Farra do Boi - First the bull, then who ever crosses them!

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated...”

-- Mahatma Gandhi

Given Gandhi’s quip, this weekend’s “farra do boi” (or party of the oxen) will prove yet again that in terms of morality, many in Brazil still lag centuries behind much of the world.

Farra do boi is one of those archaic, justified under the banner of culture and tradition, events of barbarity and savagery that would make the seal hunters of Canada look like PETA volunteers.

Here’s what some in Brazil consider a good time. For weeks, local fisherman and community members from various small villages throughout Santa Catarina lock up an ox, starve it for days, usually with food just in view in an attempt to drive the animal insane and then unleash an unimaginable night of horror unto the poor creature. On the night of the “party” (usually during the Easter weekend – my how Jesus must be impressed) villagers shove broken glass up the creatures’ anuses, cut their tails off, light them on fire and break their legs; this is just a few of the shuddering things inflicted on the bull throughout the course of an evening. In the end, the ox usually ends up being driven into the sea and left for dead; the drunken revelers then go home and bask in their night of brutality.

“Farristas” as they are called, or “knuckle draggers” as I refer to them argue this is “all in good fun”, and of course use the mother of all scapegoats citing that, “it’s all about preserving Azorean culture” like culture is some sort of static concept that trumps all.

Santa Catarina was mostly populated with people from the islands of Azores where this ritual or torture supposedly originates. There is some controversy as to whether or not today’s farra do boi even remotely resembles anything from the islands, however conveying that to the toothless troglodytes that participate in it here is an exercise in futility, and could have you end up dead.

To the Federal Government’s credit, Farra do boi was made illegal in 1998 under Law 9605, however the State government thumbs its nose at the federal authorities and still refuses to officially acknowledge this “tradition” as being a “crime”. Governors have openly defended the blood-sport and this gives community members the impetus to “fight for their culture”. Some communities, Governador Celso Ramos for example, have renamed the event “Brincadeira do boi” or “playing with the bull” in the hopes that sweetening the name will somehow magically distill the cruelty and idignation.

Some progress is being made, and with more and more “outsiders” (and by this I mean people from other regions in Brazil) moving to Santa Catarina, there is less and less tolerance for out and out barbarity.

Many of those participating in Farra do boi – as it has been commented -- are actually using the bull and this tradition as an excuse to exercise cruelty over fellow human beings. It’s often been said that animal cruelty is a pathway to violence against people.

When and if Police are called to stop an episode of farra do boi (as required by law) the community and those participating turn on them. Every year the papers are filled with violent clashes between those participating and those appalled; few if any are ever prosecuted and so each year the army of blood thirsty thugs grows.

I had the not so great pleasure of finding myself trying to protect a women who had placed herself between the bull and the community last year. Although my concern was not over the bull but over the women’s safety which was obviously in jeopardy, I was still mobbed, brutalized and beaten for "interfering". Hit from behind, like most cowards tend to do. Actually, when it was clear that I was a “foreigner” the beating intensified (I’ve not talked about Brazil’s blatant xenophobia, but will in another blog).

A knife was wielded, and I am certain that if the police had not arrived in time, I’d be just another body in Brazil’s 50,000 plus annual murder stat. I wasn’t asked to file a report or make a complaint. The cop only ordered me into a car and out of the region for my own safety. Imagine this happening on a main tourism street in Canada? Yes, we’re not in Kansas anymore Toto!

Farra do boi will continue. Many in Brazil (I mean LOTS) have a tendency to cling blindly to meaningless rituals and participate in pointless violence. Let’s see if I’ll survive another Easter here.