{"id":1241,"date":"2015-11-12T09:06:58","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T15:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/?p=1241"},"modified":"2019-07-29T16:07:31","modified_gmt":"2019-07-29T21:07:31","slug":"from-rosario-to-axixa-to-icatu-and-itatuaba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/?p=1241","title":{"rendered":"From Rosario to Axixa to ….. Icatu and Itatuaba"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\u00a0\n

A Trip into the Interior with IPHAN <\/strong><\/p>\n

(Institute for National Historical and Artistic Patrimony)
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"DM4A6989_DxO\" — Field work: Crossing the Munim <\/em>River from the small city of Presidente Juscelino<\/em> to Cachoeira Grande<\/em>.\u00a0 The ferry is built from planks laid across two old fishing boat hulls.\u00a0 The operator bails out the hulls from time to time while he operates the wood rudder with his leg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0[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.\u00a0 You can skip this and scroll directly down to the photos of the trip.]
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
One of the reasons Maranhao has such a rich heritage culture is its underdevelopment and large expanses of rural interior with little infrastructure.\u00a0 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.<\/em><\/p>\n
The residents there are not totally isolated, however.\u00a0 A long-standing governmental effort links them with electricity.\u00a0 Though the lines are still being extended and improved, the effort was to bring all Brazil into a national media network \u2014 first with radio in the 1940s, then television from the late 1950s.<\/em><\/p>\n
*This was a political effort at nation-building, but it was not always followed by decent roads, water, and education.\u00a0 Mass media entertainment lives side by side with rural poverty.<\/em><\/p>\n*
The families we met were not isolated, though.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 They are also connected to nearby towns and small cities.\u00a0 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.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
The residents live in an infrastructure-poor area where water often must be carried in buckets from faraway well or holding tank.\u00a0 But they have television, they see occasional trucks carrying construction materials, and \u2014 for better or worse \u2014 they occasionally get culture specialists and researchers from Sao Luis.<\/em><\/p>\n
***\u00a0<\/p>\n***
The Institute for National Historical and Artistic Patrimony (IPHAN)<\/strong> is a federal agency that has responsibility for overseeing various cultural resources.\u00a0 This includes both buildings and physical sites (material culture) and cultural forms (immaterial cultural).<\/p>\n
**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.<\/p>\n**
The trip began in the small city of Rosario, then moved to Cidade Nova,\u00a0 Axixa, Presidente Juscelino, Cachoeira Grande, and Icatu.\u00a0 We visited many settlements \u2014 small communities (povoadas<\/em>) 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<\/em>.<\/p>\n*
In one passage we took a slightly unsettling ferry (called a balsa<\/em>) from Presidente Juscelino to Cachoeira Grande. the construction of the ferry \u2014 from two old fishing boat hulls \u2014 added some excitement to the short passage across the *Rio Munim<\/em> (Munim River).\u00a0 These two small cities are only a stone\u2019s throw apart, but no bridge connects them.<\/p>\n*
Slightly upriver, where the water courses through sharp rocks (and gives the town its name \u2014 *cachoeira<\/em>, which means waterfall) women sometimes do laundry in the river because of limited fresh water in the town<\/p>\n*
***\u00a0<\/p>\n***
$\"DM4A6695_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Some of our work took us to bureaucratic offices in smaller cities. Here is one of the offices of the city of Axixa where a steady stream of people carry pieces of paper in and out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6841\"$ <\/a>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.<\/p>\n
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).\u00a0 Some of the boats seem inactive as the waters and the fishing change.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6789_DxO\"$ <\/a>
On the Rio Munim<\/em> a fisherman is sorting his catch of surubim<\/em> \u2014 apparently a type of catfish. He is using a traditional cofu<\/em>, or basket woven of buriti<\/em> palm leaves. to hold the catch.\u00a0 Surubim can grow quite large, but the only ones we saw were small ones like this one<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3423_DxO\"$ <\/a>
This is Dona Almerinda Veloso, leader of Bumba-meu-boi de Sao Joao de Rosario<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6593_DxO\"$ <\/a>
One of Dona Almerinda\u2019s boi<\/em>\/ox figures in a small building that doubles as a storage area for costumes and other materials. Her son stands with the with their group\u2019s ox, along with a sack of bananas that had just been delivered by motorcycle.\u00a0 Unlike the highly expensive embroidered ox skins used in the capitol city of Sao Luis, these rural bois<\/em> are often done with applique and other forms of handwork<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6620_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Dona Almerinda\u2019s storage building and headquarters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6627_DxO\"$ <\/a>
