Floresta, animais e insetos: conhecimentos tradicionais do povo Kaiowá no Tekoha Panambizinho, Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul

Abstract

The original territories of the Kaiowá people are located in what is currently the southern portion of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in central-western Brazil. The tekoha (place where one is) and the tekoha guasu - a large traditional territory - extend from the south and west portions, with the dimension almost entirely defined by the tributaries of the Paraná River basin, with the exception of the Apa River. The historical and geographic experience of this people converges with ecosystems predominantly from the Atlantic Forest, a relationship that is revealed in the self-denomination as forest people – Ka’aguy ygua or Ka’aguy rehegua. The dimension of the forest for ecological, socio-territorial and cosmological relations is a space and a category that has multiple internal differences with many human and non-human political agents, being also composed of several levels related to deities and their interventions in the equilibrium relations of the ecosystem. In this sense, harmony between cultural practices and traditional knowledge with the jara – protective spirits of the species and of the place – is fundamental for its management. From this perspective, the objective of this dissertation was to analyze the traditional knowledge and the relationship that the Kaiowá people establish with animals (mymba) and with insects (vixoi), against the backdrop of the fact that this people, who call themselves forest people, whose cosmoperception is intrinsically related to the socio-ecological systems of the forest, has witnessed profound socio-environmental impacts on its traditional lands for the expansion of agro-extractivism frontiers. The fieldwork was carried out at tekoha Panambizinho where I live, in the municipality of Dourados, between the years 2019 to 2021. The methodology used was based on observant participation and the data were recorded through the technique of interviews (dialogues) with the community and, mainly, with the traditional masters and mistresses of my people. In this work, I highlighted the intimate, deep and respectful relationship between my people, the forest and living beings, such as animals and insects. Thus, I was able to understand that there are countless bio/geographic aspects that permeate traditional knowledge about animals in general and about territorial insects, so that the approach based on the cosmological understanding of the Kaiowá world was vitally important and necessary for us to deepen our understanding of the dimension of this knowledge, which is so important for a good relationship with Mother Earth and with all the beings that live on her. In this context, I believe that the search for understanding the colonization processes that seriously injured the socio-biodiversity of peoples and territories is extremely important to build effective and specific strategies for the restoration and conservation of socio-ecological systems. On the other hand, I understood that the actions built around ecological restoration must have as principles the cosmological, socio-territorial and ecological relations of peoples, so that the struggle for the retaking of their traditional territories is the key point for forests and forests to be able to be protected and restored.