A COMPARATIVE ANALYSES 0F COMPADRIO
IN TWO PORTUGUESE VILLAGES

Thesis for the Degree of M. A. .
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
CHARLES LUKE BOUGHTER

. 1970

 

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ABSTRACT

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COMPADRIO
IN TWO PORTUGUESE VILLAGES

BY

Charles Luke Boughter

The Medieval Catholic ritual of baptism, confir-
mation, and marriage involved a social network of spiritual
sponsors who not only became god-parents of the initiates,
but also became involved in the social structure as co-
parents. Considerable research has been done on the ritual
co-parenthood system in Latin America so that it is known

that this compadrio system was an integral part of the cul-

 

ture the Portuguese took to Brazil in the 16th century.
However, little is known about the survival and functional
importance of the god-parent system in Portugal today.

In order to understand more about compadrio in

 

contemporary Portugal a comparative study was made of the
two villages,.Vila Nova de Milfontes and Cuba. These two
communities are-similar in their historical relation to
the influence of the Roman Catholic Church and in their
degree of isolation from the effects of industrialization.

Also, both villages are semi-stratified with a large

 

~.— ~ “-

 

Charles Luke Boughter

section of the population classified as homogeneous. How-
ever, they differed in their environmental setting. Vila
Nova is a small fishing village along the southwest coast
where relatively good land has been available for small
plot farming, thus providing the potential for socio-
economic mobility. Cuba, in contrast, is a large village
located in-land in a dry climate where poor land composes
the latifundia so typical of this southern Alentejo
province. Here the large percentage of the population
work on the large farm estates as they have for more than
five centuries with little interest in economic mobility.
The author lived in each village to obtain data
by means of structured interviews, observation, and census
information. ‘Literature on the god-parent system in Latin
America and Europe was consulted as well as historical

studies on the development of compadrio in Spain and

 

Portugal. Each village was analyzed on the basis of
economic mobility in order to determine the function of
the god-parent system and the provenance of god-parents.
Contrary to much of the literature on the god—
parent system in Latin America, it was found that con-

fromity to compadrio and the selection of non—relatives as

 

god-parents vary directly with the degree of socio-economic
mobility. In both villages a higher degree of conformity

to compadrio was noted in the upper classes.

 

 

 

 

Wm- -..- --

 

Charles Luke Boughter

Today, in function, the emphasis of the god-parent
system has shifted from the original Catholic teaching of
a god-parent/god-child relationship to a ritual co-parent-
hood. This gives to the villager, who is becoming mobile,
the needed mediators for resolving his economic and cul-

tural problems as he faces the unknowns resulting from

 

the process of industrialization. Through compadrio the
villager stands to gain both in the network of new re-
lationships and through conformity to the powerful Church.
As the peasant moves away from dependency to greater
economic independency and mobility, he becomes increasingly
affected by the cultural values of the Church-sanctioned
god-parent system. It becomes the status symbol of his
desired new world and a requisite for structuring needed

mediators to help him on the road to social mobility.

 

 

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COMPADRIO

IN TWO PORTUGUESE VILLAGES

BY

Charles Luke Boughter

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Anthropology

1970

 

  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . .
.é.;' The Problem. . . . . . . . . . . .
It; Statement of the problem. . . . . . .
Definition of compadrio . . . . . . .
Questions Raised by Other Studies . . . .
Latin-American and Middle American studies.
«.f Contemporary Mediterranean studies . . .
A question of process. . . . . . . .
':.3;; _- The need for ethnological studies in
Portugal . . . . . . . . . . .
’{ 35f, Research Design . . . . . . .' . . .
Organization of Remainder of Thesis. . . .
I1. METHOD OF RESEARCH . . . . . . . . . .
‘-;‘ ° Field Methods Employed in Vila Nova. . . .
. Research Techniques Employed in Cuba . . .
Organization of Field Wbrk. . . . . . .
' “f :* .- . yarn-'10s or VILA NOVA DE MILFONTES. . .
{TUE I : :u.ry of the Pillage . . . . . . .
. i _ tinning Influence of the Catholic Church
~ibpublican Period. . . . . . .

. .14

PAGE

\laficbWD-‘I-‘l-‘H

 

 

iii

   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
      

PAGE

The New State Period . . . . . . . . _ 29

_ Recent developments . . . . . . . . 30

4‘ Folk religion today . . . . . . . . 32

I The Ecology and Land Tenure . . . . . . 35
Conditions favoring minifundia. . . . . 35

‘ Resources of the sea . . . . . . . . 36
_%1_ * Aforar system and land tenure . . . . . 38
-U' Life in the Village Today . . . . . . . 41
Domestic organization. . . . . . . . 44
Agricultural organization . . . . . . 47

'Life at sea . . . . . . . . . . . 50-

Diversion. . . . . . . . . . . . 53
{1 Political organization . . . . . . . 56
1‘ Educational system. . . . . . . . . 57

Social Organization . . . . . . . . . 58
'Childhood. . . . . . . . . . . .. 58
Courtship. . . . . . . . . . . . 61

‘ Marriage and kinship . . . . . . . . 63

A DESCRIPTION OF CUBA . . . . . . . . . '18
I B1story of the Village . . .' . . . . . 1 78 géfi

“I“ ..

‘2 k, Influence of the Catholic Church. . . . . 79 ' -§i

 

 

iv
CHAPTER PAGE

The Village Today . . . . . . . . . . 84

 

Political organization. . . . . . . . 88
t The educational system. . . . . . . . 89
The agricultural system . . . . . . . 91

Fall plowing and planting. . . . . . . 91

' Olive harvest. . . . . . . . . . . 92
. A monda O O O O O O O O O O O O O 95
The harvest . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Cork harvest . . . . . . . . . . . 100

, ' The village market . . . . . . . . . 102
1 Social Organization . . . . . . . . . 105

‘ Baptism. . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
f Courtship . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
! Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Associations . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Status and social change . . . . . . . 118

V. ANALYSIS OF COMPADRIO IN VILA NOVA . . . . . 124
DisCussion of the Hypothesis . . . . . . 124

The working hypothesis. . . . . . . . 127

A Description of Compadrio . . . . . . . 130

[ Non-mobile dependent farm laborers. . . . 131

 

Quasi-mobile fishermen, farmers. . . . . 132

Mobile farmer and boat owner. . . . . . 135

 

'

 

m

-1.

1
I

 

CHAPTER
Independent merchant, artisan, functionary
Independent landowners, industrialists .
Summary of Chapter. . . . ’. . . . .
VI. ANALYSIS OF COMPADRIO IN CUBA. . . . . .
Description of Compadrio by Class in Cuba .
The criteria of class categories in Cuba.
Dependent Latifundium worker. . . . .
Quasi-mobile farm larborer, renter, factor
worker . . . . . . . . . . .
Mobile merchants, artisan, skilled factory
workers . . . . . . . . . . .
Independent government employees and small
farm owners. . . . . . . . . .
Independent Latifundium owner . . . .
VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. . . . . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . . .1 .
The influence of the Catholic Church . .
The effect of the environment . . . .
Compadrio . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . .
Cousin marriage and avilability of land .
Questions for Further Study. . . . . .
BIBIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

APPENDIX. C O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

PAGE
140
143
144
147
149
149

150

152

155

157
161
162
162
163
164
165
167
171
172
175
183

 

 

 

 

TABLE

II.

III.

IV.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

XI.

LIST OF TABLES

Origin of Spouses in Forty-One Households .
Origin of Household Units According to Type
and Composition . . . . . . . . .
Ecological Contrast Between Two Villages .
Distribution of Male Population Ages Twenty
to Sixty-Five in 1965 in Cuba . . . .
Distribution of Total Population in the
District of Beja in 1967 . . . . . .
Thirty-Seven Household Units According to
Type and Composition . . . . . . .
Comparison of Daily Wages (Escudos) . . .
Classification of Economic Mobility in Vila
Nova. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Frequency of Sponsors in Vila Nova in Class
(1)............
Frequency of Sponsors in Five Households of

Class (2) in Vila Nova. . . . . . .

Frequency of Sponsors in Fourteen Households

of Class (3) in Vila Nova. . . . . .

PAGE

66

70

82

106

106

113
121

130

131

133

135

 

TABLE

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

Frequency of Sponsors in Four Households of
Class (4) in Vila Nova . . . . . . .
Classification of Economic Mobility in Cuba.
Frequency of Sponsors in Nine Households of
Class (1) in Cuba. . . . . . . . .
Frequency of Sponsors in Three Households of
Class (2) in Cuba. . . . . . . . .
Frequency of Sponsors in Five Households of
Class (3) in Cuba. . . . . . . . .
Frequency of Sponsors in Three Households of
Class (4) in Cuba. . . . . . . . .
Educational Achievements of Ninety-Three Men
in Cuba, Average Age Thirty-Eight . . .

A Comparison of Establishments . . . .

vii

PAGE

140

148

150

154

156

159

184

185

 

LIST OF FIGURES

God-parents

and Cuba

FIGURE
1. "Primo Irmaos" Families A and B . .
2. "Primo Irmaos" Families J, K, L . .
3. Kinship Terms of Reference. . . .
Key to Figure III. . . . . . .
4. Example of Bilateral Origin of Surname. . . .
5. Conformity to Compadrio According to Mobility in
Vila Nova and Cuba Compared. . .
6. Selection of Friends or Relatives as
According to Mobility in Vila Nova
Compared . . . . . . . . .
7. Map of Portugal . . . . . . .

10.

Map of Vila Nova . . . . . . .
Map of Cuba. . . . . . . . .

Map of Alentejo . . . . . . .

PAGE
67
68
72
71

74

169

170
186
187
188

189

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Anthropological research in Latin America has
demonstrated the importance of the ritual co-parenthood

system (compadrio)1 in understanding social structure and

 

culture change. Little is known, however, about the sys-
tem in Portugal today even though there is abundant evi-

dence of the Roman Catholic compadrio being an integral

 

part of the culture the Portuguese took to Brazil in the

sixteenth century (Freyre, 1946).

I. THE PROBLEM

Statement of the problem. The purpose of a con-

 

 

trolled comparison of two Portuguese villages was to find

the relative importance of compadrio in the social struc-

 

ture today and to determine the conditions under which the

system can be expected to change.

‘Definition of compadrio. The European spiritual

 

 

co-parent system had its origin within the Roman Catholic

 

1The Portuguese spelling is used for this term.
See Appendix, pages 190-192 for glossary of all underlined
Portuguese words used in this thesis.

 

 

Church previous to the fourth century A.D. as a sequence

‘ to the earlier custom of the biological parents being the
spiritual sponsors for a child at baptism. Later, spon-
sors included those who were not the parents who soon were
known as "god-parents." The earliest reference to these
spiritual sponsors at baptism is found in Tertullian
around 220 A.D. in his treatise on Baptism.

In Baptism the sponsors likewise should be thrust
into danger who both themselves by reason of mortality
may fail to fulfill their promises and may be dis-

. appointed by the development of an evil disposition

‘ in those for whom they stood (Tertullian, 1951:678).

It is not known how early the practice began of

choosing sponsors for marriage, but it is likely to have
been even previous to the system for baptism. Kurtz
points out that Roman Law required two witnesses for civil

. marriage so that it was to be expected that the Christians
would have transferred the requirement to the practice of
using spiritual sponsors for the marriage couple (Kurtz,

: ' 1889:389).

The Council of Munich in 813 prohibited parents

* 1 from acting as sponsors and later, sponsors were also

chosen for the rite of confirmation (Mintz and Wolf, 1950:

344).

 

The Council of Metz, 888 A.D., defined incest for
both biological and ritual relations to seven degrees,

while the number of sponsors grew for each rite.

 

 

 

 

 

By the end of the ninth century the institution of
godfather was universal and founded a spiritual rela-
tionship within which marriage was prohibited not only
between the godparents themselves, but also between
those and the baptized and their children (Kurtz,
1889:367).

 

Since the sponsor had material and spiritual re-
sponsibility for his new "child," he was chosen both ver-
tically from a higher class as well as horizontally from
those of the same neighborhood. Social relations thus
developed were strengthened and reciprocal relations mul—
tiplied not only between the god-parents and their child,
but even more important, between the parent of the child
and the god-parent. Even further, relationships were
constructed between the god-parents of this and other
rites within the same family. In this way the kinship
and social structure were enlarged to include not only
the biological family, but the ritual kin as well, placing
increasing emphasis on the ritual co-parenthood (Ravicz,

1967:239).

II. QUESTIONS RAISED BY OTHER STUDIES

The absence of recognizable groups for purposes
of cooperation, beyond the nuclear or simple extended
family, has been reported as the characteristic of the
peasant villages in Latin America and Mediterranean Europe

(Foster, 1948:287). The resulting individualism was

3

 

 

 

thought to have been mitigated by the network of social

relations established by compadrio, forming a kind of

 

social insurance, giving greater support and strength to
the individual than he would get from his family. Thus,
following an equilibrium model, security and unity were

thought to have been brought about by the ritual kinship

system.

Latin American and Middle American studies. This
equilibrium model was the general theme of Gillin's study
of the Moche, Foster's of Tzintzuntzan, and Spicer's of
Pascua. Spicer writes:

The village feeling of all being compadres is an
all pervasive network of relationships which takes
into its web every person in the village. The net-
work is in reality an organized system which defines
a common body of understanding on which the unity of
the village depends. The adrinho group is as clearly
an organized structure as is the nuclear family
(Spicer, 1940:115).

 

o In these studies the ritual kinship relationships
are conceptualized to be functioning as a unity or group,
but in fact, except for the rare occasions of the ritual

ceremonies themselves when the compadres are brought to-

 

gether, no such group or organized activity actually

 

1 exists in the village as a result of the god-parent sys-
tem. Spicer does admit this apparent contradiction: "the

circle of people in the relation of compadres to one

 

another never functiOns completely as such" (1940:113).

 

i

 

 

 

 

In describing the compadrio system in Moche,

 

Gillin also seems to be conceptualizing a unifying system
without being able to define an actual existing group. He
writes:

. . . compadres . . . is not an organized group; no
leadership, no group activity, no rights or obligations
pertaining to the group as a whole and no internal
organization. There is no word in use in Moche refer-
ring to this sort of group as a discrete, functioning
entity occupying a place in the social organization
(Gillin, 1947:109, 110).

 

After describing the social security and unifying
aspects of the god-parent system in Tzintzuntzan, Foster
presents a contradiction when he concludes:

. . . one is struck not with collectivistic, but rather
strong tradition of individualistic attitudes. There
is no social mechanism whereby the poor are helped

and little pity for those who experience personal or
financial catastrophies. Cooperation in the field
work is unknown (Foster, 1948:287).

In addition to this unclearness concerning the
structural meaning of these ego-centric relations, which
Friedl refers to as spokes on a rimless wheel (1962:74),
both the social security and the unifying concepts of
compadrio are now being questioned.

I

In his later analysis of the Mexican peasant vil-
lage (1961), the god-parent system in Spain (1963), and
his re-thinking Tzintzuntzan in terms of the "Image of

Limited Good” (1967), Foster also questions the value of

the co-parenthood model for describing the structure of

 

peasant communities or in giving an adequate explanation
of the basic cultural orientation. Furthermore, Spiel-
berg's study of San Miguel Milpas Altas shows that the
maintenance of the individualistic character of the inter-
personal relations in a small homogeneous village to be of
greater importance than the unifying apsect of the god-
parent system (1968:209). Sayres (1956) also makes a
similar observation as well as van den Berghe who writes:
. . . system-maintaining approach of functionalists
appears inadequate and too simple . . . (as) the god-
parent system plays, to be sure, an important role,

but one that is far more complex and diversified than
much of the literature suggests (1966:1242).

Contemporary Mediterranean studies. In the midst

 

of these questions concerning how the ritual kinship
institution serves to regulate behavior and to structure
relationships, there arises another question. That is
whether or not the god-parent system is still in existence
1 in the area of the Iberian Peninsula where it functioned
F so intensely more than five centuries ago.
In tracing the development of the god-parent sys-
tem in Europe, Foster (1951, 1953, 1960) sees the system

being replaced by the Cofradia, the religious sodality

 

which honors a patron saint. The reason for his change

is said to be due to the failure of compadrio to organize

 

community activity and provide adequate social security.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the coming of industrialization, solidarity was cru-

cial so that the system of cofradia became a visual symbol
of association and unity (Foster, 1953:17). However, in

spite of these questions as to how compadrio could have

 

survived, Jullian Pitt-Rivers (1958) finds and analyzes
ritual kinship in Andalusia and Mintz and Wolf (1950:352,
364) also refer to it in Spain. Willems (1963:75-78) makes

some references to the residual effects of compadrio in

 

Portugal and recent studies in Brazil such as Kottak's
(1967) showing the ramifications there of the sixteenth
century Portuguese co-parenthood system would make a study
of Portugal of value in verifying the existence and func-

tion of compadrio today.

 

A_question pf process. The tension generated by
the position of Foster, who predicts the continuation of
the co-parenthood system in small homogeneous villages not
affected by industrialization (1953:25), in contrast to
Spielberg (1968), raises a question of process. Spielberg
believes that the larger heterogeneous community has
greater possibility of maintaining both social distance
and the implicit intrusion of one's individualistic domain
by way of the reciprocal obligations of the ritual kinship
system. Does, therefore, industrialization lead to re—

placement of compadrio with other institutions?

 

 

 

 

How pronounced is this change and what are the other

effects on the social structure?

- .— w.-

Mintz and Wolf stated:

Under conditions of advanced industrialization
mechanisms of social control based on biological or
ritual kin affiliation tend to give way before more
impersonal modes of organization. Compadrazgo sur-
vives most actively in present day Europe within areas
of lesser industrial development (1950:364).

Paul also sees the later breakdown of the cofradia
with the development of the progressive Catholic lay move-
ment which primarily was a reaction to the Reformation
(Paul, 1963). It is therefore needed to determine what
are the conditions which favor the ritual kinship system

and what direction the change in the system might be ex-

pected to take as determining conditions are altered.

The need for ethnological studies in Portugal.

Since the compadrio system had its beginning in Europe,

 

it would be appropriate that some of these questions be
persued in areas of the Mediterranean where conditions
I obtain for comparative community studies. Julian Pitt-

Rivers clarifies the challenge:

i
r
y (We need) to consider the persistence of certain
) social features and the failure of others to impose

themselves; diffusion and resistance to diffusion can
E here (Mediterranea) be studied in terms of the func-
, tional necessities of the environment, with a wealth
i of historical sources to be found nowhere else in the
world (1963:10).

 

   

V‘-

* Some recent anthropological literature on Europe

refers to the importance of compadrio in Spain (Pitt-

 

 

Rivers, 1958, 1963), Portugal (Willems, 1963), Greece
(Friedl, 1962), Italy (Silverman, 1965), Serbia (Balikci,
1965) and (Halpern, 1958), but there remains a need to

analyze the function of compadrio in Portugal in relation

 

to the questions raised. Recent anthropological litera—
ture in Portugal is limited to the community studies by
Dias: Vilarinho da Furna in 1948 and Rio de Onor in 1953,
and some brief papers by visiting anthropologists, in-
cluding Willem's two month study of Canhestros in 1954.
The large collection of ethnological data in five volumes
by Vasconcellos contains very little on social organiza-

tion and makes no attempt to analyze compadrio in Portugal.

 

III. RESEARCH DESIGN

It was decided to study two rural Portuguese vil-

Cw— - -

lages which had differing ecological and economic condi-

 

tions as well as a variation in the influence of the
1 Roman Catholic Church. The purpose was to study under

i what conditions compadrio functions and to find the causes

 

 

for disparities in the institution within and between
these two different villages. Further investigation would

be made to determine how compadrio has adjusted to the

 

changing social structure and what patterns can be

 

 

 

10
anticipated for selecting god-parents in a community be—
coming more affected by industrialization. The range of
the institution would be observed in the village noting
also the degree of conformity in relation to economic
level or mobility. General comparisons would then be made

with the Latin-American model where compadrio is seen

 

primarily as a dyadic relationship, varying inversely with
industrialization.

After several meetings with my Faculty Guidance
Committee, Dr. Hughes, Dr. Spielberg, and Dr. Kraft, two
villages were selected in Portugal: Vila Nova de Milfontes,
a coastal fishing village with intensive agriculture, and
Cuba, in the same province, but located in the interior.
This second village was in a dry climate and surrounded by
large estates which practiced extensive agriculture depen-

dent on the villagers' seasonal labor.

IV. ORGANIZATION OF THE REMAINDER

OF THE THESIS

In Chapter II, methodology is explained in relation
to the preliminary research, how data was obtained and the
information summarized. In the following two chapters a
description is given of the two villages presenting the
history and the social organization. Chapters V and VI

analyze the structure and the function of compadrio in

 

 

11

  
 
       
  
 
 
     

km villages. Chapter VII summarizes the data and

discussing the implications, presents the conclusions

"
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n. .” Minus some suggestions for further study.
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CHAPTER II
METHOD OF RESEARCH

Beginning in January 1965, a survey of anthropol-
ogical literature was made, a reading list compiled and a
study schedule Worked out over a three year period on
compadrio in European and Latin American community studies.
Involvement full-time in other professional activities in
Portugal made it necessary to organize the field work over
this extended period. Early in the schedule two months
were set aside for residence in each of the two villages

studied.
I. FIELD METHODS EMPLOYED IN VILA NOVA

In this village the author had his first contact
visiting friends in 1957. Later, in 1958 when colleagues
purchased a pine woods to serve as a summer camp about
oneehalf kilometer north of the village, a period of
intensive contact began by helping with the construction
of buildings on the new property. During the following
ten summers of camp activity this contact with various

members of the village continued.

 

 

r——————'

 

13

Due to being thus identified it was possible to be
functionally related to the village. However, in order to
fulfill the new role of gathering information through
interviews, it was found that an explanation had to be
given to account for the sudden intensification of interest
in the life of customs of the village. It was decided to
tell those who asked that we were studying the history of
the village, its customs and language variations. The
idea of increasing knowledge of local history and our own
language proficiency was perhaps better understood than
the thought that customs were not universal. Most of the
informants in Vila Nova cooperated in an open and friendly
way.

During the month of October 1965 it was possible
to live in the village, taking meals in the home of Sra Da
Margarida who runs a small boarding house in the summer
for tourists. During this time of winter, besides the
family, there were businessmen and government agents taking
meals at the house. It had been previously arranged with
Sr. Alfredo, a friend who lives 500 meters north of the
village, to contact a larger family for us. It was thought
that the task of developing wider contacts would be facil-
itated. Sr. Alfredo had inquired of several families, but
failed to make arrangements. All had given him the same

reasons: insufficient food. Since normally their meals

 

WW _

14
were very simple, they said they believed they would have
to eat more formally with a foreign guest. The anticipated
increase of cost to them and the accompanying inconve—
nience made the idea unacceptable. A further complication
was that the men would be working away from the house part
of the day and some even overnight on their fishing boats
so that Sr. Alfredo thought my residence in any of these
homes would have been impossible. Thus, the compromise
arrangement was worked out.

Interviews were made with anyone who had the time
and interest and on this basis more than forty were re-
corded. Some led to additional contacts: others became
rather terminal, but not without yielding some information.

The most fruitful series of contacts was developed
from the Raemundo family, a husband and wife who lived
with their unmarried son and four married sons and daugh-
ters and their|children as an extended family. The Rae-
mundos, unlike so many of the other villagers, enjoyed
good relations with many other households and provided
profitable additional interviews.

The focus of these interviews was the geneology,
which was usually able to generate interest. Interspersed

with the chart it was possible to record appropriate cen-

sus information and inquiry about the selection of

padrinhos, the kin and compadre relationships and the real

 

15
and ideal responsibilities to them. Information of related
subjects was recorded on cards and then sorted out for
patterns under topics.

Since some informants were occupied with daily
work, it was necessary to participate with them in order
not U3 interrupt their activity. Often the author walked
hours with informants beside the burro and simple wooden
plow, plodding through uncounted rows of white sandy soil
under a scorching sun. Several days were spent with fish-
ermen, helping them bait the lines and kill the fish. This
latter task was accomplished by either biting the head
between the eyes or laying the head of the fish on a sharp
rock and giving it a quick blow on the eye with the
clenched fist. Days were spent in the carpenter shops,
with the shoemakers, seated on their uncomfortably low-low
stools. Many hours were passed in the market and taverns,
trying to look as much like all of the other clients as
possible. Occasionally we were able to be helpful. One
afternoon I was given an apron as I sat on a low stool in
a farm yard with two elderly women. We were picking pea-
nuts off the dried bushes piled high on the threashing
floor. These activities were appreciated by the villagers
who sometimes were able to get their chores accomplished
more rapidly in this way. Evening were used for typing up

the interviews by kerosene lamps, blocking out geneologies,

 

 

l6
and planning the questions for the interviews of the fol-
lowing day.