These women lead a Tambor da Crioula<\/em> dance group, also in a small settlement. This African-derived dance form for women was declared a national patrimony (a sort of honorary designation as a cultural heritage). This visit of IPHAN<\/strong> (the National Institute for Historical and Artistic Patrimony<\/strong>) was to try to find ways to support these cultural groups in remote areas.\u00a0 It is hard work for IPHAN to bring support so deep into the interior,and hard work for people to maintain these traditions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6632_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Their home \u2014 a form of rural constuction with a frame of local wood and sticks that is filled with a kind of stucco. The roof is a sturdy one of tile. Some of the more modest houses use thatched palm fronds for the roof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Tambor da Crioula<\/em> leader below was different: She offered us freshly-picked bananas and jucara<\/em>, the same \u201cwonder ingredient\u201d known outside the region as acai<\/em>.\u00a0 It is popular with body builders in Brazil because it is rich in antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C and much more.\u00a0 In vastly adulterated form it finds its way into American supermarket potions, but loses its character and probably its effectiveness along the way.<\/p>\n
*\u00a0<\/p>\n*
$\"DM4A6649_DxO\"$ <\/a>
She offered us bananas that seem to grow nearby and one of the rare local treasures \u2014 jacara<\/em>, or acai<\/em>, which grows on local palms. It is highly perishable, so it is only near the source that you can get fresh, pure jacara\/acai. <\/em>The acai potions you find outside the region are frozen and usually mixed with of sugar.\u00a0 One popular variation is to serve it in a bowl thickened with a form of manioc flour (farofa<\/em>).\u00a0
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3588_DxO\"$ <\/a>
This was literally the end of the line for us that day. There was some electricity here but no running water or plumbing. One of the Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group\u2019s members lives here with his family, at the end of a long and rough road.\u00a0 They seem to be connected to the more populated areas by motorcycle.\u00a0 Small displacement Hondas seem to be the most common replacement for animal transportation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6857_DxO\"$ <\/a>
One of the out building in the sandy soil that only supports the palm forest and a few hardy fruit trees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A7022_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Luiz Ferreira is the leader of a Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group in the povoada<\/em> of Mato Grosso<\/em>. Though only women dance, the men provide percussion with drums like the ones behind him.\u00a0 There are typically three different drums, each with a different voice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6881_DxO\"$ <\/a>
We didn\u2019t find the lead of one of the Bumba-meu-boi groups, but we located his father along the road.\u00a0 He was carrying his machete (facao), coming back from working<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6918_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Roberto Pereira Santos has a modest house In the Cidade Novo<\/em> neighborhood on the edge of Rosario.\u00a0 Behind a fence is a large terrain with a garden and a shelter where his Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group performs. Like many residents in the interior, he is involved in a number of other spiritual practices. He is sitting here with a cluster of statues of various entities of Afro-Brazilian and indigenous origin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3668_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Some of the occult symbols that are part of Roberto\u2019s everyday spiritual life.\u00a0 His Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group is called Sonhos de Sao Benedito (\u201cDreams of Saint Benedict,\u201d the black saint who is the patron of the Tambor da Crioula)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3679_DxO\"$ <\/a>
One of Roberto\u2019s altars showing a collection of entities from Catholicism and other traditions.\u00a0 There are other altars in his terrain representing deities from Afro-Brazilian and indigenous practice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3719_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Dona Luzia, leader of a Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group in Cachoeira Grande (Maranhao)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6979_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Dona Luzia, here in front of her house.\u00a0 She is renovating the house (photo right) to provide space for her dance group.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3604_DxO\"$ <\/a>
