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.
