"BASED ON THE BOOK BY DARCY RIBEIRO" ""THE BRAZILIAN PEOPLE"" "There is still another Brazil... a Brazil so different... from the others as it is different amongst its inhabitants." "It is the Brazil of the gauchos... of those people who came from Assunción... of those whom Portugal called upon to impose their presence in the South... and of all the gringos who ended up there... who invaded the region as a wave." "SOUTHERN BRAZIL" "Southern Brazil was born to the world... through the hands of the Spanish Jesuits." "Before them, there were the native Indians... with their wars and cannibalism... with their belief in a perfect land which they constantly searched for." "The Jesuits introduced them to the Missions... an utopian ideal with the intention... of teaching human feelings to the Amerindians." "The Jesuits thought, "These pure people... these angelical Indians who welcome daily confessions and communions... as soon as they convert... they can become the people of God." "The perfect people we've always dreamed of"." "So, they gathered thousands and thousands of Indians... they built temples, they taught the Indians to work with gold... to write both in Tupi and Latin... and they created their native Indian civilization." "Their only condition was that members of different tribes... had to learn a common language, which was Guarani... they had to surrender themselves to the mercy of the priest... and confess, every day, their deepest desires... and then they'd be reprimanded for their sins." "Jesuit Missions were created so that Christianity standardized... its language and its rules." "More than a territorial conquest, it was a spiritual conquest of Brazil." "They'd send the Indians to a village where they were reformed." "To the Jesuits, the perfect Indian was the one who wasn't an Indian." "The Jesuits introduced in their missions... and in other places like São Paulo and Carapicuíba... the concept of the village in the shape of a cross... with the church in one end..." "For example, in Pantanal... the arms of the cross represented the main street... which was divided in lots, introducing the idea of ownership... an obnoxious and unethical idea for the native Indian." "I did research with the Terenas... and their language has no possessive adjectives." "You cannot say..." ""my house, my wife, my cow, my son"." "There are no possessive adjectives." "The brainwash that deconstructed the organization of the villages... that disarticulated their cosmic vision may be seen... as one of the most hateful examples of brainwashing... in the History of Brazil." "Consequently, the Indians were emasculated." "They could no longer make war or defend themselves." "Such alternative civilization model caused the trade to succeed... and produced thousands of Indians ready for disciplined work." "On those prosperous missions... which were massive warehouses of detribalized Indians... fell the wrath of the mamelucos from São Paulo." "The paulistas, the largest group of mamelucos in the country... organized quests... to trump over the Jesuits." "And there were not only half a dozen people, there were 2,000 people." "It was a mobile city, which planted and harvested along the way." "They managed to get more than 300,000 Catecumas... and sold them to the Northeastern sugar cane crop owners." "Indian girl With your long hair on your shoulder" "Your hair as dark As the darkest nights" "Your rose petal lips Smile at me" "The Spanish had taken cattle to that region... and the cattle had bred in record speed... all over the infinite landscape of the Pantanal swamps... of the pampas." "There were bulls and cows all over." "People started adapting their lives to the life style of the cattle... and they exploited the cattle resources." "The gaucho was a cowboy, just like... the dry land man in the Northeast... but the cattle he took care of belonged to nobody... and had no value." "They were the cattle people." "Cattle made them proud." "They had a dignity that never existed in the Northeast." "All that helped developing their amazing new culture... their typical beautiful attire, with their hats... boots, coats, and scarves." ""Those gauchos did not relate to the Portuguese or the Spanish people... and they did not consider themselves as native Indians." "They were a brand new ethnic group who welcomed native Indians... who had been detribalized by the Missions or slavery... who welcomed the children of white people and Indians... who had been punished with marginalization... and welcomed poor white people." "Those were the original gauchos... who were culturally standardized by their pastoral activities... and their unity in language, customs and common manners." "The gaucho has kept his heroic vein... and when his heroic vein makes him recite at night... we have an extraordinary glimpse... of a past that never ends... and gives life a historical meaning no other Brazilian region can offer." "The gauchos spread all over the fields, along with the cattle... and the Southern part of Brazil started being occupied." "The gauchos had freedom, but they had no idea where the border was." "Nobody knew where it was." "They could go back and forth... because there was no border yet." "On this side, the Portuguese, who later became Brazilians." "On that side, the Spanish." "And horrible fights took place... until the border was finally marked." "The Portuguese America ended in Laguna before that." "The Portuguese beat their Spanish rivals