This is another rural road in a povoada<\/em>.\u00a0 Women here carry water from a community reservoir. In some settlements like this one women carry water long distances from a well or holding tank.\u00a0 Most often the water is stored in a small reservoir (caixa da agua<\/em>) that may be outfitted with spigots for the residents. In other settlements we have seen the tanks enclosed and locked, apparently available only a certain times or perhaps not at all<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3616_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Leandro da Conceicao Teixeira, leader of a Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group in the small settlement of Sangrador.\u00a0 In front of his home a truck with building materials for the ranch down the unpaved road comes through, scattering the chickens and pigs and brushing aside the horses, donkeys and the occasional motorcycle or old bicycle.\u00a0 Water is scarce and must be carried, but there is electricity for limited lighting and the ubiquitous television<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3624_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Senhor Leandro wanted photos of his wife also.\u00a0 We wanted photos of these wonderful people, and were very happy that they wanted the pictures too.\u00a0 We take copies of the photos to them whenever we return. In one home we had visited in 2008 the people remembered our visit and brought out a photo we had given them then.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zequina Militao and Dona Nazare are another example of the interconnections of rural\/small town cultural practice.\u00a0 They lead both Bumba-meu-boi<\/em> group and Tambor da Crioula<\/em> groups.\u00a0 Here they are in their *sede<\/em>, the building that houses their costumes and provides a performance space for the groups.<\/p>\n*
$\"IMG_3775_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Sr. Zequinha de Militao and Dona Nazare, This couple have two groups \u2014\u00a0 Tambor da Crioula<\/em> de Baiacui and Bumba meu boi de Icatu<\/em> in the village of Icatu. This is their headquarters and performance area. Around them are costumes and drums.\u00a0 The bright floral prints behind them are traditional in the huge, flowing skirts of the Tambor da Crioula dancers.
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3796_DxO\"$ <\/a>
This is Itatuaba, a settlement (povoada<\/em>) almost at the end of the road. It was about hour\u2019s drive from the last paved road, and we occasionally needed 4-wheel drive to get through. The community is not far from the Bay of Jose (Baia Jose<\/em>) and the Atlantic Ocean, but water is effectively far away because of the dense forest. From here there is only the same road back to Icatu where the asphalt begins again<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 A Trip into the Interior with IPHAN (Institute for National Historical and Artistic Patrimony) \u00a0 \u00a0[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.\u00a0 You can skip this and scroll directly down to the photos of the trip.] … Continue reading From Rosario to Axixa to ….. Icatu and Itatuaba<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-folk-culture-and-spiritual-practice-in-maranhao-brazil"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1241"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1397,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241\/revisions\/1397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Field work: Crossing the Munim <\/em>River from the small city of Presidente Juscelino<\/em> to Cachoeira Grande<\/em>.\u00a0 The ferry is built from planks laid across two old fishing boat hulls.\u00a0 The operator bails out the hulls from time to time while he operates the wood rudder with his leg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0[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.\u00a0 You can skip this and scroll directly down to the photos of the trip.]
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
One of the reasons Maranhao has such a rich heritage culture is its underdevelopment and large expanses of rural interior with little infrastructure.\u00a0 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.<\/em><\/p>\n
The residents there are not totally isolated, however.\u00a0 A long-standing governmental effort links them with electricity.\u00a0 Though the lines are still being extended and improved, the effort was to bring all Brazil into a national media network \u2014 first with radio in the 1940s, then television from the late 1950s.<\/em><\/p>\n
*This was a political effort at nation-building, but it was not always followed by decent roads, water, and education.\u00a0 Mass media entertainment lives side by side with rural poverty.<\/em><\/p>\n*
The families we met were not isolated, though.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 They are also connected to nearby towns and small cities.\u00a0 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.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
The residents live in an infrastructure-poor area where water often must be carried in buckets from faraway well or holding tank.\u00a0 But they have television, they see occasional trucks carrying construction materials, and \u2014 for better or worse \u2014 they occasionally get culture specialists and researchers from Sao Luis.<\/em><\/p>\n
***\u00a0<\/p>\n***
The Institute for National Historical and Artistic Patrimony (IPHAN)<\/strong> is a federal agency that has responsibility for overseeing various cultural resources.\u00a0 This includes both buildings and physical sites (material culture) and cultural forms (immaterial cultural).<\/p>\n
**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.<\/p>\n**
The trip began in the small city of Rosario, then moved to Cidade Nova,\u00a0 Axixa, Presidente Juscelino, Cachoeira Grande, and Icatu.\u00a0 We visited many settlements \u2014 small communities (povoadas<\/em>) 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<\/em>.<\/p>\n*
