Long before the village existed, they already populated the serras and mountains, up and down the hills. Sign of the Chapada, they sprawled like people throughout the rock clefts where the soil was shallow and the sun abundant. Evidently, they were the ones who gave a nickname to the small village that began growing as a result of the mining activity that removed diamonds, sending them first to Lençóis and, from there, farther away. Due to their abundance, the town was named after them during the mining heyday. Until the course of life changed the name of the village and the way it was headed as well. Around there, the cactus known as xique-xique has always played a role. It was both food and medicine. It was served alongside black beans – and still is today. It was food for people and the little livestock they had, especially during droughts. Not just that. It also cured indigestion, cleared up constipation, and acted against inflammation. But to collect the cactus, to pick it up from the ground, you have to burn it first. You have to set fire to it – fire, which, for some reason, never spreads to the surrounding area. What catches ablaze are its spines: spines that once provided the town with pins; as well as the white beards in the spines that always point West, serving as a compass.