me to take up a particular position in the space to better see some of the more dramatic moments (they knew when Iansa do Fogo  — photos above and below — would appear and wanted me not to miss anything).  Also, the devotees are accustomed to assisting any members who succumb to the experience.  They extended that generosity to us as well and at various times helped me navigate the dusty river bank in the dark, probably avoiding an accidental baptism of my own with all my camera gear.

The context:  We attended two nights of celebration — the first dedicated to Saint Barbara and Iansa (Yansa), the entity in Afro-Brazilian practice associated (syncretized) with Santa Barbara.  The terreiro itself bears the name and image of Iemanja (photo left).  Its full name is Tenda Espirita de Umbanda Rainha Iemanja, which translates roughly to Spiritual House of Umbanda Queen Iemanja.  The word “tenda” literally means tent, but has come to mean a place of spiritual worship.  Umbanda is the form or tradition of worship and has many diverse forms throughout Brazil. Iemanja is their chosen entity of identification and worship.  Her figure, in blue in the photo to the left, is repeated in various photos below. The second night of the celebration was devoted to her.  The first night was dedicated to the Catholic Saint (Santa) Barbara, who is also identified with the orixa Iansa.  In this celebration Iansa’s attribute is that of Iansa de Fogo, Yansa of Fire.

 

 

 

The second night of celebration was to Iemanja (Yemanja), the goddess or orixa of water.  She is often associated with some attribute of the Virgin Mary, particularly as Our Lady of Conception (Iemanja is mother of all the orixas), and the patron of sailors and fishermen (often called Nossa Senhora dos Navigantes).

These related identities are not fixed in Afro-Brazilian practice, but vary with the customs and understandings of each individual group (perhaps a bit like the way small towns and churches in Brazil have different patron saints).  This particular group has is a practice known as Umbanda which combines a wide variety of entities from Christianity, African practice, indigenous figures, and a pantheon of others that are distinct to Brazil.  Their statues and altar figures include the Virgin Mary, Iansa, Saint Sebastian, Jesus Christ, Iemanja, and many other figures that are part of their pantheon of spiritual entities.  This includes various lineages of caboclos  who are often identified with indigenous figures.

The photo below shows other common entities in Afro-Brazilian practice — Preto Velhos, or Old Blacks, who represent the spirits of blacks who died in slavery.  They are ubiquitous in Afro-Brazilian practice in many different traditions.  In some traditions the male Preto Velho may have some identification with Saint Benedict, the black saint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Percussion and dancing are an essential part of the celebration.  The devotees walk/dance in a counterclockwise circle at the beginning.  Gradually some of the devotees dance more vividly and move to the center of the space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Second Night of Celebration, dedicated to Iemanja (Yemanja)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The celebration lasted for what was probably around two hours.  There were many offerings to the orixa, and many dedications of devotees in the water (resembling baptism).  This is a well-organized group and they provided for security, had a sound truck for singers who led the chanting and singing, chairs for some of the older devotees, and even a clean-up crew.  Shortly after this long and deeply emotional ceremony there was no sign that that we had been there other than footprints and candle wax in the dusty river bank.

November 2015, Pindaré (Maranhão, Brazil): 

The Festo Divino and Festa do Sao Gonçalo were held in the small city in the Baixade lowlands Pindaré (Maranhao). In the course of the three-day celebration the  caixeiras (women drummers) of “Maria Caixeira” acompanied and played a key role in the celebration.  Both festas are a hybrid of Portuguese and African-Brazilian spiritual practice.  They exist as “popular Catholicism” outside the institutional sanction of the official Church.  Worshipers are likely to have roots in other practices of African-Brazilian origin, a hybrid that makes it difficult to directly translate the festas into practices known elsewhere.

Maria Caxeira is not only the leader of the group of women drummers/singers — she is also a charismatic community and spiritual leader.  Her name is not her birth name, of course, but carries her deep identity with her practice and community role.

When looking for the place of celebration, we only had to ask anyone in the neighborhood for the house of Maria Caxeira.  Even taxi drivers (or young men on mototaxis) would know, more or less, where to find her.   We have found many times in Maranhão’s popular culture that leading figures are known by  names and nicknames that signify their cultural role and identity.  Often it takes some digging to find their legal names, but everyone known where to find them by their “cultural names.”

This part of the trip involved a stay in Pindaré, a small city in the interior of Maranhão on the river of the same name.

