Morada dos Encantados: new temporalities and territorial dynamics in the Tremembé of Almofala indians

Abstract

This project will try to reveal the way that the Tremembé de Almofala, in the Ceará's west seaside, organize the space's management conceived by them as "As Moradas dos Encantados" (The Houses of the "Encantados")-facing the transformations of their territoriality. The "Encantados" are supernatural entities that live in the cosmologic universe of the Indians of the region and they are described as characters from royalty, fairies, animals or ancestors that were charmed, moving into an invisible reality to the majority of people, with whom just some people in the earth world have the gift to get in touch directly. In the narratives told by the "pajés" - people that are very much revered in the group because they incorporate this "Encantados" and practice the cure through them- the management of the resources must be mediated through respectful relations with these beings, this conduct is stressed by political leaders who claim the possession of the land based, among other arguments, in the sacred character that it represents for them all. Thus, I try to understand how the Tremembé organize the management of this sacred territory and the resources given by the "Encantados" since they are defined as owners of the spaces and of everything that comes from it-facing the intense space transformations lived by the group in the last years. I will try, through an immersion in the fields, to follow the everyday activities of the Tremembé, with the intention to disclose how the territoriality experience is lived in daily basis. I understand that this daily experience will open doors in the "Moradas dos Encantados" and following this way I might understand what is the meaning of this dimension. (AU)