• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Street Smart Brazil

We teach smart Portuguese

  • Contact
  • My Account
  • Cart
  • Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Disclaimer
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Speak Portuguese With Ease
  • Home
  • About
  • Shop for Lessons
  • Starter Kit
  • Testimonials
  • Resources
  • Blog
Brazilian Culture: Meet Mãe Menininha

Brazilian Culture: Meet Mãe Menininha

posted on January 18, 2012


(source: onordeste.com)

Much like the prohibition of slave gatherings in earlier times, the Bahian upper class in the early 1900’s didn’t like the idea that free blacks and those of mixed race could gather for any reason. In the face of a dominant European culture, the descendants of slaves were strengthening their own culture in their own way, and Afro-Brazilian religion was no exception.

Candomblé temples, or terreiros, were the preferential targets of police raids in the first decades of the 20th century. The police couldn’t know about or raid every terreiro in and around Salvador, so via legislation, the government was able to impose restrictions on Candomblé with the Games and Customs Act. The law made it so that the temples had to close down by 10PM every night and, no matter if they did or not, with one public complaint, the temples could be raided, the practitioners, beaten, and their sacred objects, destroyed.

Enter: Mãe Menininha.

It is said that Jorge Amado wouldn’t travel anywhere without her advice. Dorival Caymmi wouldn’t take a step without consulting her first. Antônio Carlos Magalhães (three-time governor of Bahia) took all of her suggestions to heart. And Vinicius de Moraes would run to see her when he was in Bahia. So who was she? She was the most famous mãe de santo, or priestess, in Candomblé.

When she was eight, she was initiated into the orixá cult and it was decided that she would assume the highest position of priestess of her family's temple one day. The temple was called Gantois and under her care it was to become the most respected in the entire country. She had barely just become a priestess at age 28 when the Games and Customs Act was established, yet over the years she was instrumental in having the law relaxed and eventually removed all together. She even succeeded in converting the top authority behind the enforcement of the law into a devoted follower.

Before her, Candomblé was rather closed off and conservative. Mãe Menininha changed all that through her devotion and by making her religion well-known while not letting it become a tourist attraction. Below, you can hear one of her followers, Maria Bethânia (along with her brother Caetano Veloso and their mother) singing Dorival Caymmi’s tribute to the priestess.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG5nsvrP5l4]

And here’s a short documentary (Part 1, Part 2, in Portuguese) about her.
 

—————-

Schedule your Portuguese Demo Lesson.

Street Smart Brazil offers one-on-one and group classes online via webcam. We have a fantastic team of tutors, exclusive class materials, and complete programs from absolute beginner to fluent.  See what our customers are saying.

Related Posts:

  • Brazilian New Year’s Traditions and Superstitions
  • 5 Brazilian Rock Bands that You Need to Know
  • Pronunciation of Words ending in IA in Portuguese

About Adam Lee

Adam is a writer and a researcher who has studied Brazilian culture for over a decade and created several Brazil-themed blogs going back to 2008. Having taught himself Portuguese, he put it to practical use by spending three years doing Brazil on a budget (and living in favelas), from Rio de Janeiro to the Amazon.

He now resides in Lisbon, Portugal, developing a startup and dreaming about having a beachside B&B in the Northeast of Brazil.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Want to see your pic by your comment? Get a free custom avatar at Gravatar.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Brazil
  • Brazilian music
  • Brazilian Portuguese
  • Business Culture
  • Culture and History
  • Flashcards
  • Food
  • Grammar
  • Idiomatic Expressions
  • Learning Languages
  • Pronunciation
  • Resources
  • Video lessons
  • Visiting Brazil
  • Vocabulary

Schedule a Trial Session

Testimonials

My classes are awesome – I’m learning A LOT and it’s fun, convenient, and enjoyable. My instructor is a wonderful teacher, and she gives me a nice balance of grammar and oral & written comprehension.… Read more
Vanessa
Especially if you are in Rio de Janeiro, I highly recommend this class! You don´t have to fight traffic to get to class, your teacher will show up on time, you can make your own schedule, and the ma… Read more
Sarah
The quality of the instruction is outstanding. The instructors are flexible to schedule classes in times which are convenient. Being able to use SKYPE for face to face without traveling place to plac… Read more
Jennifer
I really enjoy studying with Street Smart Brazil. I have learned a tremendous amount and always look forward to the class. In June I traveled to São Paulo, Brazil, to visit my girlfriend and meet her… Read more
Drue

Find Resources

Make your learning fun and easy with good resources.
Learn More

51 Portuguese Idioms – Speak Like a Brazilian

You will learn each expression inside a real-life context: everyday situations that could happen to any of us.
Purchase Now >

Recent Posts

  • Meio or Meia? How to say KIND OF in Portuguese
  • Family Vocabulary in Portuguese
  • The Power of Rehearsal to Improve Language Learning
  • Learn the Numbers in Portuguese: All you need to know
  • The Difference Between ESTE, ESSE, ISSO in Portuguese

Search

Cart

Classes

  • Trial Lesson
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Subscription
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Packages
  • Celpe-Bras Prep Classes with Street Smart Brazil

Footer Subscribe

Books

  • 51 Portuguese Idioms
  • Master the Word MESMO in Portuguese

Footer Video CTA

Subscribe to my YouTube channel to get all the new video lessons

Subscribe

https://youtu.be/xoNtWBolAzE

Footer Full CTA

Book a Trial Lesson today to get started.

Get Started Now

Footer CTA

Street Smart Brazil

  • About
  • Shop For a Portuguese Class
  • Testimonials
  • Blog

Portuguese Classes

  • Trial Lesson
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Subscription
  • One-on-One Portuguese Lessons via Video Meetings – Packages
  • Celpe-Bras Prep Classes with Street Smart Brazil

Books

  • 51 Portuguese Idioms
  • Master the Word MESMO in Portuguese


Street Smart Brazil, LLC

phone 415.573.8180
email info@streetsmartbrazil.com
Oakland, California

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap

© 2014–2023 Street Smart Brazil, All Rights Reserved.