After this month of field work in 1965, there were
six brief visits in 1966, about the same in 1967 and twice
in the spring of 1968 for checking conflicting or inade-
quate information. A final period of study and initial
writing of the thesis was done in June 1968.. The period

of study in Vila Nova covers a span of three years.
II. RESEARCH TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED IN CUBA

Although we lived for ten months during 1954 in
Ferreira do Alentejo, a village thirty kilometers south-
west of Cuba, it was thought best to study less-known Cuba
due to its more isolated location. The first time we had
opportunity to visit the village of Cuba was in March
1951, followed by a brief visit in 1953. The next contact
was for the period of residence for field work during the
month of December 1965. Our information was gathered by
interviews based on an interview guide,1 by participant
observation, informants' testimony, census materials, and
the ethnographic records of J. Leite Vasconcellos.

During the first days of field work it was real-

ized how much the village life had changed since our

 

1See Appendix, page 193.

 

W.

 

17
initial contact in 1951 and at first it was feared there
would not be adequate control to provide the basis for a
comparison with Vila Nova. Previous to 1951 emigration
from the Alentejo province had been sporadic and Cuba was
known for its resistance to this phenomenon. Now, this
had been reversed dramatically within the past decade,
with Cuba claiming the loss of more than a thousand men
who had left for the urban centers to the north. The ex-
tremely cold and rainy weather in December 1965 did not
provide any encouragement either. However, there were
factors which indicated the wisdom of continuing with the
original plan. One of these was our friendly contact in
the village with Sr. José Roberto, an elder in the local
protestant church. Sr. José offered his time to help as
an informant and to introduce us to other people in the
village. He made all of the arrangements for us to live
with Sr. Fernandes' family. José, one of eight children
in his household, also provided us with one of the more
complete genelogies compiled in Cuba. José's father, Joao,
a widower, still travelled daily to their small farm four
kilometers north of Cuba where another son, Emidio, brother
of José, lived with his wife and son. José sold vegetables
and oranges daily in the village market, often assisted by
his father, who brought the produce in from the farm each

morning at 5 AM in the family mule cart. Following José

 

_. 433.4!

18
was easier, as compared to other informants, for he was
paralyzed below the waist from childhood and could only
walk with crutches or ride his motor tricycle cart.

Besides the mealtime conversations with Ilidio
and Anitka, his wife and some conversations which Ilidio
Fernandes arranged among his office staff at the govern-
ment farm cooperative center, most of the interviews were
the result of patient waiting. Unlike Vila Nova, the
Cubans were not interested in talking about themselves.
Cuba had much less contact with peOple outside the village
than Vila Nova.

Daily we chatted with José in the market where he
was seated behind his table of vegtables from 5 until 10
AM, and from here several profitable interviews with
friends of José were begun. Others were initiated by
chatting with men leaning against buildings during the
few days there was sun, or sitting around taverns in front
of the enormous spherical pottery wine vats, two meters
high and almost as wide. These cubozes, according to
tradition, gave the village its name when it consisted of
just a few taverns on the road to Lisbon. Also profitable,
to some degree, was being able to join groups of men in
stores, warehouses, granaries, barns, factories, or gath-
ered around the mules in a blacksmith's shop. Occasionally

we also were able to venture out to the cold muddy fields

 

__..

19

with the latifundia workers in the large mule-drawn
carts.

In order to overcome the extreme unfriendliness
of the men, it was early mentioned that the author was a
friend of old Uncle John, as José' father is known in the
village, i.e., Tie Jgég. I also pointed out in my inter-
views that I was staying with Sr. Ilidio Fernandes. The
fact that Sr. Fernandes was not only very well known and
liked, but also had a political job of potential influence
and usefulness to the poor villagers made this relationship
valuable to me. The combination of being a friend of gig
Jgég and the hospede of Sr. Fernandes usually opened up
the most reserved, allowing the interviews to proceed
informally. Although the shop owners and government
employees in this district, an administrative center,
wore shirt, tie, and suit coat, I chose to dress informally
like the masses of unemployed men who stood around, rhyth-
mically stamping their cold booted feet.

Some of the men had spent several months during
the past ten years doing migratory farm work in other
parts of the district and some as far away as France.
Others had seen foreigners in this area working on the
German Air Force base at Beringel-Sao Matias, so my pres-
ence did not cause alarm. There was, however, a general

mood of caution which could have been interpreted

 

20
as unfriendliness. Possibily the residence of a few of the
villagers for some months in France working on the beet
farms had added to rather than reduced the overall dis-
trust of foreigners.

In spite of the contacts some of the men had with
people outside of the village, this cautious spirit re-
mained. Compared to the present flow of tourists into
Vila Nova, Cuba is far more isolated and unaffected by the
changes going on outside.

Information was assembled, geneologies drawn up,
and reactions to various situations were compiled from the
interview guides used to follow through different hypoth-
eses. Field notes were typed up and interview guides
memorized each night in what was the coldest December that
many could remember. Meals were always welcome, not only
for the new leads in the animated conversation with the
Fernandes, but for the dry heat from the open charcoal
fire in a brass pan under the table. During one week
several days were spent in the large old court house,
going over historical records and census information which
was placed at my use by the employees who were friends of
Sr. Fernandes. In all, more than forty interviews were
recorded, some of considerable length and many install-

ments. .Follow-up of one family led one week-end to Vale

 

 

21
do Vargo in an adjoining district near Spain, and another

to a new shack town near Baixa da Banheira.

III. ORGANIZATION OF FIELD WORK

After the initial period of field work and the
several follow—up visits, the relevance of much of the
data in relation to the focus of the study became clear.

Additional time was spent during the academic
year, 1968-1969, studying at the University of Lisbon
where the University Teacher's Diploma was earned in Por-
tuguese Philology, Language, Literature, and History.

Our return to Michigan State University in the fall of
1969 allowed for meetings with the new Faculty Guidance
Committee consisting of Dr. Iwao Ishino, Dr. Charles
Hughes, and Dr. Scott Cook. We were also able to do
reading in recent studies on social organization in Latin
America and Europe and to write the thesis. Dr. Scott
Cook and Dr. David Smith gave considerable time to reading

the manuscript and aiding with helpful criticism.

 

 

CHAPTER III

A DESCRIPTION OF VILA NOVA

DE MILFONTES

In order to determine how the compadrio system is
adapting to the social structure, and to understand what
cultural changes are taking place in Portugal, it was
decided to employ the method of "controlled comparison" in
this study which Eggan has described as follows:

. . . for the utilization of the comparative method

. . . it has seemed natural to utilize regions of
relatively homogeneous culture . . . and to further
control the ecology and the historical factors so far

as it is pOSsible to do so (Eggan, 1954:747).

In this way a comparison of the compadrio system

 

could be made in the two villages, noting the adaptation
of the godparent co-parent system to the differing con-
ditions and needs of the villages' social structure. Thus
two villages were chosen which had similar historical
background and religious influence, but differing in their
physical environment and ecological resources. Further-
more the two villages were similar in their degree of
isolation from the influences of industrialization, and

in both being partially stratified homogeneous communities.

 

23
In this chapter a brief review will be given of
the early history of the village, showing the background

of compadrio. A description will be given of the physical

 

conditions showing how the ecology of the region was a
major factor influencing the land tenure, the culture, and

the social structure of the village.
I. HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE

In the southern Alentejo province along the Atlan-
tic coast, seventy kilometers south of the Sado river,
lies a fertile plain extending seven kilometers north of
the river Mira and its connected swamp land, and eight
kilometers inland to the foot of the Cercal mountains.

On the northern bank of the river Mira, near the sea, is
the only community (aldeia) in this fifty square kilometer
area, Vila Nova de Milfontes.

The origins of the village are probably pre-Roman,
but little is known of this beyond the name of the village
itself. 2113, from the Latin, 21113, referred to a rural
property in the Roman period in which the Latin dominus,
or owner of a property, had several houses for the use of

his slaves (tributarios) who cultivated his lands. Por-

 

tugal was dominated by the Roman civilization from 218
B.C. until the coming of the Suevos in the fifth century

A.D. South of the Tagus river, the area called by the

 

 

24
Romans, Lusitania, was under the Christian diocese of
Emérita, a Roman city now known as Mérida in southwestern
Spain. After dominating the Christian Suevos on the Pen-
insula, Racaredo, king of the Visigoths, became a Chris-
tian and made this the official religion of Lusténia in
589 (Livermore, 1966:29).

When the Mohammedans from North Africa invaded
the Peninsula in 711, the leaders of the Christian mon-
archy withdrew to the north where they formed a continuing
resistance in the area of Galécia, also known then as
"Cale." The excellent harbor-town of Porto gave its name
to this newly forming kingdom: "Porto Calle," later,
Portugal (Afonso, 1966:63). Here Count D. Henrique began
in 1095 the Reconquest of the former Christian area to
the south. With the help of the Roman Catholic Crusaders
who stopped at Porto for supplies on their way to the
Holy Land, the Christian kings of Portugal were able to
drive the Arabs south, capturing Lisboa in 1147 and the
whole of southern Portugal by 1249 (Vasconcellos, 1936:
217-255).

Three religious-military orders participated in
the colonizing of the re-conquered territory: Order of
the Hospital, Order of the Temple, and the Order of St.
James. The latter colonized the southwest coast where

our two-villages study was made. These orders were given

 

A

h“

25
vast territory to conquer and colonize with people from the
north. Large areas of land were, in turn, given to the men
who fought in the military-religious order under the patron

Saint James (850 Tiago). Grants from the King, or forais,

 

established a civil-religious law which governed the newly
established communities. In 1540 these included 47 Elias
and 150 comendas or large plantations. These religious
orders mentioned, along with the later Monastic orders,
continued until 1834 when all were abolished by the liberal
government of D. Pedro (Vasconcellos, 1936:520-526).

The designation, Vila "Nova," quite likely indi-
cates that the military-religious order of Sao Tiago es-
tablished this yila_on the site of a previous Roman-
Visigoth Xilé which had been later occupied by the Arabs
(Vasconcellos, 1942:617). Strategically located at the
mouth of the Mira river which was navigable for nearly
fifty kilometers inland" the newvillage became known as
Milfontes, probably because of the many springs in the
area. Repeated attacks from Moorish pirates caused the
new Portuguese nation to build the castle-fort overlooking
the river harbor. Even today, boats entering the river
estatuary are guided by the towers of the old castle.

Several periods can be isolated in this part of
the history of Vila Nova which are significant in a study

Of the god-parent system today.

 

26

1. During the first four centuries of the Christian
era Mérida's religious influence promoted the ritual
sponsoring of children at baptism and of marriage pairs at
weddings.

2. Later, under the Visigoths, this Christian tradi-
tion was continued and intensified as a means of safe-
guarding the faith of the newer generations (Kurtz, 1888:
367).

3. After the invasion of the Saracens in the eighth
century, Christian traditions were tolerated within the

communities of Mocarabes, the Christian groups living along

 

with the Mohammedans in Portugal (Lopes, 1911:203). The
four centuries of domination by the Arabs greatly atten-

uated the god-parent system, even though the Mocarabes were

 

permitted freedom of worship up to the end of the eighth
century (Levi-Provencal, 1950:48). Later, however, in the
tenth century, when the power of the Muslims was absolute

on the Peninsula, the communities of Mocérabes were perse-

 

cuted, their Christian temples destroyed, and populations
forced to conform to Arabic customes (Vasconcellos, 1958:
265-266). At this point many Mocarabes fled to the north
of the Douro river where the Christian resistence was
building up in Galicia, establishing for the north of the
country a reputation of fervent Catholicism in contrast

to the south.

 

27

4. The last period in the pre-national history of Por-
tugal is the "Reconquest" beginning in the eleventh century
under the leadership of the Christians of Galicia. The
religious war, characterizing the Reconquest, resulted in
the establishment in all of Portugal of formal Catholicism
which demanded outward conformity as evidence of faith.
Thus, the practices common in other parts of Christian
feudal Europe were imposed on southern Portugal by the

order of Sao Tiago. In this way the Christian compadrio

 

system was revived and reinforced in this part of the
Alentejo province after the twelfth century. The Latin

dialect of Galicia, Galaico-Portugués, different from the

 

variations of Latin Vulgar spoken in other parts of His-

 

pfinia, became, after the twelfth century, the language of
Portugal, slightly modified in the south due to the Arabic
influence (Afonso, 1966:114).

II. CONTINUING INFLUENCE OF
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

After the Alentejo province was colonized by the
King in the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries, the influence
of the Church increased. In 1492-1496 the Holy Inquisition
defined the Christian faith and life even more clearly,
going to the extreme of specifying in the courts of in-
quisition the various degrees of punishment for disobe-

dience. With the expulsion of the slaves and Jews at this

 

 

28
time, many peasants began to leave the Alentejo province
due to a general crisis in agriculture. Immediately fol—
lowing, in the sixteenth century, plagues, crop failures,
and famine caused more Alentejo peasants to migrate to
Inda, Africa, and Brazil (Afonso, 1966:207-211). It is
likely that new colonizing efforts of the government during
the late seventeenth century to repOpulate the Alentejo
brought Catholic populations from the north, thus further
intensifying the god-parent system. Without this continued

stimulus from without it is likely that compadrio would

 

have fallen into disuse due to the tendency in the south
of the poor peasants to choose their fictive kin from
among their own family simply to reenforce biological kin-
ship ties (Descamps, 1935:192—193, Basconcellos, 1942:

524-525).

The Republican Period. When the Monarchy was over-

 

thrown in 1910 many laws were passed favoring the landless
peasants. There were also popular movements and reactions
by the villagers. One of these was the supression of the
Catholic Church (Livermore, 1966:319). During the roiled
period in the second decade of this century, priests were
driven out of the southern part of the country, church
buildings were taken over by the Army, monasteries were

made into barracks, and churches into stables and taverns.

 

4* f.-.— ‘IP

29

In some smaller towns the churches were only locked
and a folk religion continued primarily involving the
women. In Vila Nova, weddings ceased to be church-
oriented, the regedor's office becoming the focal point
of the ceremony. Funerals were also taken over by the
local junta (elected town council) which would unlock the
church, ring the bell, and care for the burial. When
desired, former laymen of the church would read the lit-
urgy. The orderliness of the transfer of these social
institutions in the provinces is often overlooked with the
disorder of the cities. However, after sixteen years, the
confusion in the cities brought back into power the old

Roman Catholic families under a new constitution.

The New State Period. By 1926 the number of

 

priests functioning publicly had decrased due to the
opposition of the anti-clerical fury that had its roots in
the French liberal influences beginning in the early
nineteenth century. In Vila Nova the Church-sanctioned
institutions were altered and some discontinued. Common-

law marriages became the common practice and compadrio

 

was relaxed. Community festas, always the responsibility
of the local priests and the wealthy landowners, became
the cooperative effort of the common people. Dances were

organized, "pegan" festas revived, and all worked together.

 

30
Many also remember how during this time families helped
each other in house construction, boat building, and farm
work. Then, after 1928, a priest was sent to the village
from Cercal on a weekly basis to reconstruct the social
hierarchy of the pre-republican period. In 1950, a priest
was sent from Beja, the district capital, to reside in
the village. Soon, ambitious plans were revealed for
building a large summer resort for the poor children of
the province. A girl's school was also planned to func-
tion on the property during the winter. Into this large
complex for accommodating 400 was to be built a new chapel.
It was also planned to abandon the old village church

which was crumbling in disrepair.

Recent developments. The new priest received

 

little c00peration from the villagers; in fact, many in-
formants traced their present non-c00perative attitude to
that time when men from the outside came in to regulate
community institutions.

When the new colénia (church resort) buildings
were completed the images of the saints were taken out of
the old church and placed in the new chapel. The priest,
with the help of some of the village women, held a pro-
cession of the images with some government officials from

Beja present. The new chapel was located at the entrance

 

31
of the village: the old church was in the center of the
old village square.

With the old sanctuary abandoned and locked, the
priest prohibited the villagers from ringing the bells
for funerals as had been the custom for nearly forty years.
He demanded that only those baptized and married by the
Church could have Church-sanctioned funerals at which he
alone would officiate in the new chapel--without bells.
Previously, all villagers were honored at death with the
ringing of the bells of the old church and given a folk-
funeral with lay-directed liturgy.

Later, when some officials from Beja visited the
village, the men made use of the occasion to protest the
way their village religion had been disrupted without their
consent. They pointed out the unsacred design of the new
chapel which combined a secular theater in the same room
where the village saints were on display. The officials
had been impressed, apparently, as repairs on the old
church were begun soon afterward and some of the images
and religious furnishings returned to the old church. In
this way a compromise was worked out with the understanding
that only "Catholic" funerals could be held in the old
village church. Non-Catholic funerals could be conducted
by the village men, but without ringing the bells. This

was the responsibility of only the priest.

 

do nc
or f:
hall.

a. a
UP. I
Diatcc

many
Prov;
tive
d

3 E

On 0C

r—r—va _-_-_

32

Folk religion today. Presently, most of the men

 

do not attend mass at the Catholic church and only three
or four occasionally attend meetings in the Protestant
hall. An average of twenty-five women were present on
Sunday morning at mass in the chapel of the colonia at

9 AM and at the village church at 11 AM. Men cooperate

on the church committees for planning the programs of the
special days of festas, even though they become the object
of their friends' jokes afterward.

Life next to the sea has given the villagers a
fatalistic orientation and a distrust for innovation.
Probably the values derived from the Moorish concept of
the "all powerful god" has contributed to these under-
lying ideas. Initiative is discouraged by positive and
negative sanctions from the community. Events are inter-
preted with great patience as representing God's will, no
matter how severe the experience. In fact, many believe
that they can influence God through their appeasement of
the saints with some form of personal suffering.

There is interest in folk medicine even though
many ultimately have to depend on the low-cost service
provided by the government through the farmer's coopera-
tive, Cage 92.3222! or the fishermen's cooperative, gage
deg Pescadores. Still, many consult healers who depend

on occult power for diagnosis and treatment.

 

33
For persisting aches, or even broken bones, many have
great confidence in the "bonesetters." During various
periods the village has been without a medical doctor or
a pharmacist so that folk medicine is the alternative to
waiting for the weekly visit of the government medical
services.

Childhood diseases are very severe and typhoid
fever often occurs in the village in the spring. Usually,
the doctor of the Case do szg_designates a spring-fed
well in the village as the cause and orders it to be closed
and cleaned. Among older people the common ailments are
liver infection and tooth decay. Teeth are not drilled
and filled, but only pulled when too rotten or painful to
remain.

When a child becomes ill in a nuclear family
usually several members of his father's and mother's
family are consulted, including aunts, uncles, and older
cousins. In this way a group decision is made as to how
to treat the illness. After folk remedies have not
brought results, the parents take the sick child to the

Casa g2 Povo on the day of the weekly visit of the doctor.

Several hours of waiting later, medical advice is received

along with free medicine. Then at home the family once
again consults members of the family and frequently ends

up resorting to another "home remedy." During this time

 

7”“

34
of illness great care is taken to avoid any current of air
within a partially closed room. It is believed that such
currents can do great harm, complicating the illness or
even causing another.

Health is measured in terms of fatness or robust-
ness so that a thin person, or one who eats little, is
pitied and considered destined to an early death. Illness
is related to God's dealing with men and comes as a result
of the working out of the destiny of each person. Many
commented that those who try to change God's will are often
given castigo, punishment, by being stricken ill. Not all
illnesses are believed to have this origin. Since some
illness might be castigo, there is a hesitency to change
this will of God by seeking a cure. The result is a gen-
eral apathetic attitude of accepting illness and early
death as a part of life.

There are, however, others who believe they should
seek miraculous cures. A fountain in Cercal is supposed
to have healing power at certain times. Called the Holy
Fountain (Fonte Santa), it contains the foot print of the
Virgin in the rock base. It is believed that the Virgin
created the fountain in answer to the prayers of a local
shepherd girl.

Various legends about the sea are related to -

spirits that can be heard at times and occasionally seen

 

 

 

35
through the fog. Names painted on the bows of the fishing
boats usually have a religious connotation: "A Senhora da
Conceicao nos protege," "A Senhora da Boa Viagem," "A
Esperanca," "Deus nos Guie," etc. When a man is lost at
sea many speak of "his time" and the unavoidable nature of
the accident. Others remind themselves that their own

time is coming--unless something interferes.

III. THE ECOLOGY AND THE LAND TENURE

No other factor has affected the social structure
and, in turn, the adaptation of the god-parent system as
much as the ecology of this area. In the next chapter,
after looking at the contrasting conditions in Cuba, a
comparison can be made of the results of these differing

conditions.

Conditions favoring minifundia. In considering

 

the ecology of the Baixo Alentejo it is immediately seen
that the area of Vila Nova is unique. Whereas all of the
rest of the district of Beja is extremely dry and suitable

only for extensiVe agriculture typical of the latifundia,

 

this coastal region around the Mira River and east to the
Cercal Mountains contains an abundant source of water
close to the surface. Arabic type wells are used for

extracting the water with buckets lifted by mule-driven

 

36
wooden gear devices. Even more common are the weighted
dipping poles balanced on a wooden fulcrum and operated
by hand.

Besides having springs close to the surface, there
is also a higher rate of precipitation in this zone along
the coast. This is due to the adiabatic cooling of the
warm moist air brought inland by the prevailing west wind,
causing a low cloud cover for as much as ten to fifteen
kilometers east of the coast line. Beyond this limit the
entire Baixo Alentejo province is without significant
rainfall from March until October (Stanislawski, 1959:34).
As a result of all of this potential, intensive agriculture
becomes a possibility as well as raising a variety of
crops during all seasons. These are the ideal conditions
which makes independent family subsistence farming possi-

ble in the Mediterranean area (Wolf, 1966:32).

Resources of the sea. In addition to the high

 

production from small farm plots, the independent farmers
of this area have the added benefit of a more adequate

diet as well as increased cash income from the resources

of small boat fishing. In fact, this area of the Atlantic
is known for its excellent fishing grounds (Azevedo, 1908),
but the very rocky coast line has limited the fisherman's

base of operation to Vila Nova's Mira harbor. A second

A

"‘- Q- .- - o
I

 

37
artificial boat harbor has been constructed two kilometers
north of the river on the open coast. Here, free of the
shifting sand bar at the river's mouth, the village fish-
ing fleet of small boats is anchored during the summer and
docked during the winter. Fishing from the rocks around
this "93231" supplements the diet in the winter when the
boats cannot venture out into the roiled sea.

Previous to 1910, the river harbor port was of
great importance to Vila Nova. Ships brought in supplies
which were then transported overland to the political
center at Odemira. Iron ore was shipped out from the
Cercal mines as it had been since the time of the Romans.
Through the centuries this activity led to the construc-
tion of access roads through the Cercal Mountains linking
the inner province to the Mira River port. After 1910,
with the railroads substituting the role of the ships,
the river fell into disuse. Today, only small fishing or
pleasure craft enter the harbor. It wasn't until 1960
that the old ox cart roads leading to the village were
paved for automobiles to use.

These favorable ecological conditions of the Vila
Nova area compared to the rest of this arid province are
similar to the "Wet Spain" of the Basque country compared
to the southern Spanish plains or "Dry Spain" (Kaspan,

-l965). In his study of Spain, Kaspan points out six

 

-..o- .—..

 

38
features as typical of the wet area: intensive agricul-
ture, polyculture, subsistence farming, small holdings,
long term tenure, family and reciprocal communal labor
(Kaspan, 1965:349). In Chapter V we will examine the
similar conditions in Vila Nova in comparison with the
"dry" Cuba to see the effects these conditions have had
on the social structure and the function of the god—

parent system.

Aforar system and land tenure. It is uncertain

 

when the Monarchy made the land in this area available

for peasants to rent small plots. Several of the village
leaders trace the present tradition of land tenure to the
period of liberation from Spain in 1640 when loyal soldiers
were rewarded with the right to farm land for shares.
Later, the owner leased his land to a renter for an indef-
inite period. Rights and privileges, recognized by law,
pertain to both the one who leases as well as the renter
(aforador). Both the land and the payment are called
afgrg. Today, the leasing system (aforar) requires the
renter to pay the owner in the equivilent of 16 alqueires
(320 liters) of wheat for a one acre plot. Such an area
would produce annually about forty alqueires or gm garrg,
an ox cart full. In other parts of the province there are

various rules of payment for the small plot renter who

 

 

 

39
does not rent the land on a permanent basis, but is only
permitted to grow crops on designated portions of the
owner's land during certain times of the year. In these
cases there is the rule of meiag where the renter (or user)
gives the owner half of the crop. This custom is charac—
teristic of the area around Cercal. The proportion paid
to the owner can vary with the quality of the land. In
some areas nearer Beja the payment is by tercas, one-third
to the owner and two-thirds for the user. But few make
the effort to use lands that are made available under this
agreement, due to the shortage of water and very small
yield to the lands of the large estates (Vasconsellos,
1967:531).

