Paride Bollettin
Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University
paridebollettin@sci.muni.cz
The “world of projects” according with
the Mebengokré
Almost 7 millions mk2
10% known species
300 diverse languages
Diversified environments:
rainforest, floodplains,
savannas, rivers, etc. and
diverse social organizations
Amazon
socio-biodiversity
Image: Indigenous lands and protected areas in the Amazon (source: Tauli-Corpuz
et al. 2020, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.104923)
Indigenous people and
the Brazilian State
1988 Brazilian Constitution, Art. 231
right to lands and “costums”
Articulation of Indigenous people of
Brasil (APIB) in 2005 during the Free
Land Acampent
Internet activism: i.e. Índios Online
(Nordest) and Web Indígena
(Kaingang)
Introduction of right to consultancy for
“development” projects and
compensation measures for
socio-environmental impacts
Image: Sonia Guajajara (Source:
https://believe.earth/pt-br/sonia-guajajara-reconectando-pessoas-com-o-planeta/)
“When you destroy
nature and make the way
of life of indigenous
peoples impossible,
preventing them from
exercising their culture,
you are killing these
people. If we don't follow
our culture, we stop
being a people.”*
*Guajajara, Sonia. 2017. Interview to Alan Azevedo (source:
https://believe.earth/pt-br/sonia-guajajara-reconectando-pessoa
s-com-o-planeta/)
What are Indigenous lands?
Caverna da Pedra Pintada (Pará), 13.000 BP: tucumã
(Astrocaryum vulgare), buriti (Mauritia flexuosa),
bacaba (Oenocarpus cf. bacaba)
Sitio Totonio (Rio Madeira, Amazonas), 9.000 BP:
beans (Phaseolus sp.), pumpkin (Cucurbita sp.),
arrowroot (Calathea allouia), manioc (Manihot sp.)
Sambaqui Monte Castelo (Rio Guaporé, Amazonas),
6.000 BP: corn (Zea mays), zucca (Cucurbita sp.), yam
(Dioscorea sp.), Brazilian nut (Bertholletia excelsa),
cacao/cupuaçu (Theobroma sp.), nance (Byrsonima
sp.), guava (Guava sp.)
More than 240 botanical species used by indigenous
people
Along the Holocene (from 12mil BP): from 46 genera to
134 genera
Botanical domestication
in the Amazon
Image: Botanical domestication (source: Clement et al. 2015, DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.0813)
The Mebengokré of the Trincheira-Bacaja
Indigenous Land
600.000 hectares
Demarcated as Mebengoké land since the
‘80
From 1 village to 32 villages
From 2000 persons to 200 and back to 3000
Growing land grabbing pressure
Impacts of Belo Monte hydro-dam
Image: TI Trincheira-Bacaja (source:
https://site-antigo.socioambiental.org/pt-br/noticias-socioambientais/na-imine
ncia-de-um-ataque-povo-xikrin-luta-para-defender-seu-territorio
The “era of projects”
Bepdjay: “we had the era
of… and now is time of
the era of projects”
With the Belo Monte
hydro-dam: the
implementation of
compensation measures
Image: the collection of Brazilian nuts (source:
https://www.tnc.org.br/conecte-se/comunicacao/noticias/menire/
)
The Bebo Xikrin of Bacaja Indigenous Association
Funded in 2003
Aimed at empowering the Mebengokré both
economically and culturally and to manage funds
from Belo Monte
Along the years some conflicts happened and
actually the ABEX is the only institution which
represent all the population
Elective charges (actually two memy, adult men, are
in charge)
Growing participation of the menire, women
Puru: mebengokré gardens Slash and burn
Family and collective gardens
Diversified crops and plants
Duration 2-3 years
Increased biodiversity
Differentiation of crops
Circulation of crops
Other-than-human spaces
Image: Mebengokré garden (source: Paride Bollettin)
Ron ny twàp – the
babassu oil
Production of the oil from the Orbignya oleífera
Implemented from the experience of the
“canteen network”
From 2018 first meeting and 2019 first
production
Autonomy of collection on family basis while
collective selling
Honorary mention by FAO in 2019 Image: Menire babassu oil (source:
https://decobresil.fr/pt/huiles-/514-huile-de-babass
u-menire-xikrin.html)
Pictures: the production of babaçu oil (source: Rochelle Foltran, 2020)
New skills
Pictures: the oil machine and the countability (source: Rochelle Foltran,
2020)
Realised with genipa (Genipa
americana) and annatto (Bixa
orellana)
In parties and daily life
Body painting as a collective
experience: realised by women in
families
Body painting as a personal
experperience: situating the person
in the network
Body printing as a social
experience: expressing the mei
(beauty)
Body painting
Pictures: Girls painting themselves (source: Paride Bollettin, 2011)
Follow up….
Image: Menire drawing on t-shirt (source: Paride Bollettin, 2022)
Example: production of
t-shirts with drawings
inspired on body painting
These and other products
sold through the association
Valorization of the kukradja
Engagement of young
generations
https://wa.me/c/559388038427
Something more Example: visit of the Mebengoré
at the Federal University of
Bahia
Dialogues with academics and
other communities
From “fights” ro “alliances”
Valorization of the kukradja as a
complex of knowledge-practices
Economic empowerment and
epistemic insurgency
Image: Katopryre Xikrin, Paride Bollettin and Bepky Xikrin at the Universidade
Federal da Bahia (source: Julia Turska, 2023)
Some notesDramatic environmental impacts of
hydro-dam
Dangerous illegal occupation of a
southern portion of the Indigenous
Land
Current political panorama
Increasing Indigenous visibility and
activism
Mebengokré changing demands:
from “projects” to “protagonism”
Image: the Bacaja river (source: Bepkyi Xikrin)
Thanks for the attention!
https://wa.me/c/559388038427
https://www.menirexikrin.com.br