The main argument used by FUNAI and the indigenous communities to expand the ES Indian reservations on company's land - "to maintain their (the Indians) traditional way of life" - does not match the current reality of these people.
Burial Grounds of the self-identified Tupiniquim Indians
For the majority of indigenous groups on the American continent, the burial ground has a very considerable spiritual significance, and is not simply a place where the dead are laid to rest. It acts as a bond of identity between the social relations of a group and the land.
Although the existence of an indigenous burial ground is an important indication, in terms of the constitutional concept of traditional occupation, the GT 1299/05, like the GT 783/94, was unable to identify any such grounds in the Tupiniquim villages.
How to identify Congo Band as a Tupiniquim manifestation?
The Dance of the Drums or the Congo Band: this is a manifestation that both the GT 783/94 and the GT 1299/05 cite on various occasions, attempting to classify it as one of the most significant traits of a Tupiniquim culture. However, Clério Borges, for example, affirms:
"Of African origin, the congo is one of the oldest manifestations of Espírito Santo, handed down over generations. Its rhythm is marked by the drum. From an early age, members learn to make their own instruments, such as the "casaca", a type of reco-reco (section of notched bamboo over which a wand is passed to produce a sound like a frog croaking). It is common to see these bands at festivities in honour of Saint Benedict. The municipality (Serra) has 12 adult and two children’s bands. The first band was called the Banda de Congo do Folclore de São Benedito da Serra (Folkloric Congo Band of São Benedito da Serra), and was composed of slaves who had been saved from a shipwreck in the region after they had held onto the pole of a flag to St. Benedict. The tradition is 200 years old. Every December 26th, Citizen of Serra Day, the saint is venerated for having helped the slaves".39
Quitungos
In Tupiniquim villages, the places used for processing meal are also known as "quitungos", the term being identified as of indigenous origin. Amongst traditional indigenous societies, particularly in the north and mid-west regions, the "tipiti" is used for the processing of manioc. Quitungo is a term of African origin used to denote a place for the processing of meal.
It is a known fact that the Portuguese learned how to process manioc from the Indians, but the setting up of places for processing meal is of slave origin, and the modernization of these only took place with the arrrival of German immigrants 40, who settled in the regions of Santa Leopoldina and Domingos Martins in the mid-19th Century.
The Language of the self-identified Tupiniquim Indians
FUNAI lectures that 42: "Language is the basic medium for the organization of human experience and knowledge. When we speak in a language, we also speak of the culture and the history of a people. Through language, we can become acquainted with a cultural universe, that is, the set of responses of a people to the experiences they have lived through and the challenges they have faced over time."
"(...)There are indigenous societies that, because they have lived in close contact with Brazilian society for a long time, have ended up losing their original language and speak only Portuguese. There is no doubt, nowadays, that for more than two centuries the self-identified descendents of the Tupiniquim Indians have not known their original language. To cite just one of the hundreds of sources that support this fact, one only has to read a text published in the on-line magazine "Inovando" 43:
Acculturation
Also indicative of the high level of acculturation of the self-identified Tupiniquim Indians is the information given by anthropologist Sônia Marcato in the document entitled INFORMAÇÃO No.332/83 - AESP (in which she endorses the technical report by anthropologist Isa Rogedo): "The Tupiniquim, despite having lost their language, culture and ‘typically indigenous’ phenotype, are not at fault if they were compulsorily led to this loss by a historical process that massacred and stigmatized them." (Underscoring is from the transcript).
Combining the fact that the self-identified Tupiniquim no longer speak their original language with the fact that language is the means to "...become acquainted with a cultural universe, that is, the set of responses of a people to the experiences they have lived through and the challenges they have faced over time", the unquestionable conclusion must be that the self-identified Tupiniquim Indians from Espírito Santo have long ago lost one of the strongest signs of their culture and tradition, their language.
38 - Source - www.planalto.gov.br
39 - Source - www.ufes.br, in: ESPÍRITO SANTO, BRASIL
40 - Source - www.proinfo.es.gov.br.
43 - Source - http://inovando.fgvsp.br
44 - Source - www.aultimaarcadenoe.com.
Burial Grounds of the self-identified Tupiniquim Indians
For the majority of indigenous groups on the American continent, the burial ground has a very considerable spiritual significance, and is not simply a place where the dead are laid to rest. It acts as a bond of identity between the social relations of a group and the land.