In one passage we took a slightly unsettling ferry (called a balsa<\/em>) from Presidente Juscelino to Cachoeira Grande. the construction of the ferry \u2014 from two old fishing boat hulls \u2014 added some excitement to the short passage across the *Rio Munim<\/em> (Munim River).\u00a0 These two small cities are only a stone\u2019s throw apart, but no bridge connects them.<\/p>\n*
Slightly upriver, where the water courses through sharp rocks (and gives the town its name \u2014 *cachoeira<\/em>, which means waterfall) women sometimes do laundry in the river because of limited fresh water in the town<\/p>\n*
***\u00a0<\/p>\n***
$\"DM4A6695_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Some of our work took us to bureaucratic offices in smaller cities. Here is one of the offices of the city of Axixa where a steady stream of people carry pieces of paper in and out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6841\"$ <\/a>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.<\/p>\n
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).\u00a0 Some of the boats seem inactive as the waters and the fishing change.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6789_DxO\"$ <\/a>
On the Rio Munim<\/em> a fisherman is sorting his catch of surubim<\/em> \u2014 apparently a type of catfish. He is using a traditional cofu<\/em>, or basket woven of buriti<\/em> palm leaves. to hold the catch.\u00a0 Surubim can grow quite large, but the only ones we saw were small ones like this one<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3423_DxO\"$ <\/a>
This is Dona Almerinda Veloso, leader of Bumba-meu-boi de Sao Joao de Rosario<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6593_DxO\"$ <\/a>
One of Dona Almerinda\u2019s boi<\/em>\/ox figures in a small building that doubles as a storage area for costumes and other materials. Her son stands with the with their group\u2019s ox, along with a sack of bananas that had just been delivered by motorcycle.\u00a0 Unlike the highly expensive embroidered ox skins used in the capitol city of Sao Luis, these rural bois<\/em> are often done with applique and other forms of handwork<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6620_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Dona Almerinda\u2019s storage building and headquarters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6627_DxO\"$ <\/a>
These women lead a Tambor da Crioula<\/em> dance group, also in a small settlement. This African-derived dance form for women was declared a national patrimony (a sort of honorary designation as a cultural heritage). This visit of IPHAN<\/strong> (the National Institute for Historical and Artistic Patrimony<\/strong>) was to try to find ways to support these cultural groups in remote areas.\u00a0 It is hard work for IPHAN to bring support so deep into the interior,and hard work for people to maintain these traditions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6632_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Their home \u2014 a form of rural constuction with a frame of local wood and sticks that is filled with a kind of stucco. The roof is a sturdy one of tile. Some of the more modest houses use thatched palm fronds for the roof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Tambor da Crioula<\/em> leader below was different: She offered us freshly-picked bananas and jucara<\/em>, the same \u201cwonder ingredient\u201d known outside the region as acai<\/em>.\u00a0 It is popular with body builders in Brazil because it is rich in antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C and much more.\u00a0 In vastly adulterated form it finds its way into American supermarket potions, but loses its character and probably its effectiveness along the way.<\/p>\n
*\u00a0<\/p>\n*
$\"DM4A6649_DxO\"$ <\/a>
She offered us bananas that seem to grow nearby and one of the rare local treasures \u2014 jacara<\/em>, or acai<\/em>, which grows on local palms. It is highly perishable, so it is only near the source that you can get fresh, pure jacara\/acai. <\/em>The acai potions you find outside the region are frozen and usually mixed with of sugar.\u00a0 One popular variation is to serve it in a bowl thickened with a form of manioc flour (farofa<\/em>).\u00a0
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3588_DxO\"$ <\/a>
This was literally the end of the line for us that day. There was some electricity here but no running water or plumbing. One of the Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group\u2019s members lives here with his family, at the end of a long and rough road.\u00a0 They seem to be connected to the more populated areas by motorcycle.\u00a0 Small displacement Hondas seem to be the most common replacement for animal transportation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6857_DxO\"$ <\/a>
One of the out building in the sandy soil that only supports the palm forest and a few hardy fruit trees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A7022_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Luiz Ferreira is the leader of a Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group in the povoada<\/em> of Mato Grosso<\/em>. Though only women dance, the men provide percussion with drums like the ones behind him.\u00a0 There are typically three different drums, each with a different voice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6881_DxO\"$ <\/a>
