Year: 2008
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Six decades of contact: xavante's survival transformationsThe aim of this study was analyze the transformations occurred since mechanic agriculture was introduced on food production inside an indigenous community.It looks to understand the current linkage between its culture and the way they obtain food.This study was developed in the Wede´rã village at the indigenous lands of Pimentel Barbosa/MT.The study was based on the qualitative method, using interviews, participant observation, chats and paints.Rice is now the basic food of xavante's diet, supplanting traditional products, consequence of spatial mobility seeking and food production mechanization, stared by FUNAI in the 70´s and 80´s and recently from the project of Cana Rica Association.Nowadays, agriculture is an important activity to xavante's diet, owing new plant species and increasing the orchard production, where are among others, native and exotic fruit trees and vegetable crops.School lunch, provided by government and industrialized food purchase, contributes to the community survival.As a result of these new food sources, alterations in the genre roles came.Young women stopped practicing collection; a role considered feminine, and some activities are shared with men, as the corn crop cultivation, which today is carried out together, changing the image that elders had of women.Hunting is still practiced by men, using arch and arrows or firearms.Hunting belongs to spiritual xavante's life and there isn't another protein source, as there are for vegetables, so, this activity contributes to value men's role.Even though agriculture products increased, the dietary equilibrium is not reached, as shows the high anemia rate of 56.3% in 2006.This could be due to the presence of crops in rainy epochs that hinder taking advantage of the products seasonal times, as occurs in collection periods.Efforts to modify the existing truth are represented by a non-governmental organization (ONG, by its initials in Portuguese) Nossa Tribo, and Aliança dos Povos do Roncador Association, with a project looking to value traditional food, including the collective vegetable gardens and orchards, having as main products, xavante´s corn and beans as well as incentivating women collection practice.Based on the exposed arguments is evident the rigour need when approving projects aimed to indigenous populations, since, those that doesn't consider the socio-cultural values in survival practices interfere in the relationships between individuals and consequently, between them with the environment, causing health troubles.
Author: Rafael José Navas da Silva
Institution: Universidade de São Paulo
Language: Portuguese
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2263494374