ORIGIN OF THE WORD "MARACATU"
In the nineteenth century, the growing animosity of the Catholic Church towards the Afro-Brazilian processions, and their the progressive association to the candomblé religion are strong reasons to the marginalization of maracatu groups. Through the eyes of the white elite, the gathering of Afro-Brazilian men and women was seen as a threat to society. In many newspapers from that time, one can notice that the word “Maracatu” was mostly used to describe a gathering of afro-descendants playing drums as a menacing display of immorality and barbarism. Indeed the police coercive power against these gatherings had increased tremendously which makes Roberto Bejamim assert that the word maracatu was used as a code to signal the group that the police were coming to ‘break up’ their gathering. This code was announced through the sound of the drums by a rhythm played that sounded similar to the word maracatu. Guerra-Peixe, author of the famous book, “Maracatus do Recife, also pointed out that the word maracatu came from the nature of the rhythm. His idea was that the word represented the sound or swing of the maracatu rhythm.
On the other hand, some believe the code was actually a word uttered to signal the arrival of the police or simply the end of the dancing/singing. In 1930’s Pai Adão, an important babalorixá in Pernambuco, told researcher Gonçalves Fernandes that the code “maracatuca” meant “Let us leave” and it was used upon the end of the dancing in front of the churches.
There is also Mário de Andrade’s hypothesis of an indigenous origin of the word maracatu. In his book, Danças Dramáticas Brasileiras II, Andrade believed that Maracatu came from the combination of the words: “maraca” (indigenous instrument); “catu” (“beautiful” in Tupi); marã (war, confusion). This theory has been disclaimed not only because of the inexistence of a functional role of the “maraca” instrument in maracatu but also for being highly constructed in hypothetical terms over the analysis of data collected through field research.
Another word used to refer to the Maracatu groups is Nação (Nation). Mestre Veludinho, one of the oldest maracatu players, told Katarina Real that while the white elite used the word “Maracatu” as derogatory term, the slaves used the word “Nação” to refer to these groups. Then, the anthropologist Katarina Real points out in her studies how the term “nation” reflects the diversity of ethnic groups brought from Africa to Brazil and moreover the power of the resistance of these groups to maintain the cultural, religious of their ethnic lineage. Nowadays, all of the traditional Maracatu group must be called “Maracatu Nação” followed by the name of the group, for instance, Maracatu Nação Estrela Brilhante, Maracatu Nação Aurora Africana, etc.
