SPACES OF INTERACTION OF THE IN?/JAVAÉ PEOPLE ON THE ISLAND OF BANANAL/BRAZIL

Abstract

From an ethnobiological focus conveyed to the environment, this research aimed to describe and contextualize the cosmological conceptions and socio-environmental relations of the In?/Javaé people. It is an ethnographic research, with the participation of fifty-seven people including shamans, elders and teachers residing in the indigenous territory. To obtain the information, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, recording and analysis of narratives were used. The results were categorized into: socioeconomic profile of the participants, narratives about their sociocosmological conceptions, the specification of water reservoirs as special places and the uniqueness of the forests, as well as the interactions between beings in the environment. These ecosystems were conceived as peculiar places of connectivity between humans, non-human animals and spirits. They show the importance of these natural environments for indigenous people who have their traditional practices directly associated with ancestral knowledge. It is concluded that the forms of interaction with the other components of the environment make these ecosystems a meeting point for beings of different dimensions with notions of unity, sensitivity, sustainability and environmental conservation.