About the Terena

The Terena people live mostly in Mato Grosso do Sul occupying land areas between the city of Campo Grande in the east and the Miranda River to the west. They live in some twenty different villages, the main concentrations of population being:

1. Cachoeirinha/Moreira area in the vicinity of Miranda

2. Taunay-Bananal area between Miranda and Aquidauana  which is about an hour by bus from either city

3. Limão Verde, in the Aquidauana area

4. Buriti and related villages in the vicinity of Campo Grande.

The population numbers around 20,000.

SIL began work among the Terena in 1957. At that time, the group was already considered, to a large degree, assimilated into Brazilian society. Their former tribal political structure was no longer in place and a majority of their customs and beliefs were no longer practiced. On special occasions like Indian Day, April 19th, their impressive Ostrich  Dance  with seven phases, is still performed, and is known locally as the Bate Pau Dance.

Although there has been a lot of change in the last forty or fifty years, the Terena are still basically an agricultural people, even though they are not as agriculturally self-sufficient as they were in the past.