Museu do Homem do Nordeste (Northeastern Man Museum)

We got to go to another cool museum this week that I really enjoyed. It is called Museo do Homen do Nordeste (Northeastern Man Museum). It was all about the Northeastern region of Brazil and its history and culture. We learned about its history in terms of slavery, Indians, colonization, music and dancing, artwork, regional differences, and religions. It was really interesting to be able to see and experience firsthand a lot of the things that we have been learning about in class. The things that were the most interesting to me were the artifacts related with slavery. We were able to see the huge bowl and ovens that they used to make the sugar, as well as the sad artifacts that were used to punish the slaves if they didn’t behave. I’m glad I got the opportunity to go to this museum and further experience and learn about the Brazilian culture and especially the culture of the Nordeste (Northeast).

Entrance into the museum.

The painted wall in front of the museum.

This is the house of Joaquim Nabuco. He was one of the major contributors to the abolition of slavery in Brazil. It is right next to the museum we went to.

This is a painting on carpet of slavery in Brazil.

Some shackles that were used for the slaves when they were packed into the boats from Africa to Brazil. Their hands were locked on the outer part, and their legs on the inner part, pretty brutal.

The huge bowl and spoons that were used to heat up the sugar.

This was the next part of the process in refining the sugar. These pots were heated up, the sugar stayed inside and the excess fell through the hole in the bottom.

Some celebratory drums and dresses that were and still are used in celebrations such as Carnival.

Another outfit used for celebration.

This was our tour guide, he was a really nice guy. Behind us are some of the things that Brazilians of African descent use for celebrations in our days. They usually have a King and a Queen, and this is what they use.

This is represents parts of the religions of African descent, known as Candomble.

These are some statues that some Catholics here use to make promises to do certain things if they are blessed with health or other blessings. I read a book in my Portuguese class this last semester called "O Pagador das Promessas" (The Promise Payer) that was all about this topic.

This is a huge Cheerio that was eaten by giant Brazilians many years ago. These mammoths grew up to 20 feet! As you can see, a bite was taken out of it and over the years has miraculously turned into a rock. On a serious note, behind me is a little bit of sugar cane to show what the plantations of sugar cane look like.