As the photo below shows, fishing and cattle are the foundation of the economy.

The caixeiras are a distinctive tradition in Maranhão.  Those who, like most of us, have little familiarity with these women drummers can get a flavor of their devotion and art in this video.

There are three main segments — in the first the group is rehearsing the complicated courtly dance the Festa do São Gonçalo.  A male expert in the liturgy and movement is assisting.

In the second segment the caixeiras are in the early stages of preparation for the Festo do Divino ceremony.  In the background are children sitting on a row of special chairs.  Their roles as emperor/empress and biblical figures is in photos below.

In the third segment the group led by Maria Caixeira is joined by caixeiras from a quilombo community

(Note: a quilombos are based historically  on communities of escaped or freed slaves, often with indigenous members also.  There are hundreds of these communities in Maranhão, many of which have official status under Brazilian law.)

This video gives a sample of their technique and singing.  The caixeiras drum and sing almost constantly for three days, surrounding by the formal events of São Gonçalo and Festa do Divino and the less formal group preparation of food. The more dramatic moments are shown in the still photos below.

Below is a view of the typical extension of the food preparation from the kitchen to the outside.  It is typical of older homes in the interior of Maranhão, moving the messier work outside the living space.

Festival of São Gonçalo

According to the conventional interpretation, this festival is dedicated to Saint Gonsalo of Almirante who died in the 13th century.  His legends include playing the violin for children, and playing prostitutes to divert them from their profession.

Some scholars point out that the festival was celebrated in traditional Catholic churches with a procession and dance.  It was often dedicated to young women seeking husbands, and to others seeking blessings for infirmities and other troubles.

In the mid-19th century a Brazilian bishop condemned the dance as the work of the devil and it disappeared from institutional Catholic churches.  It continued as a celebration of “Popular Catholicism” as devotees carried on the festas in smaller, informal churches and various spaces not sanctified by formal Catholicism.

There was allegedly another period of repression beginning in the 1930’s white (and Catholic) authorities tried to suppress the festa, which had become linked with the worship of poor backs and was linked with Afro-Brazilian spiritual life.

Like many aspects of Brazilian cultural life in the interior, the official culture and religion resisted repression by spilling into informal spaces not controlled by the authorities.  At the same time, they continued to modify and hybridize practices to include a variety of religious and cultural practices.

The period of official repression is ended, but many prejudices and preconceptions exist.  The most recent antagonist is the evangelical movement.  This is the fastest growing religious form in contemporary Brazil and small towns and rural areas have a multitude of small evangelical churches.  Many of the groups we interviewed and documented tell us that they have local disputes with organized evangelicals who oppose the African-Brazilian elements of their practice.  This often created friction within the groups by creating a fissure between religious sentiments.  The difficulties are sometimes profound since many evangelicals consider the Afro-Brazilian practices to worship false entities or, worse, satanic figures.

In  this celebration in Pindare the celebration practice continues for three days with its hybrid of colonial, Catholic, and Afro-Brazilian elements.

One of the strongest hybrid links are the women’s drumming/dancing/singing groups called the caixeiras.  These women are devoted to the Espirito Santo and celebrate that day (or days), but they may also participate in other practices that are a bit further from Catholicism and a long way from evangelical worship traditions.

The celebration we observed was a blend of courtly dress and dance, with a lengthy liturgy that sought blessings of the saint.

The Pindaré celebration was organized and sustained by the caixeiras (drummers, singers) under the leadership of “Maria Caixeira.”  All were mature women, as the photos below show, and not the young, unmarried women (seeking husbands) of the heritage Portuguese celebration.

In the  Maranhão ceremony dedicated to him the celebrants dress in courtly/formal clothing.  It is danced by women, led by a man who is the expert and repository of the liturgy and dance.  It is so stylized and complex that rehearsals are necessary to practice the performative elements of the ceremony.

The Festa do Divino is understood to have come to Brazil from Portugal in the 18th century, but it is also possible that it also came from slaves brought to Brazil from the Azores.  Having been adopted by Azorean slaves of African origin, it had already become a hybrid practice that has no direct equivalent in Europe or North America (though there are accounts that it is practiced in some areas of the United States by Azorean descendants).

This European-African-Brazilian hybrid continues in Maranhão today in its distinctive identity.

