Maracatu Nação

The elephant was chosen as the name and symbol of the group because it was protected by Oxalá, the orisha associated with the creation of the world and the human race.

One of the peculiarities of this style of maracatu is the practice of leading three calungas (black dolls) instead of two, as is common in other maracatus.

[6] The maracatu parades are an example of the ancient African courts, since the blacks, when kidnapped and sold into slavery, carried their titles of nobility back to Brazil.

[7] Respectively, the iabás (popularly called baianas) follow and, shortly afterwards, the court, the king and queen of the maracatu, titles handed down hereditarily.

The instruments are diverse: alfaias, boxes or taróis, ganzás and abês, these led by women who are at the head of the group and who make their playing a spectacle in itself.