Vol. 7 No. 13 (2021): Essays of Geography

COVER

Indigenous Land Mãe Maria, located in the municipality of Bom Jesus do Tocantins, in the southeast of the state of Pará, September 2015.

Indigenous Gavião warrior from the Kyikatêjê village participating in the archery game during the September 2015 games. The Gavião indigenous people are composed of three large groups or villages: Parkatêjê, Kyikatêjê, and Akrãtikatêjê, gathered in the Mãe Maria Indigenous Land since the late 1980s. As reported by the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil website: "After a traumatic 'pacification' in the 1970s, during which they lost 70% of their population, the Gaviões overcame the population crisis and rebuilt their way of life." In this context of encounters with the Western world, the Gaviões have been reconstructing their traditions. Among them, the Chestnut Festival, held at the end of each year to celebrate the Brazil nut harvest, and the Log Race as a form of cultural and sporting expression among the Gavião villages in September. It was in this context of the log race that men and women of the people come together to practice their techniques and skills with bow and arrow, a moment that marks a point of meetings, conversations about life, smiles, and freedom of a people who over the last 30 years have been rebuilding and positioning themselves territorially, politically, and culturally in southeastern Pará.

Ginno Pérez Salas Peruvian cholo activist researcher. PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Geography at the Federal Fluminense University (UFF). Master's degree in Territorial Dynamics and Society in the Amazon at the Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará (UNIFESSPA). Contact: driloperez84@gmail.com