In the most widely-known Festa do Divino, the Espirito Santo (Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost) is the Brazilian Portuguese designation for Pentecost (English), Pfingsten (German), Whitsunday (UK)  is honored in a ceremony that includes courtly dances whose movement an costumes recall their Portuguese origin.  Adults worship, dance and sing a liturgy, but children are the centerpiece. These events of Popular Catholicism are not normed by the official Church and often follow customs and dates of their own.

Children perform in what North Americans would understand as a pageant play — representing Biblical figures.  They wear costumes with crowns.  Usually there are a girl and a boy representing “royalty” — an emperor/empress, or king/queen.  In some interpretations they are seen as various representations of the Holy Spirit.  However, any simply reference to celebrations on the Catholic calendar elsewhere in the world are confusing.

Here are some unusual features of the Festa do Divino as practiced in Maranhão:

It has a Catholic “feel,” but its main carriers and celebrants are caixeiras  — women who are dedicated to honoring the Holy Spirit in percussion and song. 

In other countries a similar celebration may fall on the 40th day after Easter (corresponding to the Pentecost), but in Maranhao it is celebrated in the 3rd week of November.  It may last as long as a week.

It is associated with thanks for gifts (joias) received.  This is often expressed in the form of animals and other food gifts that form the feast.  Children and other blessings are also honored, but the feast is a central part of the celebration.

The ceremonies are not presided over by a priest.  They are lay ceremonies and part of what is called “popular Catholicism”  — hybrid Catholic practices that exist alongside, or even separate from, the institutional Church.

The practice is intertwined with African-Brazilian spiritual practice and generally is practiced by people with links to non-Catholic spiritual groups.

We observed one Festa do Divino celebration in Santa Rosa dos Pretos.  The community lies along Brazilian federal highway 135 about 2 hours south of Sao Luis.  In some accounts it has a long history as a quilombo, a community of fugitive and freed slaves formed outside the colonial power structure.  Many estimates place the number of such communities in Maranhão at 500-700 or more, but the number varies widely between official (registered) and unofficial (not registered or contested) definitions.  Registered quilombos are protected under federal and state laws, but their status is matter of continuing contention over identity, cultural practice, and land rights. A registered quilombo under procedures developed after the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, has official legal status. Many communities are still unofficial and often contested and even areas of violence with other claimants on land rights.

This is the first of two Festas do Divino that we observed and documented.  The second (see later post on Maria Caixeira) was in Pindaré and was combined with the Festa do Sao Gançolo, another celebration that “feels” somehow Catholic, but is rich in other practices as well.

In both cases, the festival was organized and carried out by the caixeiras — women who perform percussion and singing as part of their devotional practice.

The Festa do Divino was held in this church, with part of the feast and celebration in a house nearby.

Festa can also mean feast, which is an important part of the celebration which may go on for days. The house below follows a common rural practice of having an open kitchen area where food is prepared and passed between the interior and exterior areas.

 

A Trip into the Interior with IPHAN

(Institute for National Historical and Artistic Patrimony)

 

 [NOTE: The text below is to credit those who helped us and give some of the context of efforts in Maranhao to preserve heritage cultures.  You can skip this and scroll directly down to the photos of the trip.]

One of the reasons Maranhao has such a rich heritage culture is its underdevelopment and large expanses of rural interior with little infrastructure.  The effects of urbanization and education that are felt in the capitol Sao Luis are scarcely evident in the settlements (povoadas) of the rural interior.

The residents there are not totally isolated, however.  A long-standing governmental effort links them with electricity.  Though the lines are still being extended and improved, the effort was to bring all Brazil into a national media network — first with radio in the 1940s, then television from the late 1950s.

This was a political effort at nation-building, but it was not always followed by decent roads, water, and education.  Mass media entertainment lives side by side with rural poverty.

The families we met were not isolated, though.  Their groups (Bumba-meu-boi and Tambor da Crioula) sometimes perform outside their settlements and villages, and there is a dense cultural network linking the people in a diverse set of heritage spiritual and cultural practices.  They are also connected to nearby towns and small cities.  During our interviews, we saw children going to small local schools, residents on motorcycles moving about, and family members who were dressed for the villages and towns at the other end of the road.

The residents live in an infrastructure-poor area where water often must be carried in buckets from faraway well or holding tank.  But they have television, they see occasional trucks carrying construction materials, and — for better or worse — they occasionally get culture specialists and researchers from Sao Luis.