In the afgrg system of Vila Nova the plot of land
is assigned to a renter who has permanent rights to the
use of that land with due registration of the agreement
being made in the land office in Odemira. The plots,
measured by hectares (10,000 square meters) are usually
about an acre in size. The renter has the right to build
a house on his afggg, though the annual payment for the
land is then increased. Aforos can also be purchased by
the renter and then resold or leased out to others. As
cash is acquired which allows the renters to purchase the
lands they have been using, there seems to be no tendency

at present to lease the land out again to others on the

f

 

40
binding afgrg basis, but rather to rent it on a non-afgrg
short term contract. Especially with the construction of
houses in the village, which has taken place within the
past twenty years, there seems to be interest in purchasing
lands without afggg agreements binding them.

Naturally, everyone would like to purchase their
afgggfleased lands, but income from crOps, the sale of
animals, and fishing is insufficient without saving over
a number of years. The sale of several smaller animals
or a cow, which can be worth up to fifteen thousand Escudos
($600 dollars), is often the deciding factor. The cost
of the 2:252 property includes the purchase price of the
land plus twenty year's rent. Legally, twenty year's rent
is supposed to be the purchase price, but the owner claims
additional for improvements he has made on the prOperty
in wells, walls, and buildings. At present, all of the
land on which the villager's buildings are located was
previously afgrg plots which have passed to the ownership
of the former renters. The income of many of these now
depends on renting rooms to tourists in the summer rather
than on farming.

Portuguese law since 1834 divides property with
clear titles equally among the children after the death
of their parents. Aforos are usually not subdivided among

the heirs at the death of the renter, but aforo rights are

 

41
sold and the income divided among the heirs. In many of
the households studied, the EEEEQ right was passed on to
the oldest son before the death of his parents with the son

paying for the cost of transfer. ;._
IV. LIFE IN THE VILLAGE TODAY

Two main streets run through the village, one

 

passing through the p£322_where the village church is .3, I
located, terminating at the old castle. The other, passes

through the market—place, turns north and runs into the

path which leads through the fields north of the village

to the artificial boat harbor (canal). The newer part of

the village is to the east and at a higher elevation than

the old. In the new section, streets are marked out at

regular intervals and at right angles. In the old sec-

tion,streets are very irregular. In all, there are about

180 white-washed houses, constructed of mud and stone in

the village and about 300 more beyond, in the plain. About

a third of the houses in the village have been constructed 1
since 1950 and are built of brick and cement and modern
materials, but have the same general outward appearance
as the older houses. Houses within the village occupy a
plot about 8 by 30 meters or larger, surrounded by a 2
meter-high stone or mud wall with sharp rocks or broken

glass on top. The older houses and those outside the

42
village use a mud wall with cactus planted on tOp. Outside
of the village houses are constructed on larger plots
(cercas) and bounded by a sand wall which forms a drainage
ditch (valado) around the pr0perty. The sand wall is
stabilized with cane and cactus planted along the top.
These canes (gene) which grow well in Vila Nova due to
the adequate water near the surface, are used as wind-
breaks for gardens, insulation in roofs and walls of the
houses, as fishing poles, and wired together to make
animal corrals. Cows and oxen graze on the green cane
leaves. The growing of sugar cane is prohibited due to
laws governing the sugar industries in Madeira, Sao Tomé,
and Angola.

In the village the residence lot is used for gar—
dening and maintaining small animals and chickens. Barns,
constructed of canes and connected to the back wall, house
dairy cows, oxen, and burros used for plowing the small
farm plots rented outside of the village.

The only road out of the village runs to Cercal,
population 800, thirteen kilometers east. This road was
used mainly by ox and mules carts and was almost impass—
able for automobiles until 1960 when it was re-surfaced.
Now the bus comes to the village on this road from Cercal
four times a day and on one of these trips makes connec-

tions with the main line to Beja and to Lisbon. Until 1965

 

 

43

mail service depended on an old mule cart which made the
daily trip to Cercal. Now the mail is transported on the
bus. Electricity was installed in the village in 1966.
The repair of the road and electrical service brought
about a period of change. Tourists from inland, as far
away as Lisbon, came to discover the beautiful isolated
beaches. This increase in the population each summer and
the renting of rooms has not only stimulated the economy,
but has brought the village into contact with agents of
change.

There are about 150 households which remain in
-the village during the whole year. About two-thirds of
these live in the concentrated residence units near the
center of the village. The otherslive in scattered
residence plots to the north and east of the village
within a kilometer of the central REESE: Within this
30 by 80 meter area known as "the market" (9 mercado) is
installed the fish and vegetable market which functions

on an "open air" basis, the post office (Correio), the

Casa g2_Povo, three taverns, a butcher shop and a Farmacia

(both now abandoned). Adjoining is another small praca of
the village church, and then, at the edge of the village
overlooking the harbor, the praga of the castle containing

a small park and café. About 100 meters east of the

 

44
central press, on the Cercal road, is another small REESE
about forty meters square with a public fountain in the
center. This REESE also serves as the "open air" bus
terminal. The new section of the village, at a higher
elevation, continues along the Cercal road to the east
for another 200 meters. It is in this newer area where
the primary school is located, to the north of the road,

and the Catholic coldnia, to the south of the road.

Domestic organization. The connected white-washed
houses along the cobble stone streets are constructed of
stone and mud and roofed with red clay tiles. Most houses
have two windows and a door facing the street and usually
a gate wide enough for a mule cart, giving entrance to
the walled-in back yard. The houses are on one level with
a central corridor running from the front door to the back
of the house where an open pétig leads to the yard.

Inside of the house, the back rooms are used for
storing dried fish, smoked meat, fish nets and fish hook
frames, as well as for storage of potatoes, onions, corn,

nuts, and firewood for the kitchen. Since the houses are
joined together in the village, they have only windows
in the front and back rooms. The middle two rooms are
lighted with small glass tiles on the roof. These rooms

are used for food and grain storage when not needed

‘ "F

'"¢a-

 

45
as bedrooms. One front room is used as the main bedroom
of the household and contains the best furniture. The
husband and wife sleep in this room and their children,
or other relatives in the middle or back storage rooms.

The other front room is a formal dining room used only on ; 3
special occasions. It is about seven or eight feet square

and contains a chest of drawers with a glassed-in cupboard

 

on top, a three foot square table and four or six chairs ‘i
all made locally out of eucalyptus or pine wood. Family
and religious pictures hang on the walls. The floor of
these front two rooms is usually hard packed dirt, flat
stones, or cement.

. The beds are constructed locally of pine with pine
slats to support the mattress which is a cotton bag filled 1
with wheat or rice straw. The rooms have no closets.
Excess clothes are hung on chairs or kept in large wooden
chests (areas) in the storage or bedrooms. The house
has no bathroom, but usually a portable wash bowl on a
metal stand. This is filled from a pitcher of water and {
drained into a bucket kept under the stand. A small pot
is used in the bedroom and emptied near the pig pens in
the backyard where fertilizer is collected. Fresh water
is drawn from the stone-lined well in the back yard using

a bucket on a rope. In 1957 the village built a water

 

46
stem so that today many of the houses have one faucet
the back of the house near the kitchen.

Meals are prepared and eaten in the kitchen which
one of the two back rooms with a large Open fireplace.
ad is cooked in glazed pottery in a wood fire. Often
the summer this is done in a second fireplace outside
the house or in a small building in the back yard.
the cold months of November to March, the family gath-
s in the kitchen around the fireplace where fish and
usage are smoked and clothes hung up to dry. The chairs
the kitchen are very low, thirty to thirty-six cm from
a ground, so that the kitchen table is used for preparing
3 food, but not for eating it. Each member of the house-
ld secures his dish or bowl on his lap.

Although bread has been available in the village
nce 1951, it is still baked weekly in most households
the beehive-shaped oven in the back yard. This large
and heavy loaf made of dark wheat and corn flour is
ten at all meals for the rest of the week. At break-
st it is eaten with a jam made of marmelos and orange
ices and a cup of coffee made of milk and chicory. A
on meal is begun with a salty soup of potatoes, mashed
getables, olive oil, and slices of salt pork. Fried
usage or fish is often eaten with boiled potatoes or

ce covered with olive oil. The evening meal, taken

' ' -.-n - --

 

‘Et:

 

47
after dark (7 PM in the winter and 9 PM in the summer) is
similar to the noon meal. Red wine is used at all meals
and rarely water. Dark bread is eaten with goat or sheep
milk cheese. Most of the households reported using a half
liter of wine per person per day. White wine is used in
cooking and on special occasions, though it costs about
the same as red wine. Many households still make their
own wine although many purchase it daily in the village
now that extra cash is available.

Light is provided usually only in the room where

the family is gathered and is a kerosene-fed burner.

Agricultural organization. Work in the fields is

 

done by the husband and sons, plowing in October after the
first rains and then sowing winter wheat, potatoes, and
beans. Cereals are again planted in the spring, broadcast
style. The initial plowing is done with a pair of oxen or
a burro pulling a steel tipped wooden plow. When fishing
is poor, those who have oxen or mules will hire them out
for plowing others' fields. Some who have only one burro
will borrow one from a cousin or uncle to make a team for
plowing. Payment for the use of the animal is made by
plowing a portion of the relative's fields.

Vegetable gardens are planted in the spring for

household consumption and for the animals. Peanuts are

 

 

48
raised to sell to an oil manufacturer in Lisbon. Wheat is
exchanged for flour through the farmers' cooperative,
grémio.

The whole household is involved in the agricultural
cycle and all show concern about the outcome of each crOp.
Children are very much aware of the condition of each crop
as they hear their parents discussing these things each
day. A general feeling of despair is apparent before the
human inability to control the outcome of the crOp.

Wives will care for chores around the house,
feeding the animals and helping their husbands in the
fields with weeding, but their greatest involvement is at
harvest time, especially helping with the beans, corn,
peanuts and grapes. Corn is allowed to dry on the stalks
and is hand picked and piled near the threshing floor
along with the dried bean plants. During August the women
will strip the leaves from the corn and pile the ears on
the threshing floor. Within the village, this floor is
located near the house. The houses outside the village
have the threshing floor within 100 feet of the house.

The floor is a twenty foot diameter circle of stones plas-
tered over with smooth cement. The men beat the corn with
the malhg, a hand made instrument of three pieces: (1)
two meter eucalyptus pole, .03m in diameter, (2) second

eucalyptus piece-about a meter in length and .05m thick,

49
and tapered. These are connected (3) by a leather thong,
attached through small holes drilled in the ends of the
wooden pieces. By holding the longer pole, the shorter
section is wipped overhead and then down, beating the corn
and bean plants on the threshing floor until the kernals
have been knocked free. The chaff is swept away and the
kernals sorted and collected in baskets by the women and
children. If fishing weather is good, some of the thresh-
ing may be done by the women also.

Potatoes, grains, and squash are stored in the
inner rooms of the house as well as in the back room and
kitchen where they are used as needed. Later in October
when the sea is too rough for fishing the whole household
will gather to pick peanuts from the dried vines piled up
outside the back of the house near the threshing floor.
The peanuts were raised on the household's plots outside
the village. Wheat is no longer threshed by hand, but is
now taken in a cart to a field where a mobile threshing
machine has been set up to care for all of the village's
wheat. The machine comes from Cercal and travels to the
various communities in the area during July, August, and
September.

During the days of Sao Martinho, in late November,
a time is set to slaughter pigs for winter meat. Each

houSehold determines the proper day by the phase of the

50
moon and the weight of the pig. Relatives, compadres, and
neighbors are invited, but only those specifically invited
can come. The slaughter begins at sunrise and continues
into the next day with feasting and work. Sausages and
smoked meats are prepared which will last for many months,
but a large proportion of fresh pork is consummed during

the three or four days after the slaughter.

Life at sea. The small low-yielding plots around

 

the village do not produce sufficient for the average
household to have a large surplus. Most reported having

an average of four hectares usually under cultivation.

 

But yields varied according to proximity to the sea. The
higher, better irrigated land east and northeast of the
village was capable of better production than the land
north and directly south of the river. However, even on
good land, the sale of one crop would only produce enough
to purchase seed or feed and rarely a surplus. Only the
large estates can do this. Thus, the villager is turned
to the sea to augment his income.

There are two types of professional fishing out
of the Vila Nova harbor-92221. First, those using the
large 30-foot motor boats, fishing with large nets thirty
or forty kilometers out with a crew of five or six men.

These boats often sell their fish at Sines or as far away

51
as Setubal. Sines is a fishing village with the only good
harbor between Vila Nova and Setubal. These boats are
owned by the crew who share in the risks and profits.
Overhead is high, but annual profit is 30 to 40 per cent
greater than that from the smaller boat fishing. Fishing
is more specialized and complicated machinery and regula—
tions hinder many from joining these big boat cooperatives.
Often, too, they may be away a week or more at a time.
These men have the least time for farming and have the
highest income from the fishing occupation.

There are also small lZ-foot motor boats for two
men or three at the most. These are only out at night or
a half day at a time and sell their catch at auction on
the Vila Nova dock. They use nets and lines of hooks,
single lines, and also tend lobster pots within two or
three miles off shore. The type and time of fishing is
dependent on the weather, season, and the fish. Most of
these motor lanchas also use sail as do the smaller hand-
rowed boats used for tending the lobster feeding stations.

Few men go to sea alone, so either some of the
crew are hired or they contract at one-third the value
of the fish caught, the boat owner getting one-third. If
the owner is one of the crew, which is usually the case,
he gets two-thirds. When both are partners they split the

earnings. Most of the men in partnership are saving to

52
be able to own their own boat. With the help of the gov-

ernment's low-interest loans through the Casa d2 Pescador,

 

this is now very possible. However, to meet the demand for
constant payments commits the man to a very active schedule
at sea. During good fishing weather, partners have been
known to make up to two thousand Escudos a night. But

then there are weeks with no income from the sea.

As the boats return at early morning the guarda
fiscal is at the dock to supervise the auction of the fish
and collect the tax. Buyers are on hand with trucks to
take the fish to nearby towns where they can make a lucra-
tive mark-up. The fishermen are paid in cash and allowed
to keep any fish for their own consumption without tax.
Much time is spent daily cleaning the boats, untangling
the lines of hooks, rebaiting the hooks, and mending the
nets. A small tavern on the dock provides some break to
the monotomy and accounts for some of their cash spending.
The walk from the boat dock to the village takes about
thirty minutes and is not always time enough for the
effects of the 3233 ardente to be dispelled. This along
with other stress in the life leads to conflict in the
household and then the men make visits to the taverns in
the village. Wife beating was frequently reported by the

informants.

53
Boat owners who go to sea must pass an examination
showing basic knowledge of rules of navigation which elim-

inates all those without primary school.

Diversion. Beside the short period of inactivity

 

in the winter, the work on the small farm and the intense
hard work at sea produces an endless cycle of duties which
makes the various festas of the village very welcome. The
largest of the year is the feast of A Nossa Senhora in
mid-August when two days of a cattle and general fair
bring many mobile merchants to the village. A sandy
plateau extending west of the castle and about fifty feet
directly above the beach is the site of the fair where more
than thirty concessions are set up with tents, temporary
counters, outdoor restaurents and noisy side shows.
Clothing, farm and fishing equipment, household supplies
and provincial food is sold to the crowds gathered around
each tent listening to the deafening PA systems proclaim
giveeaway bargains. Medicine men with their latest pack-
aged cures, pottery displays, metal work, leather goods
and shoes are displayed in this dusty sixty foot-wide
plateau, 800 feet long.

Most of the people at the fair are not from the
village, but neighbors from the east who have come with

their cattle and animals. Those from south of the river

54
leave their cattle on the south bank, pressing the three
or four row boats used for ferry service into frantic
activity. Cattle purchased on the other side are later
transported to the north bank in these same row boats.
This cattle sale is of much importance to those who have
been fattening up their animals for the occasion. Money
saved for months and received through the sale of cattle
is spent during the fair on clothing, shoes, and tools as
well as on diversion. The first day of the fair is begun
by a procession led by a dance band. The band plays each
night of the fair for the dance in the park in front of
the castle. The closing night of the fair brings most of
the villagers out to see the fireworks display at mid-
night.

All attending the fair come dressed in their best
clothes because it is the only time of the year they will
see many friends and relatives in this area. Men wear
black woolen suits with a white shirt and usually no tie.
The women wear colorful dresses and aprons, very gay com-
pared with the rest of the year. Unmarried girls move in
groups of three to ten or more, exchanging greetings with
young men with whom they will be dancing later at night.

Except for a little diversion at carnaval, during
processions at Easter, and on the popular saint's days in

May and June, the annual fair is the time most people

55
exchange work for diversion. Three taverns in the village
have television at night, a sports club has a film twice
a month and soccer games on Sunday afternoon in a sandy
field on the northeast side of the village. Inside of the
taverns there are games and game tables for dominoes and
cards, but all of this is only for the men. Women and
girls stay in the house at night crocheting, knitting, or
sewing for the family. As the weather gets colder the
household moves closer to the kitchen where the fireplace
provides the only heat in the house.

Besides the pig slaughter, no other occasion gath-
ers so many of the family as the marriage feast. The next
most important gathering of the family is during Easter
week. A special meal is prepared and eaten on Easter,
followed by a walk to visit other relatives. The cold
weather at Christmas and the Day of the Kings, January 5,
makes these family gatherings of less importance. A large
meal, usually of cod fish, is prepared on Christmas eve in
the home of the oldest surviving parents; married children,
with their children, going to the home of the husband.

On November 1, some of the household will take
flowers to the cemetery to place on the grave of a recently
deceased member of the family. Special mass is held in the
village church, bringing together many of the women of the

village. The men who go to the cemetery this day with

56
‘their wives usually remain in the praca or in the taverns,

swapping stories.

Political organization. Every four years the

 

literate voters of the village elect the Junta with a
president and a secretary who care for the administrative
affairs of the village. They act for the village before
the municipal authorities in Odemira and the district
administration in Beja under the Governador Civil who is
appointed by the central government in Lisbon.

The 12252 is usually composed of local business-
men or the large farm owners. The men of the village take
a disinterested view of politics and are unable to clearly
explain voting proceedure nor administration, affirming
that "they" will have the men "they" want on the Junta
and that "they" will do what the government wants.

Considerable concern is expressed for the high
cost, in men and money, of the war in Portuguese Africa.
Many expressed the belief that the war was only to benefit
a few of "them" in Lisbon who owned and controlled the
African colonies. These opinions were daily reinforced
by the news programs from Radio Moscow and Radio Free
Portugal which were heard on transistor radios.

Within the village was a six man unit of the

Guarda Fiscal who supervise the general movement of ships

57
along the coast, checking on contraband or politically
suspicious activities. They also tax the fishermen daily
at the dock as the fish are auctioned off. Frequently,
they help with policing duty of the Guarda Nacional of

Cercal who make only weekly trips to the village.

Educational system. The primary school in the

 

village, operated by the government, maintains crowded
separate classes for girls and boys, reaching only a small
percentage of the children in the area. Of forty-seven
households with children surveyed, only 40 per cent of the
children between the ages of six and ten were attending
primary school. In these same households, fewer than 8
per cent of the women and 22 per cent of the men could
read and write. Of these men, only two were currently
reading anything. There were many in the village among
men who had made efforts to learn and could recognize their
name and most numbers, but were unable to read.

I Many of the children had far to walk to school and
were needed for work at home. Several told of being dis-
couraged by the teacher to continue because their work in
school during the first two years was unsatisfactory.

The Catholic Church maintains a boarding school
within the village as part of the large colonia where both

sexes are taught in primary school and girls in the

58
ligeg.level. These resident students are from families as
far as sixty kilometers away who are able to pay the high
fees. Some girls from the village attend this school on
a non-resident basis; others from outside the village are
living with friends or relatives in the village and also
attend the colonia school as external students. In this

way they can avoid the high cost of the boarding school.
V . SOC IAL ORGANI ZATION

Childhood. The married couple expecting a child

 

faces an uncertain future. On the one hand they realize
the need for more help with the farming chores while the
husband is absent at sea, and at the same time they face
the increasing financial responsibility of another child.
The government's emphasis on education during the past
decade as well as the practical information from those who
have moved out of the village to work in the industrialized
areas, clarifies the need to educate the children for
future jobs in the cities. In the past, the inability to
properly care for more children has led many in Vila Nova
to practice abortion. Although this is illegal in Portugal,
information and services available from some of the mid-
wives in the village make the alternative common. The
difference between the number of children in households

outside the village as compared with the number inside has

59
been explained by the consciousness of the problem and the
practice of abortion (Oliveira and Pereira, 1966:23-56).

After the child is born with the help of a mid-
wife, sisters of the mother or father, as well as other
relatives, come daily to the house during the first days.
Some of the many beliefs at this stage of life which have
been collected by Vasconcellos in his five volume study
have been observed in Vila Nova. The fear of witches, the
effects of the moon's light on the infant, and the gel
glhgr_of gypsies, all have their counteracting magical
ritual. It is believed to be agar (bad luck) to give a
child a name before he is born; this decision concerning

the name is made by the parents, family, and padrinhos

 

during the month after birth. Portuguese law requires
registration with two witnesses within thirty days after
birth.

Arrangements are made with the priest so that
baptism can be cared for the same day as registration.

The father, accompanied by the padrinhos and some members

 

of the family, takes the child to the simple church cere-

mony. Afterward, the father and the padrinhos go to the

 

registo civil. Relatives take the child home while the
father and witnesses are registering the birth. Afterward

there is a festa in the house for the family, padrinhos,

 

60
and neighbors. All who stop in contribute some food and
wine.

During early childhood there is a high rate of
mortality due to the poor health conditions and inadequate
information about hygiene. In 1963, 40 per cent of the
deaths in this district were without a medical certificate
(Guerra and Tomé, 1964:631-632). This indicates how many
are without adequate medical knowledge and assistance in
time of severe illness. However, the diet of these vil-
lagers seems to be superior to that of the people in the
interior of the Alentejo and other provincial areas
(Pereira, 1964:130).

Each household makes the clothing for their own
children for use in the field work and for school. Shoes,
underwear and dress clothes are purchased at the shops
in the village or at the annual fair. Sewing is one of
the few occupations that gives Opportunity for the wife
to sit for she rarely sits down in her constant effort to
help her husband and sons. She keeps her head covered at
all times with a scarf, tied under her chin. If there
has been a death in the family of an uncle or aunt she
will wear a black scarf and apron or dress for six months.
When the mother or father dies, she will wear black clothes
for several years. If she becomes a widow she will always

wear black unless she re-marries. For similar reasons

61
men wear a black strip of cloth on their lapel. Since
most of the men in the village usually wear black clothes
and tie for special occasions, feast days, etc., this
strip of cloth is the only clear indication of a death
within the family and as distant as two generations.

When boys are five years old they begin to accom-
pany their fathers to the rocks by the 93231 to fish and
about the same age girls begin to crochet and embroider
in the house. More serious work in the house and fields
begins at school age of six. Children have few toys nor
are they directed in their play. Games are worked out
Spontaneously among them using such things as stones or
string. Boys build traps for birds and practice kicking
a ball on the way to and from school, imitating the
nationally famous soccer players. Today all children
wear shoes to school, but boys rarely wear them around
the house, working in the fields, or while fishing. Most
of the men wear rubber boots while fishing and working in
the fields, but wear leather boots in the village. Those
employed in stores or offices wear leather boots in the

winter and shoes or sandals in the summer.

 

Courtship. Courting begins at the low level of
a "speaking” arrangement when boys and girls are about

fifteen years old. Up to this time there probably were

62
many occasions to become acquainted within the village's
everyday activities, at dances, during festas, or at the
beach in the summer. However, it isn't until the boy
formally asks the girl for permission to "speak" to her
that the period of namoro begins. And even after this,
permission is needed from the girl's parents for the boy
to speak to the girl through the front window of the house
at designated times. They can take walks together if they
are accompanied by another girlfriend or relative. Vis-

iting at the house of the namorada (girlfriend) remains

 

on a formal basis with the boyfriend speaking from the
street to the girlfriend inside the open window.

This arrangement may go on for two or three years.
Due to the interruption of military service at the age of
twenty-one, the namoro might continue for four or five
years until the boyfriend finally gets permission from the
girl's parents for marriage. When this happens, the couple
is then considered noivos and can be seen together with
or without being accompanied during the period of noivado
which is from a month to four months or so until the wed-
ding takes place. Once the speaking arrangement has
begun it is considered wrong by the villagers for the boy
to "speak" to any other girl or to terminate this rela-

tionship with his namorada. If this were to happen,

 

peOple express great pity for the girl whose chances of

63
getting another "speaking arrangement" have been greatly
diminished.

