A cultura de índio, seu menino, vem de longe aqui : formação histórica e territorialização dos Tremembé/CE

This dissertation is based on the ethnography of a strategic selection of three Tremembé ethnic situations, which are situated in the backlands of Acaraú and Itarema, municipalities located in Ceará State (Northeast Brazil). My main aims are the following. Firstly, I reconstitute the historical and social formation of three localities, called Lagoa dos Negros, Telhas, and Queimadas, related to a particular origin myth which refers to Almofala, an extinct colonial Aldeamento in the seashore, where the Tremembé indians and other native populations were converted and gathered under missionary administration. According to the origin myth, these three localities were set up after a strong drought which happened in 1888 (the so called three eights) when a group of Tremembé families moved to the countryside and established close to the Lagoa dos Negros and, later on, they were segmented into smaller groups which started to live in other areas and places not far from the former location. Notably, I develop an anthropological approach to understand the historical formation of these three localities. Secondly, I analyze some processes of territorialization, which were emerged from the 1980s and had important consequences to these indigenous families throughout the next two decades. This historical dimension is re-appropriated and ressignified in ethnic terms. A third point of my work is the analysis of the construction of territorialities and also the cultural and symbolic dimensions which are formulated by the Tremembé Indians who live in these localities. Therefore, I investigate some cultural traditions and rituals, such as the Torém dance, but I also examine their multiple semantics, which constitute a transversal direction throughout the history understood by the Tremembé of the different social situations I researched. To sum up, there is a process of cultural actualization, which is still going on and presents itself through the ludic sphere as well as their political and religions dimensions, which are usually associated to the ritual presentation of the Torém

Compreendendo a dança do Torém: visões de folclore, ritual e tradição entre os Tremembé do Ceará

Este artigo pretende discutir as mudanças históricas e culturais que têm afetado o torém, a dança específica mantida pelos Tremembé do estado do Ceará. Ainda que o torém tenha sido referido em registros históricos desde o século dezenove, ele tem sido objeto de apreciações e percepções diversas por muitos grupos sociais. Índios, pesquisadores, missionários e agentes do Estado têm tido diferentes posições, às vezes contraditórias, sobre a dança. Um de meus principais objetivos é entender como o torém tem sido progressivamente objetificado por idéias de folclore, etnicidade e política a partir dos contextos históricos específicos nos quais eles devem ser situados. Preocupações antropológicas sobre a experiência da etnicidade são relacionadas a elementos particulares da dança, especialmente os significados do vestuário, da música e da performance.

Entre índios tremembé e trabalhadores rurais: historicidade, mobilização política e identidades plurais no Ceará

As pesquisas antropológicas brasileiras podem tratar de forma frequentemente estanque e separada, por um lado, grupos camponeses e, por outro lado, grupos étnicos, quais sejam, ‘índios’, ‘quilombolas’, etc. Contextos e situações que indicam pluralidade identitária costumam ser simplificados em sua caracterização etnográfica e da dimensão multifacetada de relações e redes sociais. Assim, discuto aqui os processos de mobilização étnico-política e de demanda territorial, sem perder de vista os processos de ressignificação cultural e construção identitária que se engendram a partir de um campo semântico da etnicidade. Abordo, então, certas situações étnicas Tremembé (estado do Ceará) que desestabilizam, embaralham e colocam em risco representações antropológicas sobre o ‘camponês’, o ‘regional’ e o ‘indígena

Da maniva ao grolado: práticas produtivas e patrimoniais no processo identitário dos Tremembé de Almofala (CE)