 

The Institute for National Historical and Artistic Patrimony (IPHAN) is a federal agency that has responsibility for overseeing various cultural resources.  This includes both buildings and physical sites (material culture) and cultural forms (immaterial cultural).

On this trip we were able to accompany Izaurina Nunes of IPHAN on her mission to support rural cultural practices and to find ways to help them survive.

The trip began in the small city of Rosario, then moved to Cidade Nova,  Axixa, Presidente Juscelino, Cachoeira Grande, and Icatu.  We visited many settlements — small communities (povoadas) that typically do not have a paved road or a good water source, and only minimal electricity. We needed four-wheel drive to reach some of the povoadas.

In one passage we took a slightly unsettling ferry (called a balsa) from Presidente Juscelino to Cachoeira Grande. the construction of the ferry — from two old fishing boat hulls — added some excitement to the short passage across the Rio Munim (Munim River).  These two small cities are only a stone’s throw apart, but no bridge connects them.

Slightly upriver, where the water courses through sharp rocks (and gives the town its name — cachoeira, which means waterfall) women sometimes do laundry in the river because of limited fresh water in the town

 

 

All around the region there are tributaries of the Rio Munim and there are other waters that flow from Baia Jose (Bay of Jose) and then from the Atlantic Ocean.

There is still a fishing tradition in the area, but some of the tributaries drying out in this hot season (In November it is late spring here).  Some of the boats seem inactive as the waters and the fishing change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the people we visited offered what they could as hospitality. Sometimes it was water or a soft drink, desperately appreciated in the 95-degree heat and ferocious sun.

The Tambor da Crioula leader below was different: She offered us freshly-picked bananas and jucara, the same “wonder ingredient” known outside the region as acai.  It is popular with body builders in Brazil because it is rich in antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C and much more.  In vastly adulterated form it finds its way into American supermarket potions, but loses its character and probably its effectiveness along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zequina Militao and Dona Nazare are another example of the interconnections of rural/small town cultural practice.  They lead both Bumba-meu-boi group and Tambor da Crioula groups.  Here they are in their sede, the building that houses their costumes and provides a performance space for the groups.

 

 

The Day of the Dead (Dia dos Falecidos) in Caixias (Maranhao) Brazil is a major event as it is elsewhere in Latin America.  We came here because of a special observance involving grave singers and the massive commemoration that is customary here.  The observance is at the Cemiterio Olaria.

This is not the oldest cemetery in the city — that is Cemiterio dos Remedios where the wealthier citizens were buried.  In Remedios some of the citizens showed their heritage and wealth by using Portuguese tiles (azulejos) on the grave markers. 

In the Cemiterio Olaria there where there are few large tombs and other signs of wealth.  Many graves are unmarked or simple mounds of dirt.  Most have a wall built around them, but rarely have a gravestone as in the cemeteries where the wealthier are buried.  They are packed together with no walkways or open space.   You pick your way through the grave sites — carefully they are ringed with mourners, candles, or even fire.

On the day and of the Day of the Dead graves are lit with thousands of candles.  Just before night the visitors leave pick their way through the dust and smoke back into Caxias.

 

 

The graves in this old cemetery are so close that you can scarcely put a foot down to walk between them.  With hundred, or thousands, of others in the cemetery you are often forced to step across candles, smouldering fires, and even on some of the graves themselves.  Picking your way through the fire and dust in the falling evening is a challenge, and the temperatures over 90 degrees combine with the thousands of candles and fires.  Sometimes visitors are choked with heat and dust.  Outside dozens of vendors sell boxes of candles and water.  A local business passes out fans for visitors.

We visited this cemetery specifically to see the custom of grave singers who go from site to site, apparently pre-arranged by the families who can afford them.  They play and sing, accompanied by a flag bearer with the emblem of the Holy Ghost and a small oratorio.

The word “oratorio” typically refers to certain forms of religious vocal music, but it is also the term in Brazil for a small box containing an image of a saint or other religious symbols.  It serves as a portable altar.  Oratorios were used by traveling priests who rode from village to village, fazenda to fazenda, preaching in rural areas where there was no church.

The oratorio is a symbol of traditional devotion and its survival in the interior where churches and priests were often not available.  The traveling priest performed that function, carrying his altar and holy books with him.  It is also a reminder of the fact that the institutional Catholic Church could not penetrate into the interior in a permanent way during the early years of Brazil.  This led to many variations on traditional practice, a lack of control from Rome (or Lisbon), and a fair amount of non-sanctioned priestly behavior (having a family, for example).