Now that the new road is bringing week-end tour-
ists from the inland cities to the Vila Nova beach in the
summer, courting customs are changing. Some of the
children of the village have been sent to school outside
and these have brought back new ideas also about courting.
It is increasingly common to see boys gathering in the
park in the evenings or on Sunday afternoons flirting with
girls walking through the village in small groups. Many
of the older villages call attention to these changes and

express their dislike for them.

Marriage and kinship. When a date has been set for

the marriage, padrinhos are chosen by the couple to help

 

complete the plans. Specific details of how these are
chosen are presented in Chapter V. Both sets of parents
give advice to the noivos about their wedding plans. Three
or four days before the wedding, the couple and the 2297
rinhos go to the registo gigil to be officially married.

In the religious ceremony, usually held on Saturday or
.Sunday, only invited relatives and friends attend. All

of the wedding party wait outside of the church until the

noivos and padrinhos have entered and then all of the

 

family and guests rush in, crowding near the front.

64
After the ceremony the wedding party goes to the house of
the padrinhos or to one of the two EEESE in the village
which were rented for the occasion. Roast chicken or
lamb, small cakes, bread and wine are on the table for all
to help themselves. More were invited to the wedding than
are invited to the festa afterward.

The couple furnishes a house during the months
preceding the wedding and gifts are placed there before
the wedding. After the festa the new residence of the
noivos is shown to the wedding guests. Some new furniture
has been purchased by the groom, usually with the help of
his padrinho and possibly the parents of the bride. The

bride's madrinha helps with the expenses of the bride's

 

gown, often making it herself. The padrinho and the groom
care for the expenses of the wedding feast. Usually the
groom is left with a small debt.

Some of the older informants reported being mar-
ried only by the civil registration and others of still
living in common-law marriage arrangement. Of forty-three
households where we have information, twenty-nine reported
civil registration and religious ceremony. Six had only
civil registration, and eight couples were living together

without either.

65

In the taverns at night while playing dominoes or
cards over a small cup of coffee and several glasses of
aqua ardente, the men swap stories about unfaithful wives,
though each man demands absolute obedience and faithful-
ness from his own wife. If wives have to go out at night
they are always accompanied so as to avoid accusations by
the neighbors. In two of the households we studied there
were cases of run-away wives. After having been repeatedly
caught with other men they had left the village, going to
live as a mistress in another town. In the tavern the
men referred to the original husbands of these run-away
wives as having horns--like an ox. This may be similar
to the reference to cabrén in Alcala, Spain (Pitt-River,
1954:116). Adultery seemed to be arrested with the threat
of wife-beating. Many male informants expressed the
problem of the unfaithful wife, but at the same time,
accepted as a normal fact of life the inability of the
man to control himself when carried away by sexual desire.
It was the same kind of destino that was described in
explaining why some men do not come back from the sea.

Although several cases were reported of people
coming in to marry a village resident and establishing
a household there, many expressed the opinion that it was

desirable to marry a resident of the village as this was

66
"best for the village." The summary of the result of

forty-one households surveyed is shown in Table 1.

TABLE I

ORIGIN OF SPOUSES IN FORTY-ONE HOUSEHOLDS

 

 

Spouses From Spouses From

Sines-Cereal Area Vila Nova Area
Wives 9 32
Husbands 4 37

 

In this survey there were only two couples where both
husband and wife were from outside of Vila Nova. In
thirty cases, both husband and wife were from the village
area.

Incest prohibition is not extended beyond the
nuclear family within the same generation, though recently,
due to the expansion of compadrio, seems to now include,
compadres outside of the family kinship. The result has
been a general relaxation of the Catholic Church's prohi-
bition of cousin marriage. Willems calls this tendency
to ingroup consanguine marriage, "particularized homogamous
mating” (Willems, 1963:67). Actually, many cases of first
and second cousin marriages are known in the Vila Nova

area, but no case of cousins marrying, whose parents were

67
alternate siblings. This is designated by the Portuguese

as "prime irmao" or "primo duas vezes." That is, when the

 

 

siblings of family A are married to the siblings of family
B, the resulting cousins of these two marriages are "primo

irmaos.” See diagram in Figure l.

Siblings of Family "A"

 

Siblings of

 

Family "B"

 

 

 

 

Double
Consanguine Cousins

or

V

 

/\

Primo Irmaos

or 1 g 1
FIGURE 1
"PRIMO IRMAOS" FAMILIES A AND B

 

 

 

 

Besides the marriage prohibitions being clearly
expressed and practiced in this case of double consanguine
cousins, there was another relationship which received
equal designation and sanctions. This is when the siblings
of two married couples were married. The resulting cousins

were also considered primo irmaos by the villagers.

68

Siblings of Family "J"

 

Siblings Siblings

 

 

Family "K" Family "L"

 

 

 

\V

Z.
\
Primo Irméos

\
i— v

F IGURE 2

 

 

 

 

 

"PRIMO IRMAOS" FAMILIES J, K, L

In the case illustrated in Figure 2, prohibitions
were just as strongly felt as in the case of consanguine
cousins in Figure 1. In Alcala, it was pointed out that
cousin marriage not only (1) strengthens the ties within
a family in isolated areas, but (2) secures the continuity
of family property (Pitt-Rivers, 1954:104-105). Both of
these explanations are valid for Vila Nova.

Residence after marriage is patrilocal if a house
cannot be rented or built immediately. There were some
exceptions as the case where a girl married a poor man

from outside of the village. He came to reside temporarily

69
with his new wife's household. The ideal expressed and
practiced by the villagers was to have a house not far
away from both families. A breakdown of forty-nine house-
holds studied is shown in Table II.

Emigration has affected residence patterns as the
younger generation tend to move out towards the industri-
alized areas (Oliveira, 1967:29, Rocha, 1965:48). The
aged and feeble remain with relatives or tend to move into
a house with one of their married children. In two of the
cases listed as "Nuclear" on Table II, a married child
and spouse had his parents living with him.

In the case of the single persons living alone
and the wife without a resident husband, four were widows
and eight were abandoned by their husbands. Of these
twelve, three had been or are mistresses to men outside of
the village who visited the women and helped them maintain
the house. One of these, a recent widow, was now consid-
ered a woman of mg famg_by the villagers, principally
because of the variety of men who visited her.

Descent is reckoned through the father's and
mother's line equally so that kinship terms of reference
and relationships are symetrical. A typical example is
given in Figure 3.

The surname is also bilateral, placing the mother's

family name before the father's family name in the

70

TABLE II

ORIGIN OF HOUSEHOLD UNITS ACCORDING TO
TYPE AND COMPOSITIONa

 

No. of No. of
House- Individ—
Type hold uals in

Units Residence

 

I. 1. =b-(X...) 6 2
NUCLEAR 2. A=b-(...) 3 3
A. A=b-(...) 6 6

Simple 3. (A=b*)-(...) 3 5
(A*=b)-(...) 8 4
(A*=b)-(...) 2 5,7
4. (A*=b*)-(...) 2 l
B.
Complex 5. (A=b)/(...) 9 3
(A=b)/(...) 2 4
(A=b)/(...) 1 5
6. (A=b*)-(...)/(...) l 3
(A*=b)-(...)/(...) 3 3
II.
EXTENDED
A. Patri- 1. (A=b)-(C o D o e)/
(D=i)-(...)/(J*=e) 1 9
2. (A=b)-(c*o d o e o F)/
(J=e)-(...)/(D=i)-(f.)/
(F=l)-(...) l 13
B. Joint 3. (A*=b*)-(C o d)/
(c=i)-(...)/(R=d)-(...) 1 8

aComposition code of A. Kimball Romney. See
Appendix.

'71

KEY TO FIGURE 3

1. Ave (da parte do meu pai) 31. Prima
2. Av6 (ou a minha Av6) 32. Sobrinho (O meu sobrinho)
3. AVG (da parte da minha mAe) 33. Sobrinha
4. Av6 " 34. Sobrinho
S. Tio (ou O Meu Tio) 35. Sobrinha
6. Tia (ou A minha Tia) 36. Sobrinha
7. Tio 37. Primo
8. Tia 38. Prima
9. Tio 39. Prima
10. O meu pai 40. Primo
11. A minha mae 41. Prima
12. Tio 42. Primo
13. Tia 43.
14. Tio 44.
15. Tia 45. Filha do meu sobrinho
16. Tia ’ 46. Filho do meu sobrinho
l7. Primo (ou o meu primo) 47. Primos meus
18. Prima 48. Primos meus
l7 and 18. Os meus primos 49. Primos meus
l9. Primo 50. Primos meus
20. Prima 51. Bisav6 (Avd do meu psi)
21. Irmao (ou o meu irmao) 52. Bisavo "
22. Cunhada 53. Bisav6 ”
23. Irma ‘ S4. Bisavd' ”
24. Primo irmao 55. Bisav6 (Av6 da minha Mae)
25. Prima ' 56. Bisavé "
26. Primo S7. Bisav6 "
27. Prima irm5* 58. Bisavd
28. Primo irmao 59. Tia do meu pai
29. Primo 60. Tia da minha mae

30. Primo

Wife of Ego: Esposa (formal), Minha Mulher (popular)
Parents of wife: Sogros (Sogro and Sogra)

Grandparents of wife: Os avds da minha mulher

Children of Ego: Filho, Filha

Grandchildren of Ego's children: Netos, neto, nets
Greatgrandchildren of Ego: Netos or filhos dos meus netos

*Cousin marriage prohibition exist for Ego with 27: and between 23 and
24, 28, and for 21, prohibitions exist with 27.

 

Ga
7!
A.
nu.)
Tllllloz
Au
IA
2
05
IA
Full-1,
A1
5
6»

 

E[ 4 ..
[Ijkllé—l

I

 

ll!»

, £0

 

to I LoI. I.
I I I I
.. ”III.

F160 3
SHIP TERMS OF REFERENCE

 

 

 

110 .131

L 1 o
I
. n..w.:£f

 

 

 

73
surname of the child. Since the father's name is used last
and is the name used for official registration of a child,
it could be said that the name tends to be patrilineal in
comparison to Spain where the opposite is the case. How—
ever, it is common for children to be popularly known by
their mother's surname, even inpreference to their given
name, as is illustrated in the example given in Figure 4.
In all cases the legal name and the one used for proper
address, is the father's family name. Thus, in Figure 4,
the child, José Coelho would use the complete form for
legal purposes, José Rocha Coelho. Frequently, if the
child's mother's surname, in this case, "Rocha," has a
connotation it will be used as a nickname for derisive
purposes. This is rarely the case of the last surname or
father's family name.

In Vila Nova there is no pattern observed of using
the given name of a grandfather for boys and the name of
the grandmother for girls as in Andalusia (Pitt-Rivers,
1958:426). Quite frequently the name of a child's great
aunt is used, but not according to a pattern.

Within the household there is a patriarchal author-
ity, as the husband's word is final and the woman is kept
on an inferior status. Female siblings also recognize a
responsibility to a brother, even if he is younger, to

see that his needs are met first, giving him deference in

74

 

 

Joao Maria Antonio
Adelina Preto dos da Costa
Pereira 0 I A Rocha Santos O - A Coelho
Mariana Mario
Pereira Santos (known as
Rocha - Coelho "Santos")
José
Rocha (known as
Is Coelho "Rocha")

 

FIGURE 4

EXAMPLE OF BILATERAL ORIGIN OF SURNAME

social occasions. Thus, a wife will stand while the hus-
band sits at a table to eat. The sister, likewise, will
stand and wait on a brother who sits to eat. When man and
wife are traveling from the fields with a burro, the hus-
band rides and the wife walks. However, it is the wife
who manages the finances for the household and it is
usually her questions about these details which leads to
violet discussions and wife-beating. Frequently such
occasions are accompanied by heavy drinking by the hus-
band. The irregular schedule of the men who go to sea to
fish makes many demands on the women who have to prepare

extra meals, bail, and adjust the household to the schedule

75
of sleeping by day while fishing by night. This added
stress also contributes to the conflicts.

As has already been pointed out, two factors would
seem to provide the framework for cooperating relationships
between families: first, the high percentage of marriage
partners which come from within the village, rather than
from outside. Secondly, the large number of cousin mar-
riages and practice of siblings of one family marrying
siblings of another, thus inter-relating many households
in the village. Although many of these links were observed
resulting in cooperative and reciprocal efforts between
families, there also were many "cut relationships" due to
quarrels, making any kind of cooperation complicated.

Each family maintained relacoes cortadas with a large

 

percentage of the villagers. Nuclear families and those
related by cousin marriage represented the most potential
cooperative units. In these cases sons would share tools
and work animals with father's household, or an uncle's
household, or with a cousin's. Such cooperation was fre-
quently observed at the dock in helping beach the boats,
sharing tools, and helping with the unloading chores.
Cooperation was particularly effective among cousins, for
generally, a pgimp_was trusted and respected until some

occasion arose which caused the "relacoes cortadas."

 

When this incident occurred it was considered a desgraca,

 

76
not the normal, as apparently is the case in Spain, (Pitt-
Rivers, 1954:105-6) where a ppimg is a byword for "lack
of confidence." Beyond the immediate family, many house—

holds maintain relacoes cortadas with a large percentage

 

of the village. Exceptions were seen during the crisis of
a fire, a lost boat or a drowning, but as soon as the
emergency passed the limitation to friendship and cooper-
ative work was reinforced.

Less is made of these long-standing feelings by
the women who are more active in the church and in the
Protestant meetings than the men. Until these feuds are
settled the men cannot cooperate in any community activity

which implies friendship with enemies. A guarda fiscal

 

who is married to a woman of the village related that,
"here there are no quarrels or fights, only beyond the
bridge in the valley and in the mountains where just last
week there was a knifing within a family. Here, we are
all as one family and never have disorder." It is perhaps

an orderly disagreement which produces relacoes cortadas.

 

The possibility of income from fishing, as well
as the availability of small plots for subsistence farming
has, until recent years, kept the village on a egalitarian
level of social relations. Even though differences of
wealth exist between the few large landowners and the

masses of villagers, there are no obvious status

77
indicators among most of the people. Within the past ten
years the attractions of higher wages in the industrialized
areas and work on the large fishing and merchant ships
based in Lisbon has had a stratifying effect on the vil-
lage's social structure.

Many are no longer content to continue the easy
life of the past, but are, in Erich Fromm's description,
"escaping from freedom" (Fromm, 1941). By acquiring those
income-producing items that will enable them to achieve
an increasing higher level, many are moving from a stable
independent status to become economically mobile. A fuller
description of the categories of socio-economic strata
along with the implications of these changes in relation

to the god-parent system will be discussed in Chapter V.

CHAPTER IV

A DESCRIPTION OF CUBA

The second Portuguese village studied in this

comparative analysis of compadrio presents some signifi-

 

cant contrasts to Vila Nova, even though both villages are
within the same political district of the province and
share a common cultural tradition. In this chapter we
will relate these differences to the social organization
as a background for the analysis of the adaptation and

function of compadrio in Chapter VI.

 

I. HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE

Approximately 100 kilometers beyond the Cercal
Mountains, to the east and in the center of the Alentejo
province, is the area of the second village studied. Here
on the dry plains rises the circular city of Beja on the
only hill, making the old city visible for miles in all
directions. Names "Pace Julia" by Ceasar, it was first
the headquarters of the Roman Legion and later a Roman
colony. After 715 A.D., it became a Mohammedan cultural
center. The Arab domination lasted until the twelfth

century, during which time the name of the city, "Pace"

79
became "Beja" on the Arabic tongue. Fifteen kilometers to
the north is Cuba, the old feudal estate of Dom Francisco,
93333 of Beja (Dom Joao IV), son of Dom Pedro II and Maria
Sofia Isabel de Neoberg. The first houses in the village
were used for the vassals and were built along the road
to Montigo-Lisbon which became the main street of the
village. The first church (Espirto Santo) was constructed
in 1530, followed by one on the Rua de Evora, ordered by
King Sabestiao in 1569, in memory of the 80,000 who died
in the plague of Lisbon that summer. By 1675, the popula-
tion of the village had grown to 1,600, approximately what
it is expected to be in the 1970 census (Oliveira, 1742:

28, Oliveira and Pereira, 1967).
II. INFLUENCE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

In Cuba the Church has made an obvious recovery
from the turmoil of anti-religious feelings which boiled
up during the century of liberal ideas, culminating in
the revolutions of 1910-1926 (Livermore, 1966:268-326).
Even so, only five Catholic churches have been put back
into use in the village and of these only one, the "Sé"
is used daily. The village had two resident priests in
1965, but neither enjoyed much popular support. Many
conformed to the traditions of the church while viewing

the program of the Church as being more political

80
than religious. Among the poor there was neither interest
nor outward conformity. This conforms to Willems' obser-
vations in Canhestros, a village twenty-five kilometers
west of Cuba (Willems, 1963:75). It was common to see
religious pictures on the wall of the front rooms or bed-
rooms of the houses and many wore lucky charms around their

neck to ward off the effects of the mal olhar of gypsies.

 

Belief is prevalent that some women in the village, who
claimed to have spiritual power, were able to cure disease
and illness caused by the evil eye. Mainly women sought

out these curandeiras. Likewise, it was women who took

 

part in the processions of the Catholic Church. Men who
participate in the activities of the Church are from the
upper economic class. As Vasconcellos writes:

. . . a pesar dos esforcos que fax 0 clero para manter
a pureza da fé, direi que, segundo informacées que
tenho colhido, as vezes até de eclesiésticos, e o que
eu proprio a cada passo observo, o Alentejo é d'entre
as nossas provincias a que de presente menos pratica

a religiao (Vasconcellos, 1942:524). (According to

my own observations, and those of the priests them—
selves, the Alentejo [Cuba] practices Catholicism the
least of all our provinces, in spite of the efforts

of the clergy to maintain the purity of the faith.)

In contrast, the small landed upper class takes
active participation in all religious activities of the
Church, fulfilling the requirements of the organization
by holding church office, giving financial support, and

internalizing the value system. The various degrees of

81
conformity will be examined in Chapter VI in relation to

the compadrio system.

 

I I I . THE ECOLOGY

Thus, it can be seen, in relation to Vila Nova,
the influence of the Church has remained quite constant.
The element which has not, however, remained so, as men—
tioned in Chapter III, is the ecology. Whereas Vila Nova
enjoys the advantages of coastal weather, resources of the
sea as well as a relatively good supply of ground water,
the area around Cuba corresponds more to the climate and
conditions of "dry" Spain. A contrast between Vila Nova
(wet) and Cuba (dry) is indicated in Table III on the
basis of ecological conditions.

Some of the social consequences of these conditions
will be seen in the description of the large estates and
the village life which depends on them.

Although crop rotation, use of fertilizer, and
irrigation have brought some changes to the big farms in
the Cuba area, as an overall description Table III indi-
cates the basic conditions which the villagers must con-
front. Later, we will also contrast the resulting social
structures corresponding to these two differing ecological
conditions as Kasdan (1965) has done with the Basque and

central areas of Spain.

82
TABLE III

ECOLOGICAL CONTRAST BETWEEN TWO VILLAGES

 

 

Vila Nova Feature Cuba
Adequate Water No springs or irrigation
During 12 months Rainfall Only October to March
Good Soil Poor
Pleasant weather Living Extremes, monotonous
Pine woods Forests None
Sea, beach, work Diversion None, but seasonal
Varied Crops Limited
Balanced with fish Diet Inadequate
Fish and surplus Income No surplus

 

Latiffindio, the big estate fagm. The Portuguese
word for the big farm comes from the Latin word, Latifun-
BEBE! meaning a large property. In most cases, the large
estate was inherited by the noble families from the early
dynasties. As the military-religious orders conquered
land from the Arabs in the twelfth century, the Portuguese
kings made donations of land to these orders. They also
gave land to those individuals who distinguished themselves
in battle. The purpose of these donations, called "forais,"
was to encourage, through colonization, the develOpment

of the newly conquered areas (Vasconcellos, 1942:585).

83

When the religious orders were abolished by the
Portuguese liberal government in 1834, all Of the lands
belonging to these orders was sold at public auction.
Although it was intended that in this way the big farms
would be broken up and distributed tO the poor, the result
was quite the Opposite. Many Of the wealthy families, who
already owned large estates, purchased more. Corporations
formed Of such families, municipal governments, and even
religious organizations with secular names, bought up these
large estates. Thus, instead Of benefiting the small
farmer, the sale of these large estates resulted in cre-

ating even larger and more powerful latiffindios. Some

 

large estates, which were actually divided into small lots
when sold at auction were later resold to wealthy families
who recomposed even larger estates. The smallest lati-

ffindios in the province are about seventy hectare herdades.

 

The average size is about 1,000 hectares and some have

 

even more than 25,000 hectares. A hectare is about 2.47

 

acres so this would be about 150 square miles for the

larger latiffindios. It is only in the south Of Portugal,

 

in this Alentejo province, where today many Of these large
estates remain unchanged.

On these farm-estates, the owner maintains a large
house (splap), extravagantly furnished and used only rarely

when the owner visits his estate. The absent owner leaves

84
the running Of the farm to a qualified manager (feitor)
who, in turn, hires full-time and part-time workers.
Adequate housing is provided on the estate for these
workers and additional houses are owned in the nearby
villages for the seasonal workers and full-time workers

Of the estate. In the villages surrounding the latifundia

 

the owners built flour mills, grain storage facilities,
wine and Olive presses, processing factories, iron works,
blacksmith shOps, and carpenter shops, making use Of the
cheap excess labor. In fact, all Of the large industry

Of the villages in the latiffindium area was a monOpOly Of

 

the owners Of the large estates. Only small craftsmen
and their shOps functioned independently (Vasconcellos,

1942:584-587).
IV. THE VILLAGE TODAY

The exterior appearance Of the village has changed
little in the past century. There are actually three
pracas in the village, each with a sixteenth century grid-
iron pattern of streets surrounding them. In one is the
main church, Se, an eighteenth century baroque style
building with impressive residences of the wealthy land
owners lining the perimeter Of the large square. In
another, in the center Of the village, is the municipal

court house and jail, and the third contains the nineteenth

85
century public market and the headquarters Of the National
Guard. The original main street Of the village, which ran
from Beja via Beringel to Montijo (Lisbon) via Evora, still
passes by all three pracas. The village is built on a
small hill, completely encircled by a road on which are
located the barns and small inns where horses and car—
riages are quartered and guests-find austere overnight
lodging. Also along this perimeter road are located
blacksmith and carriage shOps which make wagons, plows,
and tools, and shoe mules. On the north side Of the vil-
lage is a large Open field where monthly cattle fairs are
held. Here, traveling salesmen set up tents alongside Of
their carts or trucks for displaying cloth, ready-made
clothing, shoes, boots, tools, dishes, and jewelry.

The largest building in the village is the flour
mill Operated by a steam engine. This also produces the
electrical power for this and some other factories. In
1955, electricity was provided from Beja for the whole
village. Today about a third of the village's houses
have electricity and water from the village's system.
Most of the houses which have water use one faucet, usually
in the back of the house or just inside the front door.
Water is also available at several public fountains where

animals are watered and villagers fill large pottery jugs.

86

Most Of the streets are about four meters wide and
paved with cobblestones. Others are narrower and surfaced
with a mixture Of sand and clay. The constant movement Of
horses, mules, cattle, sheep and goats passing from the
houses to the fields and back again makes the daily
sweeping of the streets by the municipal government em-
ployees a necessity. There are approximately 800 houses
in the village, each occupying a lot approximately ten by

thirty meters. These houses for the latiffindio workers

 

are about six meters wide with an additional two or three
meters along the street for a gate leading into the back
yard. The lot is surrounded with a two meter—high stone
wall in the back, next to the adjoining house. The space
behind the house contains a well, some small barns for
mules, goats, sheep, chickens, and grain storage. About
one half Of the area is cultivated for providing food for
some Of the small animals.

From the street these houses appear all the same.
The front door Opens to a corridor which divides the
house, running from the front to the rear patio. On
either side Of the corridor are two front rooms with one
window in each facing the street. Two dark middle rooms
are lighted with small glass tiles set into the tile roof.
The front Of the house is whitewashed with a dark trim of

red, blue, green or yellow painted around the two windows

87
and the front door. Whitewashing, an annual task in sum—
mer or fall, is done by the wife of the household.