Although the existence of an indigenous burial ground is an important indication, in terms of the constitutional concept of traditional occupation, the GT 1299/05, like the GT 783/94, was unable to identify any such grounds in the Tupiniquim villages.
How to identify Congo Band as a Tupiniquim manifestation?
The Dance of the Drums or the Congo Band: this is a manifestation that both the GT 783/94 and the GT 1299/05 cite on various occasions, attempting to classify it as one of the most significant traits of a Tupiniquim culture. However, Clério Borges, for example, affirms:
"Of African origin, the congo is one of the oldest manifestations of Espírito Santo, handed down over generations. Its rhythm is marked by the drum. From an early age, members learn to make their own instruments, such as the "casaca", a type of reco-reco (section of notched bamboo over which a wand is passed to produce a sound like a frog croaking). It is common to see these bands at festivities in honour of Saint Benedict. The municipality (Serra) has 12 adult and two children’s bands. The first band was called the Banda de Congo do Folclore de São Benedito da Serra (Folkloric Congo Band of São Benedito da Serra), and was composed of slaves who had been saved from a shipwreck in the region after they had held onto the pole of a flag to St. Benedict. The tradition is 200 years old. Every December 26th, Citizen of Serra Day, the saint is venerated for having helped the slaves".39
Quitungos
In Tupiniquim villages, the places used for processing meal are also known as "quitungos", the term being identified as of indigenous origin. Amongst traditional indigenous societies, particularly in the north and mid-west regions, the "tipiti" is used for the processing of manioc. Quitungo is a term of African origin used to denote a place for the processing of meal.
It is a known fact that the Portuguese learned how to process manioc from the Indians, but the setting up of places for processing meal is of slave origin, and the modernization of these only took place with the arrrival of German immigrants 40, who settled in the regions of Santa Leopoldina and Domingos Martins in the mid-19th Century.
The Language of the self-identified Tupiniquim Indians
FUNAI lectures that 42: "Language is the basic medium for the organization of human experience and knowledge. When we speak in a language, we also speak of the culture and the history of a people. Through language, we can become acquainted with a cultural universe, that is, the set of responses of a people to the experiences they have lived through and the challenges they have faced over time."
"(...)There are indigenous societies that, because they have lived in close contact with Brazilian society for a long time, have ended up losing their original language and speak only Portuguese. There is no doubt, nowadays, that for more than two centuries the self-identified descendents of the Tupiniquim Indians have not known their original language. To cite just one of the hundreds of sources that support this fact, one only has to read a text published in the on-line magazine "Inovando" 43:
Acculturation
Also indicative of the high level of acculturation of the self-identified Tupiniquim Indians is the information given by anthropologist Sônia Marcato in the document entitled INFORMAÇÃO No.332/83 - AESP (in which she endorses the technical report by anthropologist Isa Rogedo): "The Tupiniquim, despite having lost their language, culture and ‘typically indigenous’ phenotype, are not at fault if they were compulsorily led to this loss by a historical process that massacred and stigmatized them." (Underscoring is from the transcript).
Combining the fact that the self-identified Tupiniquim no longer speak their original language with the fact that language is the means to "...become acquainted with a cultural universe, that is, the set of responses of a people to the experiences they have lived through and the challenges they have faced over time", the unquestionable conclusion must be that the self-identified Tupiniquim Indians from Espírito Santo have long ago lost one of the strongest signs of their culture and tradition, their language.
38 - Source - www.planalto.gov.br
39 - Source - www.ufes.br, in: ESPÍRITO SANTO, BRASIL
40 - Source - www.proinfo.es.gov.br.
43 - Source - http://inovando.fgvsp.br
44 - Source - www.aultimaarcadenoe.com.
Facts
For the third time in 30 years, the Brazilian Indian Foundation (FUNAI) is asking Aracruz to expand the Espírito Santo Indians reservation on Aracruz's lands.
For the third time in 30 years, the Brazilian Indian Foundation (FUNAI) is asking Aracruz to expand the Espírito Santo Indians reservation on Aracruz's lands.
See Also:
Aracruz's challenge
Aracruz Celulose has documents and data to challenge FUNAI's recomendation, wich for the third time in 30 years, is asking Aracruz to expand the Espírito Santo Indians reservation on the company's lands.
Aracruz's challenge
Aracruz Celulose has documents and data to challenge FUNAI's recomendation, wich for the third time in 30 years, is asking Aracruz to expand the Espírito Santo Indians reservation on the company's lands.