In this ceremony the oratorio is carried by the singing group along with its instruments and a flag bearer who carries a red banner with the dove of the Espirito Santo.  The person requesting the observance stands in front of the flag and holds the oratorio until the singing is done.

A little about Caixias, Maranhao

Although we went to the city to seem the Day of the Dead customs, it is a historical city that played an important economic role in the 19th century.  It is also the site of one of the most famous of the slave rebellions that marked the mid-19th century of Brazil (about 50 years before slavery was abolished in 1888).

The Balaiada Rebellion

Caxias is the famous historical city where the Balaiada Rebellion of 1838-40 culminated.  It briefly brought together a non-elite coalition of slaves, poor farmers and a few artisans.  In the most popular rendition it seems to have begun as a riot or jailbreak to free men who had been imprisoned facing transport to fight in the army.  It spread to farmers and to slaves, who destroyed plantations and formed an army of sorts.

A force of about 3,000 slaves was led by Cosme Bento Chagas (photo above).  For a few months they captured and held the small city of Caixias.  They may have hoped to make Caixias into something resembling the model of a quilombo, the communities that were formed by freed and escaped slaves.

After a few weeks the slave army was crushed by the military, winning the commander of the army action the title of “Duke of Caxias.”

Brazil’s slave rebellions were eventually crushed, unlike the Haiti where the only successful rebellion forced the French to withdraw at the beginning of the 19th century.  However, Brazil had experienced centuries of slave self-rule in quilombos, remnants of which survive by the hundreds today.  There are an estimated 300 such settlements in Maranhao alone — some not far from present-day Caixias.

The Balaiada Rebellion is memorialized  in its own museum in Caxias.

 

 

Getting There — the bus to Caixias

The small city of Caixias is about 4-6 hours by bus from Sao Luis.  The variation in time depends on several factors — there is only one highway and sometimes there is trouble, blocking the road for hours.  There is also bus trouble from time to time, and we sometimes see a bus parked along the roadside with someone spinning a wrench and cursing.  Sometimes it is the bus we are in.

The worst of the road hazards are the legendary bus stops.

 

 

 

 

The Dia dos Falecidos at a the Cemiterio Olaria in Caxias

There are several cemeteries in the city, but this one has an unusual custom that we went to see.  Here is part of our group of four.  This event is virtually unknown outside Caxias and the rigors of heat, dust and inaccessibility will not make this a tourist stop.  Simone was filming for us.  Jandir works in one of the institutions of the Secretariat of  the state of Maranhao and is documenting these practices while they still exist.

The custom of cemetery singers is common in east, central, and southeast  Maranhao.  These groups are often referred to as Folioes de Divindade, which translates roughly to “Merrymakers/pranksters of divinity.”  They are performers under the banner of the Espirito Santo.  There are many such groups, usually composed only of men.  This group is led by Chico Touro, whose birth name is Francisco Lacerdo Nunes.  This group consisted of the singers/musicians, flag bearers, an organizer who seemed to know which sites to visit (and collect the fee). There are others, including a boy who stayed near the guitar player to fan him from the heat, dust and smoke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The State of Maranhoa and Cultura Popular

Cultura popular translates into “popular culture,” but in Maranhao it does not mean films, media and mass entertainment.  In some academic discourses it retains that meaning (which is common in the United States and Europe), but it is a shorthand for “culture of the people” — folk, “traditional,” or heritage culture as practiced in the state of Maranhao.

This conference seemed to define a variety of groups and practices as eligible:

Bumba-meu-boi

Tambor da Crioula

Caxeira

Also present were

Capoeira

Afro-Brazilian spiritual practices

The term cultura popular has an operational and political sense because it designates certain practices and celebrations as worthy of preservation and support.  On this trip we were able to accompany and visit events organized by the Maranhao Secretary of Education and Culture.

The event was one of many activities under the slogan: “Mais cultura e turismo” — “More culture and tourism.”  This slogan points to the state’s priority of promoting popular culture in order to increase tourism.

Getting there

It is a long bus ride from Sao Luis to Santa Inez, through a countryside rich in cattle (and secondarily in cotton and some other hardy crops).  These are sturdy cattle that form an important base for Maranhao economy.  Incidentally, they also form the narrative base for the Bumba-meu-boi celebration which traditionally has a story about a slave who steals his master’s prize ox.  In the celebration, the boi, or ox, is represented by frame covered by an embroidered “skin.”