The mud walls of these houses are made using two
2-meter long wooden frames placed in front and behind the
wall under construction. Mud mixed with clay and rocks
is tamped in between the wooden frame. Eucalyptus is used
for the wall frames and roof rafters. As in Vila Nova,
the front two rooms are dining room and bedroom. The
middle two rooms are bedrooms or used for storage. The
back two rooms on each side of the corridor are the kitchen
and another storage room. The central walls, on each side
Of the corridor, rarely extend to the roof so there is no
ceiling above the corridor, but an Open space up to the
roof tiles. In the cold damp winter the household stays
in the large kitchen which has a large chimney-fireplace.
Here as many as six people sit on low chairs inside Of
the fireplace to keep warm along-side the fire.

The diet has little variety, especially in the
winter, when cod fish, pork sausage, potatoes, chickpeas,
rice, beans, cheese and Olive Oil are the staples avail-
able. Dark whole wheat bread, cheese and sausage (chorico).
is the standard meal along with cabbage and Olive Oil soup
thickened with salt-pork and potatoes. Hot soup is eaten
at noon and evening and also at mid-morning when working

in the fields. Breakfast coffee (chicory) is made with

88
hot milk and wine is used at all other meals, or, at times,
water. The baker's ovens, located throughout the village,
are available for a small fee (or portion of food) to the
households for preparing bread or baked dishes. The
baker, usually a widow, picks up the food to be baked and

returns it when finished.

Political organization. The district Of Beja, to

 

which Cuba belongs, is divided into administrative parts

called conselhos. These, in turn, are divided into smaller

 

parts called freguesias with an elected local junt . The

 

conselho, basic cell Of Portuguese administrative struc-

 

ture, is made up Of the junta from the smaller freguesias,

 

elected eldermen, and a president appointed by the national

government. All Of the conselhos in the district are

 

headed by the governador civil who is appointed by the

 

national government to oversee general administration
within the country. Beja is one Of eighteen districts in
Portugal and within the district Of Beja there are four-

teen conselhos. Cuba is the capital Of the conselho Of

 

 

Cuba and houses the seat (séde) in the Camara Muncipal

 

building, presided over by the president Of the Camara

Municipal. Cuba also has a court of justice with juris-

 

diction over nearly half of the district of Beja. A judge

presides over the court of Cuba. He is appointed by the

89
the national government and has a residence provided for
him in Cuba. All Of these administrative and judiciary
Offices in Cuba involve many government functionaries and
Office workers who live and work in Cuba, but have little
social relation tO the village. Many of them have family
in Beja or visit friends in other cities on week-ends.
Since only the literate are permitted tO vote, many Of the
men Of the village do not understand political responsi-

bility. The elected members Of the conselho are usually

 

wealthy land owners. During the period Of our study the

president of the conselho or Camara Municipal was one Of

 

 

the wealthiest latiffindio owners who also owned and con-

 

trolled most of the industry in the area. The poor farm
workers do understand the function of the Camara in col-

lecting taxes and regulating agriculture.

The educational system. The village primary school

 

which is divided into the male and female sections, has
about 140 students and four teachers for the four year
program. The nearest secondary school is in Beja where
some students from Cuba attend, traveling daily on the
train. The expense and long hours involved in travel to
Obtain education beyond the fourth year is the main reason
less than 10 per cent of those who finish the fourth year

go on to secondary school. Although statistics were not

90
available at the school, a survey Of twenty-eight house-
holds with children revealed that less than 20 per cent
completed the four years Of primary school. In these
same households the literacy rate was less than 7 per cent.
In 1950 only 10 per cent Of the men were registered as
literate. In 1964 the literacy rate for the whole dis-
trict Of Beja was 42 per cent (Gomes, 1964:658).

In the whole country in 1965, only 50 per cent Of
the fourth grade Of primary school took the exam for
secondary school, and of these, only 34 per cent actually
entered secondary school. In other words, in 1965, 66 per
cent of those who finished the fourth year Of primary
school, did not continue in school (Machete, 1968:242).

In the whole country, an average Of 30.4 per thousand
strive tO go on tO secondary schools. In the district Of
Beja, with a total population Of 269,000 only 15.4 per
thousand try to go on to secondary schools. In 1968 only
25.8 per cent Of the fourth grade students in primary
schools in the district Of Beja (including Cuba) were
accepted in secondary schools making the educational dis-
continuity rate of 75 per cent the highest of the whole
country (Gomes, 1964:658, Machete, 1968:242).

As in Vila Nova, the poor farm workers in Cuba
.reported difficulties children experienced in primary

School: (1) lack of encouragement by the teachers who

91
only singled out good students to finish and take the
exams, (2) the need for the children to help with farm
work at home interfered with time for study. Exceptions
were found in those households where the child's father
had been outside Of the village doing migrant work near
Lisbon, or in France, and placed higher values on educa-
tion.

The agricultural system. The poor farm workers in

 

Cuba are very dependent on the seasonal work Offered by
the large estates. It is in this way that most Of the
villagers secure their income of cash and foodstuffs.
Although some workers are permanently employed by the

estate, most Of the workers are hired seasonally in the

village praca.

Fall plowipg and planting. During the month Of

 

October hiring is done at the north side Of the village
near the market pgaga, and on the south side Of the vil-
lage in front Of the railroad station and traverns.

Before 6 AM, the feitor Of the large farms sends a tractor
pulling a flatbed trailer to these hiring places. The
tractor is driven by one Of the permanent employees of

the large farm. When agreement is reached as to the daily
wage, the trailer is loaded and chuggs off into the cold

grey mist of early dawn. Hiring done in this way helps

92
the laborer tO decide his wage and the farm he will work
on that day. More private arrangements are made by the
owners of the smaller farms in contracting workers during
the fall. The few villagers who own their own small plots
attempt to do their work without hired labor. Some of
these households cOuld be seen at an early hour in their
mule-drawn carts on their way to the small one to three

acre farms close to the village.

Olive harvest. In late November the managers Of

 

the latiffindios begin to recruit women and men for the

 

Olive harvest. Leaving the village after 6 AM, many
trailers loaded with Olive harvest workers drive out to the
large farms. Managers Of farms close to the village send
a messenger calling for workers and stating the hourly or
kilg rate Of pay. Workers responding to this Opportunity
walk to the nearby Olive groves. Since 1960 the payment
for Olive harvesters is by the kilp_picked rather than by
the hour of work or daily wage. The women employed in the
harvest dress properly for this cold season of the year,
using many skirts and aprons, woolen socks, leather boots,
a scarf around the head topped with a black broad brimmed
hat. Since it Often is raining during Olive harvest, the
women wrap themselves in clear plastic sacks from fertil-

izer bags to help protect their clothing from the rain.

93

As the chattering women walk to the fields in the morning,
the crackling noise Of the improvised plastic aprons can
be heard a great distance. Some latifundia tOO far from
Cuba have the harvesters stay on the estate during the
week Of work with meals provided.

During the harvest the hiredzmanager directs the
work Of the men who knock the Olives from the trees with
long poles while the women pick the fallen Olives from the
cloths laid on the ground under the tree. The Olives are
collected in small baskets and then dumped into a large
one on the mule cart which, in turn, is emptied into a
large tank on the tractor-drawn trailer.

During this season the women sing verses about the
work, harmonizing in several voices. At about 9 AM work
is interrupted for lunch. Everyone brings a basket or
sack Of food. Several small fires are started around noon
when work is again stopped and soup heated in small pot-
tery dishes. Another break is taken around 3 PM and then
the work continues until sundown when all of the workers
return to the village. On the return journey as the
women continue to sing verses, the men chat with each
other. Familiar language is used among the women, speaking
to each other in the second person. There is little con-
versation between the sexes among the Older workers, but

quite a lot among the young girls and boys.

94

Some Of the better quality of olives are kept for
eating, but most of the crop is taken to the press in the
village. Here the Olives are weighed and after the qual—
ity is judged, payment made to the owner. The Olives are
put into circular sacks made of heavy rOpe and squeezed in
a hydrolic press. The Oil is then filtered with steam and
the residue, in the bag, emptied into a mill where it is
ground and pressed a second time. The remaining pulp is
used for pig feed.

The oil is stored in fifty liter metal cans. The
work in the commercial press in the village is done by
three men and ten boys all under fourteen years Of age.
Olives that are kept for eating are transported to the
barns on the estate where they are washed and placed in
ten liter pottery jugs in a solution of salt water. This
brine is changed daily for ten days and then a small bitter
fruit, zambujo, is added along with spices. The women
harvesters are allowed to take home small bags Of Olives
to prepare in their houses this way.

When the olives have been harvested the workers
dress in their most colorful clothes and go to the resi-
dence of the estate (splag) for a Eggpa. The men bring
some musical instruments, accordian, tamborine, flute, tO
accompany the girls singing the verses they composed during

harvest. Dancing is followed by a special meal prepared

95
by the owners Of the farm and usually including spiced
cakes and wine.

Those with small plots or hortas harvest their
Olives without outside help as the fixed price Of Olive
Oil (twenty-eight Escudos a liter) is not enough tO pay
pickers who receive as much as two and a half Escudos a
kilo. Even on some Of the larger estates the Olives were
not harvested during the winter of 1965 due to the high
cost Of labor.

Usually from late December until early February
most Of the farm workers in the village are unemployed.
To help during this period many of the households store
up fOOd and funds and the merchants in the village sell
on a credit basis. During some winters the government
has planned work projects on roads in the area to provide
employment for the farm workers. It was unfavorable
weather and the corresponding poor crops which caused the
crisis of unemployment in this district from 1952-1960.
During this period more than 45,000 men left the district
of Beja to find work in the industrialized area Of Lisbon
or in France. It is estimated that during this time

1,400 left the village of Cuba (Alarcéo, 1964:518-520).

A monda. The period of weeding the wheat fields

 

(monda) begins in mid-February and continues through March

96
and April providing adequate work for the villagers when
the weather is favorable. During the weeding season the
employees Of the farm estates come to the pracas in Cuba
to hire weeders. Both men and women are hired to work
and are paid on the basis Of a day's labor. Trucks and
tailers are filled with workers before sunrise and trans-
port them to the fields. Some groups of women contract
to be away several weeks, staying in a dormitory provided
for them on the large estate.

The girls, mostly unmarried, are dressed with
several layers Of skirts and blouses, knee-length black
woolen stockings and wooden-soled shoes. They wear a
scarf of many colors on their heads, tOpped with a large
black broadbrimmed hat. In the pracas around 6 AM there
is much excitement with the girls talking and singing as
the trucks and trailers are loaded. Each worker carries
a basket with food for the day and a tool (sachinho) for
weeding. The baskets of food are stacked under a tree at
the edge of the field to be weeded. In the field the
women tuck their black skirt into their black stockings
making it appear as if they were wearing a black one-piece
uniform.

Starting at one end of the field, where the wheat
is by now six to eight inches high, the women take posi-

tions along the rows, one in each furrow. With one man

97
directing and about thirty women working, they proceed
slowly across the field, moving about 100 meters an hour.

The handle Of the sachinho is not more than fifty cm. long

 

making it necessary for the weeders to bend low as they
work. Those who fall behind are urged on by the feitor.
Songs and verses are sung and conversation flows at a
fickle pace.

At nine there is a pause for lunch (almogo) and
then an hour at noon for geia. Another rest time is taken
at 4 PM for merenda and then work for the day is finished
at sundown.

The songs are in three voices with the contralto
being very high pitched and shrill similar to the music
of Morocco. First a question is sung by one Of the groups
of girls: and the answer is given by another further along
the rows of wheat.

Casada? N50 sou casada, nem sei se me casarei.

Tenho a palavra dada, nao sei se a comprirei.

Eu bem sei q'ando na monda, eu bem sei q'ando a mondar,
Na monda é que eu arranjei dinheiro para me casar
(Vasconcellos, 1967:584).

The women working in the fields within three or
five kilometers of the village Often walk to and from the
daily weeding, singing along the way. When the weeding
season is nearly finished there is Opportunity for the

girls to talk with the boys at the dances in the pragas

during the days of carnaval.

 

98

The harvest. The harvesting Of beans and chick-

 

peas comes just before the wheat harvest in May. Men and
women are hired in the early morning for cutting the wheat
with hand sickle. On their left hand the women wear seg-
ments of a cane which have been cut in half-inch lengths
to wear like rings on their fingers. On each finger of
the left hand a segment is placed in each joint of the
finger. Each segment of cane is tied to the next with a
thin strand of rawhide, making a glove Of hard canewood

to protect the hand as the worker gathers in the standing
wheat. The right hand wields the sickle and wraps a few
straws around each bundle of cut wheat. The workers move
through the rows of wheat in a straight line, dropping

the bundles Of cut wheat as they go. Men following along
behind arrange the fallen bundles into larger piles with
pitchforks. Later a mule cart is used to collect the
piles of wheat and take them to a central area in the farm
for threshing. As the girls move slowly through the
fields cutting the wheat they sing verses about life's
joys and sorrows.

The large farms use a threshing machine which is
pulled by a tractor to the field where wheat is piled in
huge mounds, awaiting threshing. In this Operation only
men are employed. The smaller plot farmers do their own

threshing using the malho as in Vila Nova. Others take

99
their wheat in a mule cart to the threshing site on the
big farm where it is done for them in exchange for some
bags Of wheat.

The wheat harvest gives employment until late
August when some of the big farms begin to hire workers
for the grape harvest (vindime). Especially northeast Of
Cuba many are hired daily for the vindime. Both men and
women pick the grapes and place them in small baskets
which are dumped into larger round baskets. These are
carried by the men and dumped into a wooden barrel on a
mule or ox cart. From there the grapes are taken tO the
wine press on the farm prOperty. This is a large stone
tank about two meters square and a meter deep. As the
grapes are dumped into the stone tank they are tramped by
men in bare feet. The press itself is a large screw
arrangment above the tank which places pressure on a
wooden frame placed on top of the grapes. After "dancing"
on the grapes and pressing them the liquid is drained Off
and placed in large pottery vessels, cubozes, two meters
high and a meter and a half in diameter in the middle.
Here the wine ferments within a month Or so. The residue
.is cooked and distilled in a OOpper pot to make the alco-
liolic drink, agua ardente.

The small farm owners bring the grapes to the

ESmall barn behind their house in the village where they

100

make wine and agpa ardente. The period Of new wine coin-

 

cides with the plowing and sowing season, marking the end

Of the year.

The latiffindios have permanent employees tO care

 

for the herds Of cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats. Pigs,
like sheep, are herded by a shepherd to the hills where
there are scattered cork oak trees. Here the pigs feed
on the acorns and wild roots. The shepherds are usually

under eighteen, or Old men.

Cork harvest. Special personnel are employed by

 

the large properties to trim the cork oak trees and
annually strip Off the bark Of the trees. This is done
on a rotating basis so that each tree is only stripped
every eight to ten years. The cork bark is carried on
mule carts to the processing factory in the village where
it is cooked, cut, and shipped to Setubal or Lisbon. The

men employed in harvesting the cork, cortadores, trim

 

Olive trees and prepare the trimmed oak branches for fire-
wood. They consider themselves specialists and dO no
other kind Of work. Usually they are unemployed several
months of the year.

Land Of the large estates near the village is
Inade available to the workers living in the village on a

Iueia basis. That is, the planter gets half Of the crop

101

and the landowner gets half. Some Of the more productive

land was made available for tercas: one-third to the

owner and two-thirds to the planter. However, these lands

are only available during the year when they are fallow.
The year the big farm plants the field it is not available

for shares. Some land belonging to small farmers is rented

for cash, most small plot owners need the crops they can
raise on their land for their own household and for
The small plot farmer plows with

feeding their animals.

a pair Of mules kept in the barn behind his house. He

uses a steel-tipped wooden plow and sows by hand, broad-

Cast style. Corn is raised for the animals and wheat to

make flour for bread.

In December 1965 there was much work available on

'tlme surrounding farms and a shortage Of workers, but many
v”Eire listed as unemployed. The problem was that they

1?€3fused.to work for the Old low wages. There was a hesi-
tancy Of the farm managers to employ new farming methods

‘:>J=' fertilizers. When fertilizers were used they were

(27151ten improperly applied with a resulting decrease in out—
put. The director Of the local farm OOOperative blamed
these failures on the managers who were unwilling to adjust

1:
<:’ change and not literate enough to read the government

13
é~tm bulletins .

102

The village market. Farm products from the sur-

rounding area were brought into the village market daily.

Most Of the stands in the market were Operated by local

farmers who owned small plots near the village. Opening

at 6 AM the market continued until noon when all Of the
stands and tables Of vegetables were covered with sheets.

Iyoth men and women tend the stands at the market although

nuost Of the customers were men. Only after 11 AM did some

Inaids appear buying for the wealthy families in the vil-

lJage. Men from the poorer households did the daily buying,

1:: the market to augment the supply Of food from their

SHnall gardens. In Vila Nova, quite to the contrary, it

“Has the women who did the purchasing in the market.
During December 1965, eighteen stands in the market

S301d potatoes, turnips, cabbage, onions, beans, sweet-
IP<>tatoes, large radishes, squash, dried beans, dried corn,
E11.3ples, three varieties of oranges, lemons, chestnuts,
'Vwiilhuts, almonds, pork sausage, blood sausage, smoked
slionlder of beef and hams of pork, fresh goat meat, as
‘03 11 as sheep, pig, and calf meat, dried fish, and two
{‘gnalrieties Of dried cod fish, hard cakes, cookies, sweet

3:t-‘ead, and religious articles, such as pictures, images,

]:>‘3:ads, etc. Occasionally a pottery maker from Beringel

SQ‘t up a display Of earthen cookware, pottery dishes, and

'2 fiter jugs. Later in the month of December a traveling

103

merchant set up a stand Of hand painted pottery figures

for a Christmas manager scene (presépio). For the few

days this vendor was in the market considerably more women

came to purchase these small painted figures.
Once each month the village has a cattle fair set

up on the north side Of town. Hundreds Of cattle are

driven in from distant farms and tied to stakes in the

Iniddle Of the muddy field along with sheep, goats, pigs,

‘turkeys, and burros. Raising burros seems to be the ex-

<:lusive profession Of the gypsies in this area. Since

tflnere is so little field work, the December fair is well
arttended by men Of the village who come wearing sheepskin

Cfliaps, sheepskin coats, leather boots and broad-brimmed

ILats. Black woolen shirts are worn without a tie. Stands

Etre set up selling clothing, blankets, boots, pottery,
tuools, farm equipment and household items such as dishes,
In the morning only men are present

Water jugs, and pans.

£3Jud concerned with the animal sales. Each one who brings

arximals to sell stands near his livestock. Buyers, usually
JEErom.the big packing houses in Setubal and Lison, approach
‘tllne sellers individually, asking the price and bargaining.
lyliules and mule carts line the street in front of the field.

‘:=iash received from the sale Of these animals is used by

‘tllne small farmer for family needs during the winter. Many

:lftems Of clothing are purchased at the fair after the

104

morning cattle sales. Besides the small farmers who

brought their animals to the fair there are also large

numbers of cattle from the big estates. The functionary

in charge Of the gate tax at the fair estimated that more

than 70 per cent Of the cattle sold that day were from the

latiffindiOs. Some Of the small farmers questioned if they

had made any profit from the sale Of their animals that

day due to the high cost Of feed and large loss Of animals

due to illness .

Those in the village not involved in agriculture

Showed no interest in the fair. One Of my informants, a

Skilled carpenter making carved eighteenth century French

furniture, said he rarely visited the fair as it was tOO

nOisy and had nothing for sale that he needed. An identi-

Cal Opinion was expressed by the shop owners, Office

WOrkers, tin smith, jeweler, and pharmacist. Some even

elucpressed a feeling of shame that I would be going to such

9laces. Later in the afternoon, however, women and girls

began to appear at the fair. Their interest was in shoes,

QZlothing, and the blankets being sold by a man with a

11microphone-PA system. He was standing on tOp of his small

truck with his PA volume at an ear-splitting level. Below

him he had two attractive women displaying the blankets.

Using an auction method Of selling he would throw the

105

large blanket to the highest bidder, Often tO the buyer's

surprise.
V. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
As we have seen in the description Of the village,
Cuba being located in the midst Of the large wheat farms

has served as the source Of farm labor for more than four

(centuries. Most Of the whitewashed stone houses in the

Krillage were constructed by the owners Of the large es-

‘tates to provide housing for their farm labor. In 1965

(Juba had a population Of approximately 2,400 distributed

it: 440 household units or fogos. According to Table IV,

“Kare than 66 per cent Of the males employed in the village

“Kare in agricultural work. Two hundred fifty men were

eimployed in non-agricultural work ranging from servants in
tlaverns to technical administrators in the factories.
:tlncluded in this figure also were employees in the shOps
Eand Offices, but not the members Of the national guard.
JEIn agricultural work 120 men were permanently employed on

EaEstates in jobs ranging from servants to technicians

<:>Iperating farm equipment. Four hundred men were employed

:i-lu seasonal jobs on the surrounding farms. Forty were

‘:=Jlassified as farm owners, ranging from the owners Of

$3Imall plots to the large estates. Thirty men were clas-

s3:ified as permanently unemployed.

106

TABLE IV

DISTRIBUTION OF MALE POPULATION AGES
TWENTY TO SIXTY-FIVE IN 1965

 

 

 

IN CUBA
Non-agricultural work 30.2%
Permanent agricultural employment 14.2%
Seasonal agricultural employment 47.6%
Farm owners 4 . 5%
Unemployed 3 . 5%

TABLE V

DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL POPULATION IN
THE DISTRICT OF BEJA IN 1967
Agriculture 71 . 5%
NOn-farm work 9 . 4 %
skilled industry 7 . 4 %
clothing and shoes 2.9%
9 . 0%

01': her and unemployed
\

 

Source: Carvalho, 1967:478.

In Cuba, unlike Vila Nova, the rich are clearly

G~5lstinguished from the poor, although to one passing through

the village the only appearance is of poverty. The wealthy

land owners remain out Of sight in their large houses. The

g1lop owners, store clerks, Office and factory workers and

 

107

craftsmen dress differently from the poor farm workers.
The small middle class in this stratified village are not
Often seen on the streets, except at night when it is the

custom to walk after supper tO one Of the two cafés to

play billards, cards, or dominoes. Whereas, in Vila Nova,

the availability Of land for most Of the villagers and the
«ecologically determined potential Of a good return tended
“to equalize social relations among all Of the people

:regardless Of economic position, in Cuba the Opposite

occurred. Following the unequal distribution Of land (with

Slow'yield and suitable only to large area cultivation)
Chiba began its existence as a socially stratified village

Eund continues today divided into classes according tO the

economic potential Of the villagers.

The findings Of this study concerning

Baptism.

tihe choosing of padrinhos in relation to economic position

j~s presented in Chapter VI. As in Vila Nova, the parents

‘C>f an expected child in the poorer class choose padrinhos

 

from among their relatives, usually a sister Of the wife
6and her husband or a brother Of the husband and his wife.
itAktlrnong the more economically mobile classes the god-parents
eSure chosen from among friends Of equal or better economic
:lwevel. Among the poor farm workers in Cuba the parents

35Erequently choose the child's name and expect nothing more

108

from the god-parents than the mere appearance at the church
baptismal ritual and assistance in registering the child's
birth. It is among the more mobile classes that god—
parents are expected to fulfill the Obligations placed
upon them by the Church. New social roles and structured
relationships begin tO appear among those related by ritual
Icinship in direct proportion to economic mobility.

The father usually accompanies the padrinhos,
(or witnesses, tO the church for the baptismal rite. After-
\vard they return to the home Of the child for a brief

festa. The new padrinhos usually provide the b61O and

 

tflne ziphg, Later, the father of the child goes with the

Eadrinhos to the Office Of the registo civil where the
Eadrinhos serve as the legal witnesses in the record Of

tile birth Of the child.

Annually, the padrinhos are invited to the child's

Ihlirthday celebration, usually in the late afternoon. In
tllle households Of the poor farm workers, a small cake and
'IPCDrt wine are served. The padrinhos bring a small gift;
‘Ei- toy for infants and clothing for the Older children.
inkthong the more mobile class the padrinhos purchase more
£3?§<pensive clothing or shoes for their afilhado on his
l2""Zii.rthday. In most Of the poor homes the child's birthday

‘:=€elebration is a time for exchanging, with relatives and

JEliadrinhos, stories of unemployment, illness, and the

 

109

inability tO better care for the child. In the home Of

the small farm owners, Office workers, craftsmen, etc.,

concrete plans are worked out on this dia dos anos for

the education Of the child. The first Obstacle is primary

school and then, to arrange a home in Beja where the child

can stay while attending secondary school.