The indigenous political scene in Brazil is undergoing transformations that need to be better analyzed by scholars in the field of the Social Sciences. The deficit in the policy of indigenous land demarcation emerges as the largest obstacle in the conquest of collective rights. Therefore, a study to analyze renewed strategies in the struggle for social rights, and their implications in local everyday life relations, is urgent. In this context, the aim of this research is to understand the current social dynamics of identity among the Tremembé people of Almofala, in the state of Ceará, Brazil, with a fieldwork conducted in the flour mill of the Casa de Farinha Comunitária project, in the Lameirão community. Specific aims are: a) to analyze the processes involved in the project in order to comprehend their meanings and appropriations as well as their everyday life and political uses; b) understand the strategies to fight for social benefits; c) analyze the local ethnic classifications grounding the construction of the Tremembé identity in Almofala. Methods deployed are ethnography of communities, used to apprehend the social production of networks of relationships, and a social cartography of practices. The realization of rights demanded by the indigenous populations in Brazil is intertwined with a process of social and legal legitimation their identity and cultural heritage. Such legitimation works as a safeguard mechanism of rights secured by the Constitution. Therefore, to own a “cultural heritage” is perceived as a “passport” to benefit from emerging rights. Amid this context, changes in the traditional processing of the cassava root, a productive practice shared locally by diverse social groups, is reified as cultural heritage by the Tremembé people of Almofala and their network of collaborators in the pursuit of accessing distinctive public policies. Furthermore, the research came across specific social arrangements of local subjects which unfolded internal struggles, enabling to understand the dynamics of the Tremembé of Almofala identity process.

Ações de promoção em saúde bucal: um estudo com o povo indígena Tremembé, CE

Este trabalho aborda ações de promoção em saúde desenvolcidas no Projeto de Saúde Bucal com Povo Indígena Tremembé, Ceará, viabilizadas por uma parceria da Igreja Metodista, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) e Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba (UNIMEP). Pretendeu contribuir para a melhoria na qualidade da saúde bucal Tremembé valorizando etnoconhecimentos e saúde integral. A atuação priorizou Ações de Educação e Saúde utilizando um Levantamento Epidemiológico para o diagnóstico situacional de cárie e planejamento, e contemplou o Atendimento Odontológico. Nas Ações de Educação em Saúde utilizou-se a pedagogia da problematização através de Oficinas de Preservação em Saúde resultando na produção da Cartilha de Saúde Bucal Tremembé. Os dados epidemiológicos, com 102 indivíduos, obtidos através do índice CPO-D (dentes permanentes cariados, perdidos e obturados) foram organizados pelo programa Epi Info 6.04, em 4 grupos etários (até 24; 25-34; 35-44; 45›) resultando em médias que variaram de 9,5 a 20,9 respectivamente, evidenciando precária situação de saúde bucal. As ações de promoção em saúde contribuíram para consciência sanitária, no sentido da reivindicação dos direitos à saúde representada como um exercício da cidadania, bem como na busca pela autonomia em relação à prevenção de doenças bucais entre os Tremembé.

A cultura de índio, seu menino, vem de longe aqui : formação histórica e territorialização dos Tremembé/CE

This dissertation is based on the ethnography of a strategic selection of three Tremembé ethnic situations, which are situated in the backlands of Acaraú and Itarema, municipalities located in Ceará State (Northeast Brazil). My main aims are the following. Firstly, I reconstitute the historical and social formation of three localities, called Lagoa dos Negros, Telhas, and Queimadas, related to a particular origin myth which refers to Almofala, an extinct colonial Aldeamento in the seashore, where the Tremembé indians and other native populations were converted and gathered under missionary administration. According to the origin myth, these three localities were set up after a strong drought which happened in 1888 (the so called three eights) when a group of Tremembé families moved to the countryside and established close to the Lagoa dos Negros and, later on, they were segmented into smaller groups which started to live in other areas and places not far from the former location. Notably, I develop an anthropological approach to understand the historical formation of these three localities. Secondly, I analyze some processes of territorialization, which were emerged from the 1980s and had important consequences to these indigenous families throughout the next two decades. This historical dimension is re-appropriated and ressignified in ethnic terms. A third point of my work is the analysis of the construction of territorialities and also the cultural and symbolic dimensions which are formulated by the Tremembé Indians who live in these localities. Therefore, I investigate some cultural traditions and rituals, such as the Torém dance, but I also examine their multiple semantics, which constitute a transversal direction throughout the history understood by the Tremembé of the different social situations I researched. To sum up, there is a process of cultural actualization, which is still going on and presents itself through the ludic sphere as well as their political and religions dimensions, which are usually associated to the ritual presentation of the Torém