We didn\u2019t find the lead of one of the Bumba-meu-boi groups, but we located his father along the road.\u00a0 He was carrying his machete (facao), coming back from working<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6918_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Roberto Pereira Santos has a modest house In the Cidade Novo<\/em> neighborhood on the edge of Rosario.\u00a0 Behind a fence is a large terrain with a garden and a shelter where his Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group performs. Like many residents in the interior, he is involved in a number of other spiritual practices. He is sitting here with a cluster of statues of various entities of Afro-Brazilian and indigenous origin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3668_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Some of the occult symbols that are part of Roberto\u2019s everyday spiritual life.\u00a0 His Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group is called Sonhos de Sao Benedito (\u201cDreams of Saint Benedict,\u201d the black saint who is the patron of the Tambor da Crioula)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3679_DxO\"$ <\/a>
One of Roberto\u2019s altars showing a collection of entities from Catholicism and other traditions.\u00a0 There are other altars in his terrain representing deities from Afro-Brazilian and indigenous practice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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$\"IMG_3719_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Dona Luzia, leader of a Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group in Cachoeira Grande (Maranhao)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A6979_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Dona Luzia, here in front of her house.\u00a0 She is renovating the house (photo right) to provide space for her dance group.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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$\"IMG_3604_DxO\"$ <\/a>
This is another rural road in a povoada<\/em>.\u00a0 Women here carry water from a community reservoir. In some settlements like this one women carry water long distances from a well or holding tank.\u00a0 Most often the water is stored in a small reservoir (caixa da agua<\/em>) that may be outfitted with spigots for the residents. In other settlements we have seen the tanks enclosed and locked, apparently available only a certain times or perhaps not at all<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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$\"IMG_3616_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Leandro da Conceicao Teixeira, leader of a Tambor da Crioula<\/em> group in the small settlement of Sangrador.\u00a0 In front of his home a truck with building materials for the ranch down the unpaved road comes through, scattering the chickens and pigs and brushing aside the horses, donkeys and the occasional motorcycle or old bicycle.\u00a0 Water is scarce and must be carried, but there is electricity for limited lighting and the ubiquitous television<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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$\"IMG_3624_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Senhor Leandro wanted photos of his wife also.\u00a0 We wanted photos of these wonderful people, and were very happy that they wanted the pictures too.\u00a0 We take copies of the photos to them whenever we return. In one home we had visited in 2008 the people remembered our visit and brought out a photo we had given them then.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Zequina Militao and Dona Nazare are another example of the interconnections of rural\/small town cultural practice.\u00a0 They lead both Bumba-meu-boi<\/em> group and Tambor da Crioula<\/em> groups.\u00a0 Here they are in their *sede<\/em>, the building that houses their costumes and provides a performance space for the groups.<\/p>\n*
$\"IMG_3775_DxO\"$ <\/a>
Sr. Zequinha de Militao and Dona Nazare, This couple have two groups \u2014\u00a0 Tambor da Crioula<\/em> de Baiacui and Bumba meu boi de Icatu<\/em> in the village of Icatu. This is their headquarters and performance area. Around them are costumes and drums.\u00a0 The bright floral prints behind them are traditional in the huge, flowing skirts of the Tambor da Crioula dancers.
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
$\"IMG_3796_DxO\"$ <\/a>
This is Itatuaba, a settlement (povoada<\/em>) almost at the end of the road. It was about hour\u2019s drive from the last paved road, and we occasionally needed 4-wheel drive to get through. The community is not far from the Bay of Jose (Baia Jose<\/em>) and the Atlantic Ocean, but water is effectively far away because of the dense forest. From here there is only the same road back to Icatu where the asphalt begins again<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 A Trip into the Interior with IPHAN (Institute for National Historical and Artistic Patrimony) \u00a0 \u00a0[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.\u00a0 You can skip this and scroll directly down to the photos of the trip.] … Continue reading From Rosario to Axixa to ….. Icatu and Itatuaba<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-folk-culture-and-spiritual-practice-in-maranhao-brazil"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1241"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1397,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241\/revisions\/1397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}