Courtship. Although schools are segregated accord-

ing to sexes, there are Opportunities for boys and girls

of the poor class tO meet in the work on the farms, at

the monthly fairs, and at dances and festas. Boys ask

girls for a speaking arrangement after the age Of fourteen
Or fifteen and Often speak with several girls before

asking the parents of a girl for permission to namorar

(publicly "speak" with a girl). After this, "speaking"

iAs only done on a very formal basis with the boy on the
EStreet and the girl inside Of the Open window Of her house.
when attending fairs or dances they would always be accom-

Panied. Girls dO not enter the cafés in the village even

I‘Viuen accompanied. Men Of the poorer class gather in the

‘t1iaverns at night drinking red wine and singing in close

1fiermony. The music, typical only Of the Alentejo is con—

‘s3lidered by some to be the most original in Portugal today

(Gallop, 1961:190-265) . One will make up the verse telling

Q25 misery, frustration in love, and destiny, while the rest

llO
<>f3 the group join in on the chorus, repeating the theme
111 a minor key. Throughout the long winter nights the
Seexious melody Of the traverns can be heard in the de-
gSexted streets; deserted, except for the occasional men,
hidden in the shadows, "speaking" tO their girlfriends
lirlside the Open windows.
Men Of the more mobile classes gather in the gafiés
Ert night to play billards, dominoes, and cards accompanying
‘ihe games with small cups Of black coffee mixed with an

(Dunce Of agua ardente. Ocassionally the sports club will

 

liave a sessao d3 cinéma, projecting an Old French movie,
'but even this is attended only by men.

Military duty did not have any significant influ-
ence on the courtship patterns Of the villageprobably
because so few men have been called from the village.
Only since 1962 have twenty-one year Old men been called
into the army in large numbers from Cuba. When these men
return from duty many changes can be expected due tO the
educational program the army is now making available to
illiterate men. Girls now engaged to men expecting to go
into military service are planning tO wait until the men
return before being married. Some girls in the village

were married to their namorados by proxy, a practice

 

encouraged by the government among the military men in

Portuguese Africa.

lll

Marriage. In contrast to Vila Nova where we found

ammong the households studied more than 10 per cent common-
lLérw marriages (pages 65-66), in Cuba, there were no common-
llérw marriage arrangements reported among the households we
Studied. There were, among the thirty-six households
Sstzudied, seven unions which reported to have had civil
Irwegistration only, without a church wedding, but in all
Seven cases the couples were over fifty-eight years Of age.
IMmong the couples fifty-five years Old or younger, all
Ireported having been married by the Church. One couple
7had been married in the Protestant Church in the village.
As in the north Of the country where the Church has en-
forced their marriage rules within the past three decades,
so here in Cuba there has apparently been considerable
influence by the Church so that the practice Of common-law
marriages has been attenuated (DeCamps, 1935:213).

Unlike Vila Nova where it was found that both
husbands and wives had moved into the village from sur-
rounding area and towns, (page 66) in Cuba, among the
thirty-seven households studied, none Of the men were from
outside of the village. However, more than a third Of the
wives were from the area and villages as far as twenty
kilometers away from Cuba. Only twenty-two Of the wives
in the thirty-seven households were from the village Of

Cuba. Although some informants expressed the desire Of

112
having wives from Cuba, the feelings about this preference
were not as strong as in Vila Nova.

Now that more houses are available and rents are
reasonable, the pattern Of residence among the poor farm
laborers is neolocal. During engagement the noivos rent
a house and prepare it before marriage. The exception,
which can be seen in Table V1, is when the newly married
child remains at home to care for an aged parent. The
apparent reason for the number Of matrilocal extended
families in Cuba is due tO the absence Of men who have
temporarily gone to Lisbon or France, leaving their wives
with her parents.

In Cuba we found no variation from the kinship
terms of reference as indicated in Figure 3 on page 71 and
72 for Vila Nova. The Cuban reckons relationship with kin
symmetrically through both parents. However, in relation
to cousin marriage, Cuba did seem to differ from Vila Nova.
In the thirty-seven households studied there were no
cousin marriages. All informants, however, reported that
they knew of some in the village and told how authorization
had to be Obtained from the Bishop. However, we were
unable to find examples Of cousin marriage here as we did
in Vila Nova (page 67). However, we did find in Cuba, in
three of the thirty-seven households studied, both types

Of reciprocal marriages described on pages 66 and 67.

113
TABLE VI

THIRTY-SEVEN HOUSEHOLD UNITS ACCORDING TO
TYPE AND COMPOSITIONa

 

Number Of Number Of

 

Type Composition Household Individuals
Units in Residence
I. NUCLEAR l. A=b l 2
A. Simple 2. A=b-(...) 14 4-8
3. A=b*-(...) 0 0
4. A*=b-(...) 2 3
5. A*=b*-(...) 2 1-2
B. Complex 6. A=b-(...)/(...) 6 3-4

II. EXTENDED

A. Patri- 1. (A=b)-(C...)/(c=d)

local -(...) 3 5-9
2. (A=b*)-(C O d)/
(C=j)-(...) 1 6
3. (A*=b)-(C...) l 2

B. Matri- 4. (A=b)-(C O d)/
local (J=d)-(...) l 6

5. (A=b)-(c¢oo)/
(X=C)-(...) 6 5’8

 

aComposition code Of A. Kimball Romney. See
Appendix, page 183.

114

The resulting primO irmao or double cousin in relation tO

 

ego comes under very strong marriage prohibition classi-

fication. Many male informants insisted, "the prima irma

 

is just like a sister."

As in Vila Nova, inheritance, according to law,
divides property equally among the children on the death
of both parents. Frequently the remaining spouse trys to
settle the disbursement Of property so as to avoid the
complications the law brings after his death. Some infor-

mants believed the Old law Of the Morgadios was still

 

being Observed by many families by giving prOperty tO the
eldest son before the death Of the father. The law, pre-
vious to 1832, gave all of the property to the eldest son
at the death Of the father, thus perpetuating the Old
estates and their political power (Afonso, 1966:351).
Records were not available tO us at the time Of the study,
so we were not able to check this out in Cuba.

The child's family name or surname, comes from the
father's family as in Vila Nova and indicated on page 74.
We found in Cuba nO pattern Of giving names to a child
from the grandparents or great uncles, except occasionally,
in the case Of the first daughter who received her given
name from her mother's mother's sister, who, if she were
still living, was the madrinha de_baptismo. In the thirty-

seven households studied, four such cases were found, but

115
all in previous generations. There were also three cases
of first daughters being named after their father's mother,
but no incident Of sons being named for grandfathers or
great uncles on either the mother's or father's side.

Patriarchal authority within the nuclear house-
hold is absolute and, as in Vila Nova, among the siblings,
the sister serves her brother regardless Of his age. The
wife is expected to be faithful and obedient, but unlike
those in Vila Nova, does not manage the finances. This
is exclusively the husbands' responsibility tO care for
the precarious balancing of accounts, purchasing Of ani-
mals, feed, clothing, and fOOd for the household. The
wife and daughter prepare the meals, care for the house
and garden. If the daughter goes to work in the mgpda or
searas, she must Obtain permission from her father and
contribute her earnings to him.

Although there were cases Of drunkeness during
the period Of our field work in Cuba, no resulting conflict

within the households was reported. The Guarda Nacional

 

spoke Of several arguments in taverns resulting in fights

among the men during this same period.

Associations. Unlike Vila Nova where emphasis was

 

placed upon the individual nuclear family units, living

and working independently, in Cuba, one is struck with

116
the way much Of the village activities are done in groups,
following traditional patterns. This is not to say that
the nuclear family is losing importance, but rather that
there is evidence Of social relationships going beyond
the network Of the household unit. In Vila Nova, the
nuclear household farmed their own plots, alone, or occa-
sionally with the help Of a relative, but rarelya neighbor
or friend. Likewise, fishing in Vila Nova emphasized the
solitary and Often competitive nature Of social relations.
In Cuba, nearly 67 per cent worked on the few large farms
surrounding the village. They Often worked in groups Of
forty tO sixty, in the same field, joking and singing to-
gether. Together they faced the same needs, shared the
same level of income as well as the periods Of unemploy—
ment. In Cuba there was a greater tendency tO think in
terms of the stability Of the whole community and tO sense
the relationship Of being dependent on the traditional
way of life. Together, the villagers in this poor class
waited for solutions to their economic needs, rather than
taking an individualistic approach tO find a solution.

The result was a general lack of concern for economic

mobility among the poor farm workers. Those who left the
village in search Of other solutions, in Lisbon or France,
were not highly esteemed, but rather, considered to be nO

longer a part Of the village. The attitude which was

117
praised was that of patient waiting and trusting in the
resources Of the stable on-gOing tradition Of the whole
community.

What are these groups and how are they formed?
There are groups Of men in the plowing work, in sowing,
weeding and harvest. There are groups Of women weeding,
harvesting, and Olive picking. How are these associations
formed? We found nO consistent pattern Of relationship.
Some neighbors or cousins would work together in a task,
but Often would not be in the same work group a week later.
The random way hiring was done tended to mix people, even
those from the same neighborhoods would be separated.
Some who had been working in the fields for twenty-five
to thirty years reported that they never knew until day-
light came who would actually be working in their group.
Sometimes the trailer came half-loaded with people from a
nearby village who were mostly strangers to them. Much
switching around was done tO find easier work and higher

pay and in thus moving about to different latifundia and

 

seeking out different managers, new groupings Of workers
resulted. Girls said three or four Of them would plan to
go together for a season only to find that some had been
hired to work in another farm. The result was informal
groups in which relationships were develOped on a day-to-

day basis. These free associations probably reinforced

118
the cohesion Of the community Of poor farm workers and

their dependency on the latifundia system.

 

Status and social change. Class differentiation

 

 

in this stratified community is an ever present concept in
the mind Of the Cuban. The poor workers live in low-rent
sub-standard houses (Pereira, 1966:202-204) and all in
similar conditions. They all participate in similar work
and dress uniformly (pages 92, 96, 102), different from
the mobile factory and Office workers who show the influ-
ence Of the values Of the city in their dress and manner
of living. Those who work in the shOps and Offices have
electricity in their houses and servants or maids tO help
with the house work. The men Of this class wear business
suits in the village, wearing shoes rather than boots.

And among this group literacy is the highest as their
employment demands at least the fourth grade certificate.l
This mobile middle class makes frequent trips to Beja, is
striving to own an automobile, and has friends among the
farm owners, but rarely among the illiterate farm workers.
Typical Of a stratified community there is a keen sense

Of the wrongness in not conforming tO the accepted values

Of the class. This is illustrated in Senhor Revés' search

 

1See Appendix, page 183.

119
for a suitable house in Cuba. He had worked for about ten
years in the village Of Mértola, in a government Office
and was now transferring to Cuba. He had a partial uni-
versity course as did his wife who was a primary school
teacher, also trying to get transferred to the Cuba school.
In looking for a house he explained the criteria. He had
passed up dozens Of available four and six room houses
because they had the small barns in the back yard charac-
teristic Of the houses rented to the poor farm workers.

He spent more than two weeks inquiring until he found a
house which had been used by the retiring judge. Senhor
Revés described the house as meeting his need in the fol-
lowing numbered order: (1) it had electricity, (2) a bath-
room with a toilet and running water also in the kitchen,
(3) the rent was $17 a month, (500 Escudos) five times the
average rent Of the worker's houses, (4) it was located on
a paved street near the main street Of shOps, stores, and
Offices, (5) no mules were kept by either Of the households
adjoining.

The severe agricultural crisis which the latiffindim

 

area Of the Alentejo suffered in the period 1951-1958

(Branganca, 1966:648) has had a lasting effect. Unfavor-
able weather and diseased crops came about the same time
as the first massive introduction Of tractors and mechan-

ized farm equipment in 1950. By 1955 enough latiffindim

 

120
workers were idle to cause general concern within the
country. Then something happened which was unique in
Cuba. Several men ventured out to the newly industrial—
ized region along the Tagus River near Lisbon and returned
with a story Of quick money, easy work, and gOOd living.
Within a year more than 1,000 men had left the village in
search Of work, some never tO return again, having aban-
doned their wives and children. During this same period
more than one million Of the rural population,2 out Of a
total population Of 9,500,000, migrated to the urban areas,
including 34 per cent Of the farm managers, patrOes, from
the area Of Cuba (Nunes, 1964:439). In Barreiro, Baixa
da Banheira, and Seixal (all near Lisbon) they found work
in the cork-processing factories, chemical plants, and
steel mill. In these mushrooming towns they made living
quarters with hastily constructed shacks in the bairros
dg'lapa. Later, a German airforce base was constructed
between Cuba and Beringel providing additional Opportunity
for cash and emigration.

The burden Of excessive work Of yesterday became
the problem Of inadequate workers for today. As so many

left Cuba for the higher wages Of the north, Germany, and

 

2During the same period, 2,500,000 rural workers
out Of a total population of 17,433,530 migrated from
southern Italy to the northern industrial areas and to
other European countries (Lepreato, 1965:298).

121
France, laborers became scarcer in Cuba. The attraction
from France was staggering. One estimate is that in 1963
the rural worker could earn twenty times more in France
than in the Alentejo (Rocha, 1965:33). Table VII indicates
the comparative wages during this period as well as the

constant increase taking place.

TABLE VII

COMPARISON OF DAILY WAGES (ESCUDOS)a

 

 

 

 

 

DISTRICT OF BEJA DISTRICT OF LISBON FRANCE
Year Agricul- Non-Agri- Agricul- Non-Agri- Construc-
ture culture ture culture tion
i322 18.30 25.00 26.70 35.00 . .
1323 20.40 27.00 30.10 46.03 . .
1322 31.10 45.00 50.60 65.60 160.00
i323 42.00 55.50 63.00 92.00 177.00a

 

aCompiled from Carvalho, 1967:482 and Pintado,
1967:70.

bThis figure for France would be similar for agri—
cultural work in France and Germany. Due to "overtime" it
would be about 20 per cent higher for construction workers.

122

Those who returned tO the village with money saved
in France refused to work for less than several times the
previous field wage.‘ This was part Of the cause Of the
dramatic increase in wages shown in Table VII for this
period. The stalemate which followed left Olives rotting
on the trees and the fields unplanted. The pressure Of
these changes caused many poor farm workers who remained
in Cuba tO seek solutions within the village cultural
tradition. Those who were the innovators and instruments
Of change left those who wanted tO avoid the unknowns
(Braganca, 1966:648). It is not likely that the present
static condition will continue so that changes can be
anticipated in the social structure. The better jobs
which women can Obtain in the city has raised the economic
and educational level Of women there. This also should
have some influence on the role Of the woman in the vil-
lage. She will be facing the temptation tO also leave
the village in search for a better job or to alter her
own way of life within the village. In the city the wom—
an's role is the feminine Operator Of a sophisticated
machine. She is neatly dressed in modern clothes and
well paid. This stands in such contrast to the role Of
the illiterate village girl doing hard manual labor twelve
hours a day with poor pay and subject to the men Of the

house.

123
In the following two chapters a comparison will

be made Of how the compadrio system has adapted itself

 

to the varying needs in these two villages.

CHAPTER V

ANALYSIS OF COMPADRIO IN VILA NOVA

I. A DISCUSSION OF THE HYPOTHESIS

As has been shown in Chapter I, compadrio began

 

as a means Of protecting and educating the children Of
Catholic families and later became a complex ritual kin—
ship system with social networks similar in many ways tO
the genealogical kinship system (Foster, 1969:261). It

is therefore expected that in EurOpe where compadrio

 

began, its function would vary with the influence Of the
Catholic religion today (Mintz and Wolf, 1950:352).
In this two-village study we found there was a

correspondence between the function Of the compadrio sys-

 

tem and the strength Of the Church. When the Church has
been persecuted and the priests' visits discontinued,

compadrio and conformity tO other ritual Of the Catholic

 

Church has waned (Livermore, 1966:318-319). In Vila Nova

as well as in Cuba under the New Republic (NOVO EstadO)

 

the influence Of the Church has been increasing since
1926. Correspondingly, there has been an increase in out-

ward conformity tO the rules Of the Church governing

125
baptism, the choice Of spiritual sponsors for the child,
and marriage.

There were areas Of the social system within these
villages that did not seem to be reflecting this direct
correspondence with the influence Of the Catholic Church.
One Of these was the kind Of sponsors chosen for baptism
or witnesses for registering the child's birth. In this

reSpect compadrio appears to differ fundamentally from

 

genealogical kinship. In compadrio there is a particu-

 

laristic kind of relationship and a flexibility Of choice
Of fictive kin or the sponsors Of the god-children. AS
the saying goes, "we didn't choose our relatives." In

compadrio one does choose, and for a purpose (Pitt-Rivers,

 

1958:427).

Such choice is not boundless and solely Open to
haphazard whim and personal predisposition. It Oper-
ates within limits imposed by the norms and traditions
Of the local setting, by the immediate contingencies
and alternatives, and by the individuals' perceptions
of the advantages and disadvantages involved in these
latter (Deshon, 1963:575).

Some literature on the god-parent system has indi-
cated that in a heterogeneous society the dependent lower

class would choose compadres vertically, extending ties

 

to increase security and mobility. In this way, peasants
could reinforce their economic dependence on the upper
class (Van den Berghe, 1966:1239-1240; Adams, 1960:1260).

Contrarily, the independent mobile class would choose

126

compadres horizontally, thus intensifying pre-existing

 

relationships.

However, Deshon has shown in commenting on other
studies (Paul, 1942, Mintz and Wolf, 1950) that quite the
opposite can be demonstrated.

. . . the relationships between compadres assumes var-
ious directions depending on the amount Of socio-
cultural and economic mobility available tO the indi-
vidual in any given instance. These relationships
tend to be horizontal, linking members Of the same
group or class, in single-class societies and under
relatively stable socioeconomic conditions. They
become vertical, linking members Of hierarchieally-
arranged groups Of strata, in well established multi-
class societies. They are multiplied through the
selection of different sponsors for each child's
baptism or for different rites . . . (Paul's principle
Of extension) under conditions Of accelerated culture
change (Deshon, 1963:576).

 

One more aspect Of the study Of spiritual gOd-
parenthood has raised a question and this is the concept
of security. In AnthrOpOlogical literature security seems
to be defined from aheterogeneous orientation Of a more
industrialized society (Foster, 1961:1174—1175; 1963:1283-
1286), rather than from the individual peasant's position
in his own cultural world. The question is whether the
non-mobile peasant who is so dependent on the big estate
is really insecure. The dichotomy stability (security)
and mobility (insecurity) have varied definitions. Gillin

described security as:

127

. . . the state Of affairs in which an individual or
group may anticipate with confidence that wants will
be satisfied, (. . . goals . . . achieved) according
tO expectations (Gillin, l95l:l).

The working hypothesis. For the purpose Of this

 

study in analyzing how choices Of god-parents are made,
we will assume that a dependent farm laborer, in a tradi-
tional culture whose economic level and source Of income
are not subject to drastic change, is in a condition Of
high stability (security) and low mobility. Contrarily,
the more independent villager whose economic level and
source Of income is changing, is both economically mobile
and subject to the unknowns and anxieties which accompany
cultural change. In both Of these conditions it is ex-
pected that differences will be reflected in the choice Of
god-parents in representing the alternatives most advan-
tageous to the individual and his own needs.

Vila Nova and Cuba, though having large homogeneous
segments within the community, are not classless SO that
it is possible for the lower class to strike vertical ties

with the upper class in Choosing compadres. We anticipated

 

in this study that the dependent non-mobile lower class
would choose compadres horizontally, intensifying already
existing ties, believing that the villager's fixed posi-
tion in the social system did not require structured

vertical ties. Contrarily, the more mobile and independent

128

poor class would choose ritual kin vertically to extend
their social network with the higher classes whom the
villager needed for changing his position in the social
structure.

Following this general orientation and the sug-
gestion Of Mintz and Wolf, five economic groups were

separated.

It may be fruitful to examine cases Of compadrazgo

as examples Of mechanisms crosscutting socio-cultural
or class affiliations, or as taking place within the
socio-cultural confines Of a Single class. The authors
believe such patternings will prove to be determined,
not haphazard in character, not determined solely
along continuums Of homogeneity-to-heterogeneity,

or greater-to-lesser isolation. Rather they will
depend on the amount of socio-cultural and economic
mobility, real and apparent, available to an individ-
ual in a gIven situation. There is Of course no clear-
cut device for the measurement Of such real or appar-
ent mobility. Yet the utility Of compadrazgo would
be to assess whether the individual is seekIng tO
strengthen his position in a homogeneous socio-
cultural community with high stability and low mobil-
ity, or to strengthen certain crosscutting ties by
alignment with persons Of a higher socio-cultural
stratum, via reciprocal-exploitative relationships
manipulated through compadrazgo (Mintz and Wolf, 1950:
358).

 

 

The households studied in this five-fold analysis

Of compadrio were from those indicated on page 70, two

 

extended patrilocal and the remaining being simple or
complex nuclear where the head Of the household was a
male and in residence at‘the time Of the study. This
selection Of twenty-seven households along with other

Observations form the basis for this chapter.

129

In the first three categories, the economic posi-
tion was determined by the relation Of the household to
(l) the house, (2) the farmed land, (3) domestic animals,
(4) the boat used for fishing. The latter two were
critical determinants in the first two categories or
classes.

The first group, "dependent", included only those
households which did not raise domestic animals for sale
(not tOO difficult to determine because Of the veterinar-
ian laws Obligating the inspection and vaccination Of
domestic animals raised to be sold), nor Operated a boat,
and whose house and farm land was rented.

In the second class, "Quasi-mobile," the house,
farmed land, and fishing boat were rented and domestic
animals owned in part or totally.

The third class, "mobile," included those house-
holds where the house, the farmed land and at least a
portion of the fishing boat were owned. Most Of the
households were in this category. There were some house-
holds that didn't fit any Of these, such as the mobile
farmer who did not like to fish, or the successful fisher-
man who didn't like tO farm, or some who seemed to con-
form tO the criteria, but who had other sources of income.
We included in this analysis only those households that

fit the categories indicated to provide a uniform basis

130

for the study. The fourth, "independent," and fifth,

"independent," categories are explained in Table VIII.

TABLE VIII

CLASSIFICATION OF ECONOMIC MOBILITY
IN VILA NOVA

 

 

Per Cent Number
Economic Position Description Of Total Of House-
Population holds
1. DEPENDENT Non—mobile farmer 10% 4
shallow water
fisherman
2. QUASI-MOBILE Potentially mobile 21% 5
farmer-fisherman,
renter
3. MOBILE Mobile farmer 64% 12
boat fisherman
owner
4. INDEPENDENT Tavern, store 4 1/2% 4
owner, artisan,
government em-
ployee
5. INDEPENDENT Land owner- 1/2% 2
industrialist -

 

II. A DESCRIPTION OF COMPADRIO

Following this five-fold division Of the commu-

nity according to these criteria Of economic mobility the

importance and function Of the compadrio is analyzed in

 

each class.

TABLE IX

FREQUENCY OF SPONSORS IN VILA NOVA
IN CLASS ONEa

131

 

 

Relationship Registra—

Of Sponsor tion Wit- Baptismal Marriage

to Sponsored ness Only Sponsors Sponsors Total
Father's Kin l8 3 2 23
Mother's Kin 7 l 0 8
Sibling 3 0 0 3
Children 0 0. 0 0
Friend 2 0 2 4

Totals 30 4 4

 

aNumber Of children: 17.

Summary: Proportion not baptized: 88.3%
PrOportion Of sponsors were relatives:
94%.

l. Non-mobile, dependent farm workers. Fulfillment

 

Of the demands Of the Catholic Church in relation to the

compadrio system was very low among this first class Of

 

villages. Of the fOur households analyzed in this class
all were illiterate Of the adults and three were living
in common-law marriage arrangement with no immediate in-
tention to "legalize their situation." The fourth had
only a civil ceremony, but with sponsors. Many Of these

households expressed that they considered the religious

132
ceremony an imposition Of the wealthy class. They did not
consider civil witnesses for birth registration as 9227
padres. One household was having their Children baptized.
The others chose relatives or friends as witnesses.

For the first child the father's brother was frequently
used as a witness, for later children brothers or sisters
Of the child were used as witnesses. The formal compadre
address, XEEEJ was not used except in one household
between a child and an uncle in a joking relationship.
There seems tO be nO ceremonial meaning Of the
legal registration Of the birth Of a child where within
a household the same relative would serve for registering
several children and in several cases two female witnesses

were used to register a Child's birth. The compadrio for

 

this class was either greatly relaxed or non-functional.