and sent to the South... people from Laguna, Rio de Janeiro and later from the Azores... land of the founding fathers of Porto Alegre." "Portugal was always obsessed with expanding Brazil's borders... and they succeeded at that." "Some agreements and even some land trade took place... in order to define our geographical borders." "Our Southern borders were the most troublesome and complicated... for them to have defined, under the geopolitical point of view." "They were finally determined, after riots... and delicate negotiation... but Portugal finally succeeded on determining borders to Brazil... managing to keep our unity." "The Southern people... on the coast, was basically formed by two roots." "First, the Azores root, which is much more present than it seems." "Their Holy Spirit celebrations are solemn and respected." "The Holy Spirit represents hope and fraternity." "On the other hand, Rio Grande was founded by the Poveiros... from Póvoa do Varzim, South of Cidade do Porto... which for 500 years has fished for cod fish in Terra Nova." "They are excellent sailors." "The Portuguese presence and the concession of territories... incorporated the South to the Brazilian society little by little." "Massive lots of land became resorts... where the owner and his gauchos were installed." "Adventure makes way to rational enterprise." "Rural gauchos are replaced by Black slaves." ""On Kings Feast times, lines of Black people parade around Porto Alegre... and they sing marching songs to acoustic guitars." "They come from the African Colony, a neighborhood near Old Varzea... where there were already Congos and Candomblés a 100 years ago." "On every February 2nd, the entire crossbred population... participates in the procession of Our Lady of the Sailors... that goes up Guaíba River. "" "The gauchos ended up defining themselves as Portuguese... and later, as Brazilians." "If by any chance You came to my chateau" "And saw that woman You liked so much" "You think you'd have the courage To trade our friendship" "For the woman Who once left you" "If by any chance You came to my chateau" "And saw that woman You liked so much" "You think you'd have the courage To trade our friendship" "Descendants from the Italians, the Germans, and the Polish... who had come to Brazil as immigrants... have modernized the South." "On non-populated areas between our borders and economical centers... they share their fate as part of a national picture." "In the interior, especially in Vale do Itajaí... a German community was born... a community which originally was very closed-minded and sexist... and which, later on, was surrounded by Italian colonies... such as Caxias do Sul and some other groups." "In that area, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul... there is this unique concept of ownership of the land... one of the important legacies for future generations... coming from the Northern region of Portugal... probably carrying some Celtic roots." "They are what we call "fachinais" or "frachinais"." "Those lots of land represent... in my opinion, a solution to the future of human kind... because they conjugate both private and collective possessions of land." "The fields may be private, with lots divided by stone walls." "The stone walls delimitate where the cattle stay... and the cattle are taken care of by the whole group." "Each family has a member responsible for the cattle." "Brazil is an amazing laboratory for mixtures and reunions... both culturally and racially." "The South is a little different from the rest of the country... because it is not as intensely mixed as other regions." "In Santa Catarina, there still are isolated German colonies... separated from the mainstream Brazilian culture." "As I understand, it is an ongoing process... and it will take place there too." ""The first generation of immigrants had to roughly struggle to survive... while opening paths inside the jungle... and building houses and roads, leading a hard and harsh life." "Future generations faced more hospitable conditions." "They were native children of that region." "In their case, their problem was the availability of land... so they could open new paths to their multiplying families. "" "The old gaucho is now the cowboy." "The cowboy who works hard, who invents scams... who works in the city and belongs to a spare work force." ""Urbanization contributed to the standardization of Brazil... into a global picture... but its differences have not been smeared." "Industrialization has created its own human landscaping." "New mass communication systems... act as broadcasting and standardizing tools... for new cultural molds and styles." "Underneath it all, there is a huge social gap... generated by what our nation's foundation itself has created."" "A nation cannot be mistaken for its territory... or its political sovereignty." "Of course territory and sovereignty are measures for nationality." "But, fundamentally, a nation is a feeling." "The Brazilian nation is what the Brazilian people feel... about belonging to this culture and this nationality." "Such a feeling is created by a common national memory... and by the perception that everybody is in the same emotional... and intellectual page." "That's what a nation is." "The miracle of the Brazilian unity... is the existence of the feeling of being Brazilian." "Southern Brazil was and still is... an immense culture laboratory... where the Brazilian culture displays plasticity and vitality."