 

 

A prevalent phenomenon that often surprises visitors is the large number of protestant/evangelical churches.  They are often small and simple, but very numerous.  The churches seem to fill a need for a direct religious experience that traditional Catholicism may not offer.  The evangelicals also promote a conservative social agenda such as opposition to reproductive rights for women They are also trenchant in their opposition to non-Christian spiritual practices of Afro-Brazilian origin and are part of a relatively new fault line in Brazilian religious life.

 

 

 

The caixeiras are groups of women who sing and play their own percussion.  This caixeira a shirt of an “Women’s Democratic Cultural Association … ” with other words that signify their religious commitment.  The caixeiras have both a religious and a secular set of songs, but their primary commitment to to espirito santo — the Holy Ghost — and the holidays celebrating the Pentecost.

There were various performances and presentations, but this post shows more of the caixeiras because this was our first real contact with this art and were entranced by the spirituality and virtuosity of the women who practice it.

One important thing we learned at the meeting was that the many diverse practices of the interior are interrelated and that none exists in isolation from the others.  Practitioners of the Bumba-meu-boi may also be involved in Tambor da Crioula, the Catholic Church and other religious practices of African origin.  Evangelicals are also in evidence.  This diversity means a great deal of overlapping and multiple allegiances, but also some competition.  Some of the participants referred to “macumba,” a general term for some of the more occult practices of the interior.  Depending on the speaker and the context, macumba might be a pejorative.  This is part of a complicated local discussion about some controversial practices.

“Macumba” and other Afro-Brazilian spiritual practices have been discouraged and persecuted in the past, though they continue to survive as an important cultural phenomenon in the interior  (as they do in the capital of Sao Luis and other Brazilian cities as well).  They are not actively persecuted by the law now, but they are still controversial.  The Catholic Church has a long history of coexistence and sincretism with these spiritual practices, but the growth evangelical denominations has created a new and difficult dialogue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a public square near the pubic library of Santa Inez the government of the state of Maranhao raised its balloon to announce the evening performance.  The legend says “Government for all of us.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maria Caixeira during the “secular” part of her group’s presentation.  The first section reflects the group’s commitment to Espirito Santo (Holy Spirit), their most important celebration.

 

 

 

 

 

Maria Caixeira and group performing at the Santa Inez meeting

 

 

 

 

Going back: The Pindare bus stop

A few miles from Santa Inez is the town of Pindare which is known for having the oldest sugar cane plant in the region.  It is inactive now, but stands as a sign of the past economy of the Pindare and of the slaves who built the factory and worked in it.

This is a general semi-commercial district with repair shops, capoeira studio, and various small businesses.

From here we returned briefly to Sao Luis (after a 6-hour bus ride) and then left again for a celebration of the Day of the Dead in the city of Caixias and a few days with a specialist from a federal cultural agency who was visiting small town and rural practitioners of the Bumba-meu-boi and Tambor da Crioula.

For more on these trips, see later posts.

 

 

These are the hands of Sao Luis’ best known embroiderer.  Tania Soares has played a central role in regional cultura popular for years.  She provides embroidered costumes to many of the Bumba-meu-boi celebration groups, and other in Sao Luis’ vibrant popular culture.

Her work reaches a high point of production in June when she has to deliver the last of the new skins (couros) for the boi (symbolic ox).  Groups that can afford it will have a new couro each year.

Each skin, or couro, is a work of art in a highly recognizable style.  There are many embroiders producing art in the region, but Dona Tania Soares is probably the most distinctive.

We have visited her many times over the years and photographed her work.  This visit (September 2015) was at a quieter time and only a few pieces were being created.

Some of these are below — a costume’s collar in shown below with on the work table with the tools and decorative glass beads and small glass tubes that she uses.

 

She was also working on a larger costume piece with some of her most popular themes — some version of the holy family.  In Maranhao that is Jesus flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John (Sao Joao).

Sometimes Saint John is shown as an adult in his role as Jesus’ confessor, but here he is the child who is the patron of the Bumba-meu-boi festival.

 

 

 

 

Saint John is central to the celebration in the federal state of Maranhao (of whihl Sao Luis is the capitol) and regional legends link him and the other June saints to the sacred ox (which links them to the festival).