2. Quasi-mobile fisherman, farmers. The members Of

 

these households earn only enough cash beyond basic needs
for moderate consumption. There is little interest shown
in the traditions Of the Catholic Church. Nor was there
any interest shown in risk-taking by purchasing shares in
a fishing boat OOOperative. These small farmers expressed
no particular concern about future needs and apparently
are unable to see the possibility Of improving their

status. Their concern is only for the present. In two

133

TABLE X

FREQUENCY OF SPONSORS IN FIVE HOUSEHOLDS
OF CLASS TWO IN VILA NOVAa

 

 

Relationship Registra-
Of Sponsor tion Wit- Baptismal Marriage
to Sponsored ness Only Sponsors Sponsors Total
Father's Kin 10 7 5 22
Mother's Kin 5 2 3 10
Sibling l 2 2 5
Children 0 0 0 0
Midwife 2 l 0 3
Friends 2 2 2 6
Totals 20 14 12

 

aNumber Of children: 17.
Summary: PrOportion not baptized: 58%
Proportion of sponsor-relatives: 81%

Of the households Of this group the husbands were literate,
three couples were legally married and two living in a
common-law situation. Three Of the households chose as
witnesses for birth registration relatives Of the family
as well as the midwife and neighbors. One household had

their children baptized, choosing as padrinhos relatives

 

Of both mother and father of the child who thereafter

received the formal address as padrinhos instead Of the

 

134
kinship term. Frequently the madrinha Of the first child,
the sister Of the mother or father, was indicated as the
proper choice as madrinha for the marriage Of the child.
More importance seems to be attributed to the madrinha-
aunt in this sample than tO the padrinho-uncle.

By choosing relatives from the same economic level

to be padrinhos, the kinship ties were intensified.

 

Joaquim, one small farmer, ventured:

We are all one family here in this village and
you would Offend your family if you chose a adrinho
from outside Of the (kinship). How could a adrinho
from outside help you since we are all so poor here?
They cannot help. Here padrinhos are not for this
as in other villages where there are some rich people.
Here we are almost all the same and the family is the
one that takes care Of itself so the padrinhos come
from inside Of the family.

 

 

The logic expressed in this simple Observation
shows something Of the tension which exists. Perhaps the

padrinhos are Chosen from within the family so as to avoid

 

unknown obligations that they might meet within the 99m:
padrio system. This would seem to conform tO the findings
in San Miguel, Guatamala where: "The San Miguelefio seeks
to minimize insecurity . . . by restricting the number

and importance of these (compadrio) relationships" (Spiel-

 

berg, l968:209). Choosing relatives does tend to intensify
existing relations within the family structure, reinforcing

the stability which these family ties Offer.

135

3. Mobile farmer and boat owner. Inheritence, hard

 

work, willingness to accept long-term debt, these are part
of the cost of being independent. And they represent the
path that has been followed by most Of the households in
this most numerous class in Vila Nova. Twelve nuclear
type families and two extended, patrilocal are the source

of the analysis Of compadrio in this class.

 

TABLE XI

FREQUENCY OF SPONSORS IN FOURTEEN HOUSEHOLDS
OF CLASS THREE IN VILA NOVAa

 

 

Relationship Registra-
Of Sponsor tion Wit- Baptismal Marriage
to Sponsored ness Only Sponsors Sponsors Total
Father's Kin 7 l6 6 29
Mother's Kin 5 12 5 22
Sibling 2 0 2 4
Children 0 0 1 1
Friends 8 l4 19 41
Totals 22 42 33

 

aNumber Of children: 32.

Summary: PrOportion baptized: 66%
Proportion of sponsor-relatives: 58%

136
Ambivalent attitudes Obtain concerning the author—

ity Of the Catholic Church. On the one hand, this
republican-oriented class has been traditionally Opposed
to the organized Church. The liberal movement has pro-
claimed the Church as being an instrument Of the upper
class (Beirao, 1960:137). In Spite Of this the households
in this third class recognize the importance of dialogo
with the Church-ruling class in order to increase their
own small holdings and Obtain the concessions necessary
for their kind Of private enterprise.

Recognition Of the compadrio system was found in

 

nine Of the fourteen households, intensifying existing
relationships horizontally, but also including god-parents
from outside of the family kinship. There was a sensitive—
ness noted concerning the importance Of the ceremonial

function Of the marriage padrinhos, fulfilling the explicit

 

Obligations Of annual festas and some public use Of formal

compadrio address.

 

By means of disciplined saving of cash from sale
of fish and, in some cases, through incurring an Obligation

tO the Casa dos Pescadores for a long term loan for pur-

 

chase Of a new boat, households in this class are able tO
improve their economic condition. The Old traditions are
exchanged for new economic risks. As indicated in Table

XI there appeared to be a tendency to return to conformity

137
to the Church, even while remaining vocal in criticism of
it. This was the case of one couple in this sample who
after twenty-three years Of living together and seven

children decided to be married by the local registo civil

 

in 1943. Later, with their economic status improved due

to successful farming and fishing they sensed the growing
power Of the Church in the country and its influence within
the village. In August 1965 they were married in the vil-

lage church. As madrinha for the wedding they chose their

 

eldest daughter who was a widow. One Of the wealthiest
land owners in the village who has had dyadic relationships
with the family for a number Of years served as the pad-

rinho. Instead Of choosing the usual four padrinhos for

 

the wedding they had only these two. They explained that
this wedding brought them into good relationship with the
Church, assuring them a prOper burial. It also added to
the prestige Of the landowner. At the same time the couple
avoided possible criticism from the villagers, who could
have considered a wedding forty-five years late a bit
pretentious for such an un-religious family, by having a
quiet ceremony without guests. After the wedding all of
the household used the formal term of address with the
landowner.

In another household, Joaquim told how he found

it impossible to achieve the kind of life his father had

138
tried to provide for him in Cercal. There a small grocery
store was the means Of support for his family. His father
had tried to send his children to primary school, but he
died before this was possible and then the mother died in
childbirth. Afterward, Joaquim tried to move to Vila Nova
where he hoped to rent land and support himself farming.
After a while he decided the best way tO get better land

was to marry someone who had it. The wedding was in the

 

village church with his wife's father and brother as

padrinhos, and his wife's aunt as madrinha. Later he

 

purchased part interest in a boat and then was able tO
secure work in Lisbon. Joaquim said he wishes now he had

padrinhos in Lisbon to help him there as they have no

 

relatives in Lisbon. The kind Of OOOperation Joaquim

I ' _..‘ W --

needed, kinship alone could not provide, but through the

compadrio system, vertically chosen ritual kin became a

 

necessity.

These mobile farmers and independent fishermen
representing the largest portion Of the village haven't
shown much concern about the god-parent system in the
past, but according tO this study they are now. Possibly
fear Of censure by their friends keeps them from entering
more completely into the system. Seeking to structure

relations so overtly and to accept the accompanying

139
reciprocal Obligations Of an unknown quality is another
drawback, possibly.

This conservatism is also reflected in the tradi-
tional methods employed in fishing, the hesitancy to
accept the use Of modern fertilizers, hybred seeds, or
mechanical irrigation Of the fields.

There appears to be increasing exceptions to the

custom Of choosing padrinhos from the family among those

 

 

in this class. Alfredo has attended primary school and
farms the land inherited from his wife‘s mother. They
have two children and an elder relative in their house-
hold. By hard work On the farm and raising cattle, he
acquired enough cash to purchase a small motor driven
fishing boat. He comments:

Usually padrinhos for the children are chosen
from the family, but if you think Of the child's
education you may choose a adrinho who could be Of
help sometime. Some padrinhos like to help because
it makes them feel good to gIVG away so much and it

looks good. If I had a problem with my daughter I
would first go to her padrinho.

 

 

In this way the households among the recently
independent mobile class begin to protect themselves in
the new world Of growing responsibilities, making compadrio
ties outside of their family among friends who can be Of

potential help.

FREQUENCY OF SPONSORS IN FOUR HOUSEHOLDS
OF CLASS FOUR IN VILA NOVAa

TABLE XII

140

 

 

 

Relationship Registra—
Of Sponsor tion Wit- Baptismal Marriage
to Sponsored ness Only Sponsors Sponsors Total
Father's Kin l 7 8 16
Mother's Kin 2 3 4 9
Sibling 2 1 2 5
Children 0 O 0 0
Friends 6 6 8 20
Totals ll 17 30
aNumber Of Children: 12.
Summary: Proportion baptized:
Proportion Of sponsor-relatives: 58%
4. Independent merchant, artisan, functionary. Data

 

 

from four households in this class indicated even more

ambivalance towards the Catholic Church than was noted in

the third class.

On the one hand there was an expression

Of strong Opposition to the interference Of the Church in

village life and there was criticism Of the local church

leadership.

conformity to the church-sanctioned institutions.

At the same time there was a high degree Of

This

class, caring for business in the village and on the level

fl!"

‘1

“If

'dd.‘ --

 

‘u
=——I...

7

_.M"

141
Of daily contact with the Church, tended tO accentuate
these hostile feelings. The authority and values Of the
Church were implicit in these relations and by most Of
the households in this class were accepted.
There was a mixed response concerning the impor-

tance Of compadrio and the manner in which sponsors were

 

chosen. Many said they became padrinhos when asked, but

 

 

never considered this a spiritual responsibility. They
did however, participate in a low level Of social rela-

tions with the families Of their afilhados. In three

 

households they said they would only ask their own family

to serve as padrinhos. One Of the merchants said that his

 

padronhos d3 casamento were his sister's husband and his

 

 

mother's sister:

. . . and why not? If it is for resources and help,

the family is enough and if the family isn't, a man ,
is helpless. NO, Senhor, we choose our padrinhos .
from the family. (At this point he was addreSSing all

Of the men in his shop and in a brave voice pretending

to speak for the whole village.) Where can you care

for each other and trust each other if not in the :
family? And didn't I get help! Oh, lOOk now, from my i
head to my feet I had all new clothes for the wedding. -
Of course the family takes care of their own.

 

There were, however, some who chose compadres from

 

outside of the family and horizontally. That is, they
were not choosing vertically from the upper classes, but
horizontally from friends Of their own class. In five

cases out of eight the god-parents chosen were in somewhat

142
better financial conditions and generally better educated.
It was also in this fourth group that it was found that

weddings were in Lisbon or another city where the padrinhos

 

lived. The couples returned to live in Vila Nova after
the wedding. This did not occur in the first three
classes.

It was also in this group where mobility was
clearly admitted as a goal. The shoemaker said:

I look at this humble profession and I ask myself why
I ever made the effort to learn SO much for nothing.
(He had completed the four year primary school course.)
I ask, why wasn't I one Of my two brothers that died.
How much better Off I would be. I think I can do
better in Lisbon and I have a friend who could get

me a job there in a shoe factory, but with these two
children we could not live. Even though I would make
much more, rents and prices are higher and I couldn't
make it. Even so I am tempted tO leave with the
children and try, as there is no future for me here
and certainly not for my children.

Another merchant who besides Operating a small
hardware store is a functionary in the fishermen's OOOp-
erative. He excused himself during one Of my visits and
turned on his transistor radio to check on the lottery
ticket winner of the week. He turned it Off again, dis-
appointed. He had spent twenty-four Escudos on the lot-
tery and about the same betting on football. A regular
practice, he said. For three years he has hoped to win

so as to buy land and a house. He gladly accepts the

responsibility Of padrinho when asked. Another merchant

 

143
explained about using god-parent relations to help friends
immmoving their economic position.

She and I served as padrinhos at José's wedding
recently. José is the onIy mailman in town and had
until recently worked for me here in my shop, until
he realized that this would never do. I helped him
get the appointment at the Post Office. He hopes tO
save money SO he can buy land and a house.

 

The small mobile artisan or merchant acknowledged
his economic needs and oriented his relationships so as tO
secure a better position within the community. The immed-
iate goal becomes the visible symbols Of conformity tO
the god-parent system which Offers the potential Of eco-
nomic aid and a network Of relationships he feels he needs.
This was also the finding in Mexico:

. . . prevailing choices conform tO the needs Of the
village social structure. Non-relatives, sometimes
Of higher status . . . tend to be chosen . . . when
the family faces on its own new economic and social
pressures and individuals seek to extend their re-

sources tO meet these pressures (Foster, 1969:263,
276).

5. Independent landowners and industrialists. The

 

person in this higher status chooses his god-parents
horizontally and principally outside of the family kin-
ship. In the two households studied, all children were
baptized and out Of a group Of twenty-eight god-parents,
eighteen were not relatives. Vertical responsibilities
were accepted by the households in this class to their

afilhados. In all interactions Observed formal address

 

 

144
was used by those in this class when speaking with their
compadres. One Of the households in this class which is
involved in the activities Of the Church uses these formal

terms and greetings when speaking tO compadres. They

 

embrace, kiss each other on the face, and the men kiss
the ring or hand of the woman. When greeting friends who
are not compadres they simply Shake hands. In the other
four classes there were no cases Observed Of men kissing
each other nor Of men kissing a compadre's hand or ring.

This is a feature Of the compadrio system of this class

 

only.

The households which are in this class are fre-
quently absent on business in other cities or visiting
relatives and friends. Both families in this study had
houses in Lisbon where a large part Of the time was spent.
Their children were married in Lisbon and live there now.
Still they maintain networks of relationships with 2227

padres in the village.
III. SUMMARY OF CHAPTER

In Vila Nova there was found the condition, unusual
for this part of the country, where villagers are able to
rent or purchase land with springs Of water. The ideal
"wet“ ecological conditions which favor small plot

farming, the economic potential of fishing as well as the

7“ I737

w__

145
availability Of land has contributed to the changes noted
in the social organization. Here an estimated 60 per cent
Of the households can be classed as independent-mobile
compared to an almost equal figure corresponding to the
non-mobile part Of the pOpulation in the "dry" regions
beyond Vila Nova.

An examination of a sample of households, arranged
into classes for the purpose Of this study, has revealed
a corresponding difference in the importance and function
Of the god-parent system. Ranging from less than 22 per
cent Of children being baptized among the poorer first
category, to nearly 100 per cent in the independent fifth

class, the importance Of compadrio was discernible. Like-

 

wise, an aspect Of the function Of compadrio, the choosing

 

of sponsors, was noted to vary from about 94 per cent
being relatives chosen in the first class to fewer than
36 per cent in the fifth class.

It can be summarized that the dependent and non-
mobile subsistence farmer had shown little need Of compad-
£12 and has chosen his kindred as informal witnesses for
registration Of births of his children.

The independent and mobile fisherman, small farm
owner, and merchant whose households represent most Of
the village population, recognize the increasing strength

Of the Church and the usefulness to them Of

‘ -.-‘ " --

"1:1...-
,__‘I_‘_._

“J

 

146
its institutions. Likewise, those in this Class recognize
their own need for aid tO improve their economic condition.
From 58 per cent to 66 per cent Of the children in this
class were baptized in the Church indicating the increas—

ing attention given to compadrio. God-parents are chosen

 

horizontally with a tendency to choose more vertically
among those changing their economic status to become more

mobile. Almost half Of these padrinhos were chosen from

 

among friends, rather than relatives, extending the net-
work Of social relations beyond the existing kinship.
Although most Of the households in the lower
economic group were still choosing god-parents related tO
them through kinship, those in the more mobile category
were choosing from among those friends outside Of the
family who were in positions either socially, geograph-
ically, or economically, or all Of these, to be able to

help satisfy their anticipated needs.

 

CHAPTER VI
ANALYSIS OF COMPADRIO IN CUBA

A larger percentage of the village population fits
into the lower non-mobile class than in the case Of Vila
Nova. However, the fact that Cuba is a political admin-
istrative center for this part of the district of Beja
actually brings into the spectrum of the social class a
number Of government employees, Office workers, and small
merchants. These specialists are trained in Beja and
other cities where there are commercial and industrial
schools. They represent households that are not originally
from Cuba.

There is a large homogeneous lower class within
this stratified community. There also are within the 2113
extreme economic and cultural differences between the
masses on the one hand, and the small upper class segment
on the other.

Following the general orientation Of the working
hypothesis, stated on page 127, the village was divided
into five economic groups for the purpose Of making a

comparison with the function and structure Of the

. -d - —‘-

 

 

god-parent system in the two villages.

148

The assignment Of

the population proportions was made on the basis Of infor-

mation from the village conselho Office and field notes.

TABLE XIII

CLASSIFICATION OF ECONOMIC MOBILITY IN CUBA

 

 

Per Cent Number
Economic Of Total of House-
Position Description Popula- holds in
tion Sample
1. DEPENDENT A. Latifundium 54.5% 5
worker
B. Ibid. and farms
for shares 14% 4
Factory worker
2. QUASI-MOBILE Latifundium
worker and 6% 4
rents a plot
Factory worker
3. MOBILE A. Shop owner 7% 3
B. Artisan, small
farm owner 12.5% 2
Factory worker
4. INDEPENDENT Government
functionary 5.5% 3
small land-
owner
5. INDEPENDENT Latifundium .5% l

owne r

 

 

149

I. A DESCRIPTION OF COMPADRIO BY

CLASS IN CUBA

The criteria pf class categories ip_Cuba. The i

 

divisions made for this study were self-evident within
the village's stratified social organization. (1) The
Latifundium laborers were divided into (A) those who

worked on the big farms as permanent employees or as sea-

 

sonal workers and (B) from among (A), those who also farmed
a small plot for shares, and factory workers. The unem—
ployed (3.5 per cent) were also included in this first
class, but do not enter into the data.

The (2) second group farmed a plot on a regular

rented basis, were more independent than the first class

Q ' an... - -—‘

and needed for their farms draft animals, mule cart,
tools, etc. In this group were also included part-time

factory workers (operarios).

 

In the (3) third category are (A) the shop owners
and (B) artisans and skilled factory workers, some of whom
had small farm plots on a regular rental basis, and small
farm (hpgpa) owners who sold produce in the village market.

The (4) fourth category are the government Office
workers, all of whom have at least the fourth year primary
school certificate. In this group are also the better I

educated small farm owners, and prOperty owners.

150
The (5) fifth group are the few wealthy families

that own the latifundia in the conselho de_Cuba.

 

l. DEPENDENT Latifundium worker. This group, repre-
sentative Of the larger percentage Of the village, live
in the houses provided by the owner (patrao) Of the large
estates. Since the absent owner is functionally unknown
and the manager (Feitor) is frequently changing jobs,
there are not possibilities for god-parents to be chosen

from these patrons Of the estate.

TABLE XIV

FREQUENCY OF SPONSORS IN NINE HOUSEHOLDS
OF CLASS (1) IN CUBAa

 

 

Relationship Registra-
of Sponsor tion Wit- Baptismal Marriage
to Sponsored ness Only Sponsors Sponsors Total
Father's Kin 4 l6 4 24
Mother's Kin 3 l4 2 l9
Sibling 3 3 0 6
Children 0 5 O 5
Friends 2 3 9 14
Totals 12 41 15 68

 

aNumber of children: 27

Summary: Proportion baptized: 78%
PrOportion of sponsor-relatives: 76%

151
The disparity between the illiterate laborer and
the other classes is such that except for occasional pur-
chases in the market or stores, there is little social
contact. Table XIV indicates that this class choose their

padrinhos from their own family, and usually grandparents

 

Of the child to be registered and baptized. Seven Of the

nine households in this sample reported a formal baptismal
ceremony in the Church. In the other two households, the

"witnesses" for registration were recognized as god-

parents and proper compadrio address used with these rela-

 

tives, even though there was no baptism. The choice Of
god-parents in this numerous class was horizontal and
generally within the family kinship. Of the more than 76
per cent who had their children baptized in this class,
many said they did not consider the ritual important nor

did they expect the padrinhos to take any responsibility

 

for their children. They were just relatives. Some indi-
cated that to them the importance Of the baptism was tO
get the child into primary school as they understood that
only the baptized could pass the exams in school. A priest
teaches some of the courses in the local school.

The desire of the Church for all children to be

baptized and padrinhos to be chosen from outside the family

 

kinship is acknowledged by these villagers, but compadrio

 

is functioning differently from these declared ideals.

152
There may be a historical explanation to this or the rea-
son for the choice of god-parents from among the kin may
be to reinforce structural ties that exist. New ties with
non-kinsmen are not apparently needed within the tradi-
tional life of these non-mobile households.

The selection of close kinsmen continues. This

is due to the appealing familiarity of local tradi-
tion, to the face-to-face relationships existing in
small communities, and to the similar kinds of stress
these close relationships entail. By re-affirming

or re-phrasing kin and in-group relations among the
households, this type of selection and the subsequent
com adre ties created provide integrative functions
for the community (Deshon, 1963:580).

Although the sense of need was felt to educate
children, it was believed that little could be done to
help by structuring compadrio ties outside of the family.
By choosing god-parents from the family made cousin mar-
riage unlikely due to the incest rules applying to the
compadrio kinship. In Cuba among this class of households

we found no cases of cousin marriage.

2. QUASI-MOBILE £§£m_laborer, renter, factor worker.
It was calculated that about 6 per cent of the village
population is in this class, working seasonally on the
latifundia, hiring out for special tasks such as during
the olive picking season, and spending a large portion
of time farming a small rented plot. Some unskilled

factory workers are included in this group as well.

153
In this class there is no longer a carefree dependency on
the large estate. This quasi-mobile small farmer has
crossed that dividing line and now lives in a world of
stress and cultural unknowns. He has risked the malingua u
Of his friends to become an example Of initiative and
change he has probably heard about from friends who emi—

grated Or from television. Consequently they feel an

 

increasing need Of help from family and friends. This is
probably what is reflected in the attitudes towards the
god-parent system as indicated in Table XV. The majority

admit to baptizing their children although padrinhos are

 

mainly chosen from the kinsmen. There was noted, however,
among these households a greater use Of the formal term
Of address for these padrinho-relatives. In the first
class it was noted that primarily the men did the market- i
ing while the women stayed close to the house. In this
second class considered, the women were seen more fre-
quently on the streets with children and in the stores.
Another difference noted within this class was in attitudes
concerning school. The household cooperated in making it
possible for the children to attend primary school and
Often the secondary schools in Beja.

The household of Joao Machado in this second class
has improved its economic condition more than most others

in that Joéo has spent a four month period each year in

154

TABLE XV

FREQUENCY OF SPONSORS IN THREE HOUSEHOLDS
OF CLASS (2) IN CUBAa

 

 

Relationship Registra-

Of Sponsor tion Wit- Baptismal Marriage

to Sponsored ness Only Sponsors Sponsors Total

Father's Kin l 10 4 15

Mother's Kin 0 7 6 13

Sibling l 2 0 3

Children 0 0 0 0

Friends 2 6 2 10
Totals 4 25 12 41

 

aNumber Of children: 14
Summary: Proportion baptized: 86%
PrOportion Of sponsor-relatives: 75%
France working on the beet harvest. In Cuba he Specializes
in cutting branches from cork oak and Olive trees.
Although he had always chosen his uncles and aunts on his

and his wife's side Of the family as padrinhos for his

 

children, they had recently asked a friend and his wife,
who have a small Olive Oil business in Alvito, to be

padrinhos for his daughter's wedding.

 

Another informant in this second category explained

that when his daughter had married she had chosen as

155
padrinhos friends who were in about the same economic
position. Since both families were poor they believed

there was no Obligation for the padrinhos who furnished

 

the wine and the food for the wedding festa. Since the

wedding the padrinhos have been able to help their new

 

afilhado Obtain a gOOd employment in the filter factory

through friends Of the padrinhos' relatives.

 

The pattern Of development Of structured relation-

ships Of compadrio can be seen, though dimly, in this

 

class Of quasi-mobile or newly mobile small farm renters.
Several Of the sons Of these households were planning on
leaving the village tO work in industry. With the increas-
ingly mobile situation within this group it is anticipated

that compadrio will increase in importance, being used tO

 

extend relationships with people in positions where they

can be of help.

3. MOBILE merchants, artisans, skilled factory wor-

 

kepg. In this category the information paralleled the
data from Vila Nova. God-parents were chosen horizontally
and outside of the family as much as from relatives. For
most of the informants in the five households the religious
ceremony had little significance, but 78 per cent still
conformed to the Church's teaching on baptism. In com-

parison to the two lower classes in Cuba, this group

in,

 

156

TABLE XVI

FREQUENCY OF SPONSORS IN FIVE HOUSEHOLDS
OF CLASS (3) IN CUBAa

 

 

 

Relationship Registra-
Of Sponsor tion Wit- Baptismal Marriage
to Sponsored ness Only Sponsors Sponsors Total
Father's Kin 2 4 4 10
Mother's Kin l 5 6 12
Sibling 0 0 0 0
Children ‘ 0 0 l 1
Friends 3 13 9 25
Totals 6 22 20 48
aNumber Of children: 14

Summary: Proportion
Proportion

chose far more friends to be
evidenced a greater interest
the god-parents and inviting

afilhados' birthday festas.

baptized: 78%

Of sponsor-non-kin: 52%
god-parents. There was also
in using formal address with

them to the house for their

There were some exceptions too. One artisan with

a small wrought iron shOp, claimed to have no interest

in religion, but consistently chose padrinhos for his

 

children from outside the family and among friends Of

equal economic position. He said he would not choose a

 

. . .d -r —‘

157
god-parent from a better class as it would then appear
that he were begging. Another merchant with a small shop

said he believed padrinhos Should not have any responsi-

 

bility. Since he admitted to having several afilhados in

 

the neighborhood he was probably expressing his own con-
cern for the reciprocal responsibilities he was incurring.
The villagers in this class are faced with the
tensions Of two conflicting value systems so that they
are drawn by the Church tO accept ties vertically down-
ward, and to strike ties upward. At the same time, how-
ever, the anti-clerical ideas around them would condem
such social networks. The overdrawn accounts Of so many
of the latifundium workers causes the merchant to hesitate
in accepting any more Offers of god-parent Since there is
little functional reciprocity between him and the lower

class compadres. The households in this third class are

 

living in a community where the Church's influence is
increasing and they must face the reality Of its hierar—
chial values, seeking to strike a balance with other
demands placed upon them within their social system. The
result, as seen in Table XVI, was to choose about half Of

their god-parents from among non-kinsmen.

4. INDEPENDENT ggvernment employees and small farm

 

owners. The households studied in this fourth category

I ' .—..‘ " --‘

 

158

revealed the most concern about the compadrio relation-

 

ships. In the upper part Of this group the households are
no longer radically altering their economic position as

they already have secured a rather fixed position. In '5
the lower part Of the group mobility is still a goal among I
those still struggling with small farms or seeking better

positions within the civil service. Generally, all of the

 

 

households in this class were established in rather per—
manent residence and do not think in terms Of moving away
from the village. Many, however, showed concern that their
children would probably move to the "city." The three
households in this sample either owned a number Of small

irrigated small farms or a large property which, through

‘ , Id” --. ... »

irrigation, using deep wells and pumps, was producing new
high profit market crops such as oranges, peaches, cotton, i
hopps, or poultry.

The households in this fourth class chose their

padrinhos Of non-kin, both horizontally and vertically,

 

extending ties with politicians, landowners, church Offi-
cials, and even government cabinet members. Here also
the four god-parents serve for the wedding. Only in one
household were sponsors chosen from among the relatives,

a practice another informant in this class said was pagan.

TABLE XVII

FREQUENCY OF SPONSORS IN THREE HOUSEHOLDS

OF CLASS (4) IN CUBAa

159 .

 

.J

 

 

Relationship Registra-
Of Sponsor tion Wit- Baptismal Marriage
to Sponsored ness Only Sponsors Sponsors Total
Father's Kin 0 l 0 1
Mother's Kin 0 3 0 3
Sibling 0 0 O 0
Children 0 0 0 0
Friends 0 16 12 28
Totals 0 20 12 32
aNumber of children: 10
Summary: Proportion baptized: 100%

Proportion Of sponsor-friends:

88%

Commenting on accepting responsibility Of being

padrinho to a very poor child, an informant in this fourth

class related:

We would only be padrinhos for those who are close

to us because we do not want to alter our present
situation, unless we see the possibility of doing

someone some good. For instance, one Of my gOOd

 

friends was a shoe maker and a man I always pitied as
I thought he could have done better and I told him so

several times.

be pitied.

One day he asked me to be

But being illiterate, he was only tO

adrinho for his
son's registration and we taught him how to have his
son properly baptized and my wife served as madrinha.

160

SO I heard nothing from my afilhado for years. He
had followed his father and became a shoemaker. Can
you imagine a shoemaker in this village! But there
he was in his father's ShOp until one day he came and
asked me if I would help him get a better job. The
boy had finished four years Of primary school and was
very intelligent. It just so happened that we had an
Opening in the government Office SO I arranged a job
for him as a clerk-secretary. Can you imagine that!
A shoemaker becoming a secretary! But he wanted tO
learn, so as his padrinho I helped him by getting a
tutor and in one year he tOOk three years Of Liceu
and placed highest in the group going tO the exams
from Cuba. Notice, a shoemaker going tO second cycle
Liceu. Then there was an Opening in Lisbon and I was
able to have him take the exam there and out Of hun-
dreds who were examined he placed sixth and got the
job. Now he is serving military duty in Portuguese
Africa as an Officer. You see the compadrio is not
just tO give people shoes and cakes. ItIIs to really
help those who can be helped.

 

 

 

 

The idealism expressed in these Opinions is typical
Of all of the households in this class and stands in con-

trast to feeling about the compadrio expressed by those

 

in the other three classes. Inter-personal relations were
Observed in several households in this class and it was
noted how most Of the network Of social relations were

with compadres. Those Of a lower class serving the com-

 

padres Of the higher class and receiving in compensation
favors as part of the constant reciprocal relations taking

place. In this economically stable class the compadrio

 

ties have a meaningful function in the social structure.
Obligations and role expectations are developed through
the reciprocal relations, reinforcing the traditional

values of this class.

161

INDEPENDENT latifundium owner. It is among those
Of this class that we found the god-parent system func-
tioning closest to the ideal indicated by the Catholic
Church. All children are baptized in the Church and mar-
ried in the Church. God-parents are chosen from outside
of the family and responsibilities are accepted as pad-
rinhos with villagers Of a lower class, but in places Of

influence and responsibility in industry, business, gov-

 

ernment, or agriculture.

An analysis Of compadrio in Cuba reveals a con-

 

tinuum from the lower dependent non-mobile class through
the mobile class to the upper wealthy landowners. This

continuum extends from a disrespect for the compadrio at

 

. ..‘-r —..4 " ‘ '

the lower end to a sanctification Of the institution,
functioning as a paternalistic system at the upper end Of

the social scale.

CHAPTER VII

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The similarities between Vila Nova and Cuba, as
‘well as the ecologically caused differences, provided the
basis for making a controlled comparison Of the god-

parent institution Of compadrio or ritual co-parenthood.

 

From this comparison a working hypothesis was developed
describing how the institution would function in the var-
ious social classes Of the two villages.

One Of the results Of this study was that the

compadrio, a medieval institution Of the Roman Catholic

 

Church, was found tO be a significant feature Of the social
organization today Of these two villages. It was further

found that the compadrio system was functioning differently

 

within the various economic levels Of the villages, as
well as, that there were variations in the social origin

of the god-parents chosen.
I. SUMMARY

In analyzing these Observations concerning the

function Of the compadrio system in the various class

 

163
division Of the two villages, the following summary can be

made.

The influence pf the Catholic Church. The impor-

 

 

tance Of religious tradition differs between the two vil-
lages due to historical developments, however, both in
Vila Nova as well as in Cuba there seems to be little
interest shown in the Church by the poor class. Likewise,
there seems to be only incipient activity on the part Of
the Church to recuperate the sympathy and OOOperation Of
the masses which was lost during the period previous to
1926. Sr. Silva, a Cuban merchant, who belonged to one
Of the Church laymen's organizations, reflected what his
group thought Of the poor farm laborers: "They are brutes,
poor fellows. Illiterate brutes, tOO ignorant to know
what is right. They Offend without desiring to or even
knowing that they have."

If this has been the general attitude Of the Church
in the south during the past century Of liberalism, it is
likely that little effort was made to encourage these lower
class workers to conform to its institutions. As the local
priest remarked about the poor farm laborers, "these peOple
are pagans and have no interest in religion." However,

the values inherent in the god-parent system have been

164
internalized by all Of the people in the villages and

appear in various forms and uses Of the symbols Of com-

padrio.

For the miniffindio villagers in Vila Nova, the

 

Church represented the Old monarchical hierarchy which
many Of their fathers had rejected in 1910. When the
village was able tO resolve the Old religious conflicts
there was again a degree Of acceptance Of the god-parent
system Of the Church. However, in both villages, apart
from an overt acceptance or rejection Of the institutions
Of the Church, per se, there has been a continuing inte—

gration of compadrio as a means Of reinforcing the family

 

kinship or of finding new relationships in times Of social

change.

The effect pf the environment. In Vila Nova,

 

favorable climate, good soil, intensive agriculture, and
availability Of land encouraged the develOpment Of equal-
itarian social relations. About 70 per cent Of the vil-
lagers became independent through renting plots for
farming and exploiting the Opportunity for economic ad-
vance which fishing presented. Through these means the
villagers found access to economic improvement and to

experiment with change.

165
The rigid nature Of the stratified social structure
Of Cuba was in part determined by the ecology which limited
development Of the arid prairie land to extensive agricul—
ture, dependent on a mass labor pOOl. In Vila Nova the
majority Of the population are in the class Of mobile
independent farmers and fishermen, where in Cuba, the
majority are very poor farm laborers, non-mobile and

dependent on the latifundia.

Compadrio. The god-parent system has been found

 

to differ between the two villages when a broad comparison
is made. Vila Nova shows little conformity tO the demands
Of the system and when it does function with due respect
for the Church, god-parents are chosen outside Of the
family. In Cuba there is considerable respect for the
Church in that most children are baptized there, but most
Of the god-parents are chosen from the kinsmen Of the
family.

In an effort to find the reason for these differ-
ences the god-parent system was examined more closely on
the basis of economic mobility. Among those in the lower
classes in both villages who recognize the Obligations Of

compadrio, most of the god—parents are chosen from within

 

the family and, horizontally, in cases outside Of the‘

family. Use of the formal address with compadres, as well

 

166
as patterning Of reciprocal relationships with Obligations
and role expectations within the compadre ties, was found
to vary proportionately with the degree Of social mobility
Of the villager. Thus, in Cuba, where the large propor-
tion Of the village was classified as dependent and non-

mobile, they chose padrinhos who were related tO the vil-

 

lager through the family kinship. Furthermore, such

functions Of compadrio as terms Of address, reciprocal

 

relations, role behavior, etc., were very weak. Almost
the Opposite was found in Vila Nova. Here the large pro-
portion of the village was independent and though poor,
yet mobile. There was considerable interaction of ppm:
padres noted as well as the accompanying reciprocal rela-
tionships and participation in such social occasions as
birthday festas, annual pig slaughter, and reunion of the
family at the time Of the village fair.

In both villages the most conformity tO compadrio

 

is primarily concentrated in the upper classes. Here the

largest number of compadres are involved in the social

 

networks Of the wealthy households. Here tOO, the largest
number Of god-parents are selected for marriage, baptism,
and confirmation, and greetings Of kisses, embraces, and
formal terms and titles are used.

In harmony with the findings Of the god-parent

system in EurOpe and Latin America, compadres in this two

 

167

village study did not function as a distinct group, but

rather as a series of dyadic relationships.

II. CONCLUSIONS

In Latin America, where the god-parent institution
has been reported to have greater functional importance
among the lower classes (Van den Berghe, 1966:1241 and
Mintz and Wolf, 1950:364), we found the Opposite to be
true in Portugal. In this comparative study Of two Por-
tuguese villages there was a more pronounced function Of
the god-parent system among those social classes evidencing
high mobility and Of great importance among the very
wealthy classes.

Today, in function, the emphasis Of compadrio

 

has shifted from the original Catholic teaching Of god-
parent and god-child relationship tO a ritual co-
parenthood. This gives the villager who is becoming mobile
the needed mediators for resolving his economic and cul-
tural problems as he faces the unknowns resulting from

industrialization. Through compadrio the villager stands

 

to gain both in the network of new relationships and in

the powerful Church. The network Of compadres could help

 

satisfy his peasant-oriented need-disposition to conform

to the values Of this new social system in his future.

168
In the Figures 5 and 6 indicating the degree Of

conformity tO compadrio according to class and the Choice

 

Of sponsors according to the mobility, the percentages

used were calculated directly from the tables on compadrio

 

in Chapters V and VI. Figures below the 50 per cent line
on Figure 5 Show the percentage Of villagers who only
registered the birth Of the child and did not have the
child baptized. Those above the line Show percentage Of
baptisms. In Figure 6, below the 50 per cent line indi-
cates percentage Of god-parents selected from friends and
those above the line, percentage selected from those
related to villager through kinship.

As the peasant moves away from dependency tO
greater economic independency and mobility he becomes
increasingly affected by the cultural values Of the Church—
sanctioned god-parent system. It becomes the status symbol
Of his desired new world and a requisite for structuring
needed mediators to help him on the road to social mobil-
ity. The result of our findings in this study is appar-
ently different from some Of the studies in Latin America
where the ritual kinship appears to function more among
the non-mobile than in areas Of greater mobility.

"Within these same areas, however, kinship mech-
anisms have been retained most completely where peasants

have not yet become farmers" (Mintz and Wolf, 1950:352).

v " dd - —-'

Baptismal
Sponsors

100% ——
90% ——
80% --
70% ——

60% —— -

50%

60% -—
70% ——
80% -—
90% ——

100% ——

Registra—
tion Wit-
nesses
Only

100%-—————

Cuba
Vila Nova - - -

 

169

 

(l) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Dependent Mobile

Economic Mobility

FIGURE 5

CONFORMITY TO COMPADRIO ACCORDING TO
MOBILITY IN VILA NOVA
AND CUBA COMPARED

Independent

. -_... —‘- ‘- >'

-M‘ «r

Relatives

100% ——
90% ——
80% ——
70% ——

60%‘——

50%

60% —-
70% ——
80% —-
90% ——

100% -—

Friends

170

Cuba
\ Vila Nova - — -

 

 

(l) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Dependent Mobile Independent

Economic Mobility

FIGURE 6

SELECTION OF FRIENDS OR RELATIVES AS GOD-PARENTS

ACCORDING TO MOBILITY IN VILA NOVA

AND CUBA COMPARED

' Ad w --

-D. '

 

 

171

One explanation for this discrepancy is possibly
that secularization has outpaced the influence and devel-
Opment Of the Church and its traditions in Latin America.
Thus, the god-parent system is associated mainly with the
smaller homogeneous villages, tending, "to give way before
more impersonal modes of organization" (Mintz and Wolf,
1950:364).

On the other hand, this study in Portugal would
seem to indicate that the more heterogeneous the village,

the greater the importance and function Of the compadrio,

 

provided the influence Of the Church remains proportional.
It could, therefore, be concluded that the more heteroge-
neous the village becomes in Portugal, the greater the
functional importance Of the god-parent system.

In Figure 5 the lack Of conformity to the Church
in Vila Nova as indicated by the low percentage Of bap-
tisms, less than 12 per cent, may be reflecting some affect
Of the period between 1910 and 1950 when there was no
reSident priest. This may also Offer partial explanation
for the high percentage Of selection of relatives for
sponsors in Figure 6, first class, as well as the higher

percentage of common law marriages than in Cuba.

Cousin marriage and availability pf land. Another

 

 

possible contributing cause to the high percentage Of

1',

5= :51 1",

 

 

172
selection Of relatives as god-parents in Vila Nova is the
availability Of land. That is, it is economically easier
to transfer ownership Of land in Vila Nova than in Cuba.

By choosing relatives, that is, the child's father's
siblings and mother's siblings as god-parents, cousin
marriage would become impossible due tO incest rules being

extended to ritual kin. In this way, compadrio would be .

 

O
o .
"I.1 -

functioning to hinder the accumulation Of land by cousin

 

I‘l-
‘

marriages. Since cousin marriages were more prevalent in
Vila Nova than in Cuba a self adjustment may be taking
place within the social structure tO account for some Of

this difference.

III. QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

"d" -<‘ "

Following through the interpretation Of the data I
presented, it would be Of value tO compare these conclu-
sions with a study made in a homogeneous village in the
north of Portugal where the influence Of the Catholic I
Church has been more continuous and intensive. Such a
study would be helpful in more accurately predicting
change in the Mediterranean context of the rural exodus.

It also would be profitable to study the god-
parent system in a heterogeneous "new" village in the

proximity Of Lisbon, such as Almada or Amadora, making

173
further comparison as tO the direction Of change Of ppm:
padrio.

It would be Of value to do a follow—up study Of
several families who have migrated to the industrialized
areas where many Of the villagers described in this study
Of Cuba are now living in bairros Of hastily constructed
shacks. Such shack towns for a study Of this nature are
Baixa da Banheira or Mosgueira. Here it could be deter-

mined what is the immediate trend Of the compadrio system

 

and how it is meeting needs in the social system where
families are scattered, and the influence Of the Catholic
Church would be greatly attenuated.

In still another context it would be useful tO
investigate a Portuguese community in the United States
where the economic conditions are Open and the value sys-
tem would be subject to far different stresses.

Concerning such investigations, it has been sug-
gested:

To an extent, compadrinazgo may provide an index
Of urbanization. Although simplification and breakup
tend to occur in urban areas (Redfield, 1941:222-23,
225-26), the compadrinazgo Operates effectively with
some modifications within an integrated community Of
urban slum dwellers who have little outside contact
(Lewis, 1959:14). The occurance Of ritual kinship
in other Middle American urban social strata suggests
that it may withstand the onslaught Of modern market
and secular conditions, its form signaling the absence
Of other systems to satisfy needs created by such
conditions, as well as mirroring the nature Of the
needs (Ravicz, 1967:251).

. Id -. ——-» ..

 

If in such a Portuguese
Canada the Catholic Church were
class nor exerting economic and

community, it would be possible

occuring in the residual structuring Of compadrio. The E:#_
function Of the ritual kinship system could be examined Li
in a situation where it was not being imposed by the

economic conditions. In a community Of urban slum {EI

174
community in America or
not dominated by an upper
social sanctions on the

to lOOk for the changes IFI

 

 

dwellers, as Ravicz suggests, there would be the felt-

need for additional mediators.

A comparative study made

Of this process would advance general knowledge Of the

structural and functional importance Of the Portuguese

compadrio god-parent institution.

. - .d- -'-' "'

 

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I ’4‘.“ —-‘ " ‘ '

 

APPENDIX

 

. la -7 —_‘ A

183

COMPOSITION CODE
From the paper by A. Kimball Romney

"The Processing of Genealogical Data"

= represents marriage bond

0 represents sibling link

- represents child link

Capital letter represents male
Lower case letter represents female
/ separates distinct expressions

( ) indicates that relatives within parenthesis are
structurally equivalent to individuals outside
parenthesis

"These basic symbols are combined to represent
genealogical relations generally denoted in diagramatic
form. For example: consider a man, A and his wife, b
together with their two sons, C and D. The relation may
be symbolized in the formula: (A=b)-D o C), which may be
read, A is married to b; the couple A and b have children
C and D; C is the sibling of D."

X (x for female and X for male) represents a living
person not present.

Y (y for a female and Y for a male) represents a
dead person or the normal symbol for a person preceded by
an asterisk (*).

- -_‘.,, --> .. . -

 

EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF NINETY-THREE
AVERAGE AGE THIRTY-EIGHT

MEN IN CUBA,

TABLE XVIII

184

 

 

 

Office |' »
Small Workers, '
Education Farm Farm ShOp Totals '
Laborers Owners Owners
0-1 26 13 39 ,
Primary 2-3 6 4 5 15 2
4 o 8 13 21 '
5
Technical 1-2 2 10 12 g
or 3—5 3 3 :
Liceu 6-7 2 2 '
University 1—3 1 1
4-5
32 27 34 93

Totals

 

TABLE XIX

A COMPARISON OF ESTABLISHMENTS

185

 

Description

Number in
Vila Nova

Number in
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Churches and Chapels
Factories

Barbers

Blacksmiths

Building supplies
Carpenter shOp
Clothing store

Clubs and cinema
Pharmacy

Garage and gas station
Grocery and fruit stores
Jewelry store

Meat shOps

Medical post-clinic

Doctors
Nurses
Midwives

Shoe repair shop
Taverns
Tailors and dressmakers

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190

GLOS SARY

Aforador, n, renter

Aforo, n, rent, contract

Aforar, vb, to let by lease

Afilhados, n, god-sons

Aguaardente, n, Aguardente, n, brandy

Aldeia, n, small community

Almoco, n, lunch

Alqueires, n, 20 liter measurement

Ara, n, storage trunk

Azar, n, bad luck

Bairros, n, cluster of houses

Bairros de lata, n, shack town, favelas
Cabrén, n, spanish, goat

Café, n, coffee shop or tea room

camara, n, town hall

Camara Municipal, n, Town Council

Cana, n, cane similar to sugar cane

Canal, n, artificial harbor, ship passage way
Carnaval, n, three day feasting before lent
Casa de Misericordia, n, Catholic charity organization
Casa do Povo, n, farmer's c00perative

Casa dos pescadores, n, fishermen's cooperative
Casamento, n, marriage, wedding

Castigo, n, punishment

Ceia, n, supper

Cercas, n,‘ fence or fenced prOperty

Chorico, n, sausage

Cofradia, n, a laymen's organization

Colonia, n, colony or resort house

Comendas, n, grants

Compadrio, n, god-parent system

Compadrazgo, n, spanish for compadrio
Compadres, n, co-parents through god-parent system
Compadresco, n, Brazilian for compadrio
Conselho, n, advice, a council

Correio, n, mail or post office

Cubozes, n, large wine vats, usually made of pottery
Curandeiras, n, women healers

Desgraca, n, disgrace

Destino, n, destiny

Diélogo, n, dialogue

Dominus, n, Latin, Lord

Duque, n, Duke

Farmacia, n, pharmacy

Feitor, n, manager

191

Festa, n, party

Fogos, n, fires literally, households figuratively

Forais, n, grant of land, originally from the King

Foral, n, same as forais which is the plural form

Galaico-Portugués, n, original Portuguese language

Governador Civil, n, civil governor of a district

Grémio, n, government controlled cooperative

Guarda Fiscal, n, customs official

Guarda Nacional, n, national guard

Hectares, n, 10,000 square meters

Herdade, n, a large estate

Horta, n, a small farm, usually irrigated

Hospede, n, guest

Junta, n, council or committee

Kilo, n, kilogram

Lanchas, n, small motor boats

Latiffindio, n, large estate or farm

Madrinha, n, god-mother, o, god-father

ma fama, n, bad renoun or wicked

Malho, n, a hand thresthing device

Ma lingua, n, vicious gossip

Marmelos, n, quince

Meias, n, system of share farming and receiving half crop

Mercado, n, market

Merenda, n, afternoon snack

Mocarabes, n, Lusitanian Christians under Arab rule

Monda, n, weeding

Mondar, vb, to weed

Morgadios, n, system of inheritance before 1834 where
oldest son became heir

Namorada, n, girlfriend

Namorar, vb, to court

Namoro, n, courtship

Noivado, n, engagement

Noivos, n, engaged couple or newly married

Novo Estado, n, present government which began in 1926

Operario, n, factory worker

Padrinho, n, god-father

Padrinhos de Casamento, n, ritual sponsors of wedding

Patio, n, court yeard

Patrées, n, employer or boss

Primo, n, cousin

Primo duas vezes, n, double cousin

Primo irmao, n, double cousin or first cousin

Praca, n, a central square in a town, a market place

Presépio, n, nativity scene

Regador, n, parish administrator, town clerk

Registo Civil, n, civil registry, town clerk's office

 

192

Relacoés cortadas, n, broken personal relations

Sachinho, n, small hoe

Sao Tiago, n, Saint James

Sé, n, Cathedral or church of importance

Seara, n, ripe harvest or the act of harvesting

Solar, n, Elaborate home on an estate

Tercas, n, system of share farming for one-third the crop

Tio Joao, n, Uncle John

Tributarios, n, an old Roman custom of slavery

Um Carro, n, an ox or mule cart of wooden construction
often used as a measurement

Valado, n, Hedge or ditch

Vila, n, village, Villa is old Portuguese and Latin

Vindime, n, season of grape harvest, act of picking grapes

Vulgar, n, common; adj., course

Zambujo, n,. herb used to cure olives; a wild olive

19.

20.

193

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

Location of household

Physical description of residential unit and origins
Composition of household, names ages, places of origin
Sources of income of each member

Information on courtship, marriage, place, type
Marriage sponsors, origin, relation, responsibilities

Baptismal sponsors, origin, relationship, responsibi-
lities

Illnesses, dates, treatment, deaths, burial

Education of household members

Property, origin, locations, use schedule, contracts

Description of boats, contracts, co-owners/workers

Political responsibilities defined

Military service dates and places

Function within cooperatives

Responsibilities on Church committees; activities

Inheritences, origin, procedures, next heirs, division

Diversion, festas, family gatherings

Relationship to Cercal, Odemira, Beja, Santiago,
Alcacer, Sines, Setubal, Lisbon, and order of impor-
tance, visits, purpose

Foods, produced in household, purchased outside, where

Clothing, etc., produced and purchased

194
21. Livestock, what, when sold, where, past ten years
22. Who are the good leaders in village, why

23. What are disputes and with whom, how settled

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