Traditionally performers and supporters of the Bumba-meu-boi did so out of a promessa to thank Sao Joao for blessings received.  As Jesus’ confessor he was considered an especially powerful entity for granting blessings.

The promessa tradition is less powerful now, especially in the more performance-oriented celebrations in the capitol city of Sao Luis, but the patron saint is still revered.

In the Afro-Brazilian spiritual traditions of Maranhao, Sao Joao and other Catholic saints are often understood as a surrogate for an entity of African origin.  For example, a popular theme in Dona Tania’s are is the orixa Iansa (Yansa) who is the Afro-Brazilian entity related to Saint Barbara.

 

 

 

 

Dona Tania has made two embroidered hats for us in the past — one with Saint George (often with the Afro-Brazilian Ogum), and with the emblem of Corinthians (a Sao Paulo soccer team).  We are discussing the symbols to be placed on a third hat.  The customer can, in principle, choose the symbols to be used, but there is always an artistic negotiation.

 

The Morte do Boi is the final celebration of the season for this group which performs in the Orquestra rhythmic tradition.  This tradition is somewhat newer than the other forms, having been developed since the 1950s.

Orquestra innovated the classic form of performance by adding costumed “indias,” young women in a few feathers, brightly dressed vaqueiros (cowhands in the story), and European instrumentation (rather than the percussion used in other groups).  The classic narrative cycle of a prize ox stolen by a slave and slaughtered.  The slave is caught by the vaqueiros (sometimes aided by indios).  Faced with death if he does not restore the boi to its master, the group resorts to indigenous and African shamans who revive the boi.  Over the years this slave narrative has become a devotion to Sao Joao (Saint John) and connected to his name day (24 June).  In some groups the Catholic devotion and resurrection story (including communion) are melded with African-Brazilian spiritual practice.  In this group the Catholic devotional heritage is dominant.

Orquestra is considered by some of the older styles as less “traditional, but this Morte follows some of the basic elements of a closing celebration.  The photos are in more of less in the order of performance of the celebration.

 

 

The Morte do Boi is the “death” of the symbolic ox that closes the performance and celebration season of a group in the Maranhao Bumba-meu-boi tradition.

The boi, or ox, was “baptized” in a ceremony (batizado) on the day of St. John (the night of the 23rd/24th June) and performed in public celebrations from June until the Morte.

The death is a symbolic act that closes the season, but it is also symbolic of the life cycle of the harvest, and of human life.  It is also deeply significant that the blood of the slaughtered “ox” is distributed to the celebrants.  In practice, the ox is a four-foot ox puppet that is “danced” by a “miolo” who is a strong, agile person who carries the puppet on his/her shoulders.

The leadership of the groups has traditionally been through male lineages and families, but several women have taken over groups.  Often this is on the death of the leader who may have been a spouse, partner, or father.  This is the leader of Axixa, taking over from her husband who died about two years ago.

 

 

By Maranhao tradition the ox is decorated with a couro or skin, that is usually embroidered — either with great affection by the celebrants in the pre-season, or by a professional embroider (at significant cost).

There are often two ox figures — the one that has been danced all season and another that is especially decorated for the slaughter.

 

 

This ceremony is typically the end of the celebration season (though some of he more commercial groups continue throughout the year).

 

Here, in the 3rd week of October 2016 is the Morte as celebrated by the group Bumba-meu-boi de Axixa.  Axixa is a small town near Rosario which is near Morros which is near the river Munim which is about 70 miles from Sao Luis which is about 5,000  miles from, say, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to the wine, beer and the late hour, the Morte usually ends a bit less ceremoniously than it begins.  The  tradition blends religion, performance, and community celebration — it is not as openly ribald or sensuous as the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, perhaps because of it’s anchoring in small-town and rural devotional traditions.

 

 

Abel Texeira is a master mask-maker whose work is known all over Maranhao and seen in many groups of the Baixada tradition (the region where he lived before migrating to Sao Luis).

His health is failing now and he is not as active creatively, but his wife is still working in his signature style.

His work have been exhibited in the Afro-Brazilian Museum of Sao Paulo and in various art and folklore galleries throughout Brazil.  He is also featured in various books of folklore culture, and his work continues to be danced everywhere in the region.

The masks are the face covering of somewhat mysterious creatures in the Baixada tradition known as cazumbas.  They are distinctive to this style of Bumba-meu-boi and found among Baixada groups throughout the region.