Narrativas de crianças quilombolas e suasrelações com a natureza

Abstract

The children’s narratives about the relationship with nature and the traditional knowledge of their quilombola community from Boa Vista, in the municipality of Salvaterra, Marajó Island, Pará, is the central theme of this doctoral dissertation. The aim is to interpret how the children understand and explain their knowledge about the natural environment, concretized in relationships involving elements of the land, the swidden, and the plantation. The research methods used are part of a qualitative approach, through participant observation, with a foray into the field inspired by ethnography, and through the creation of a methodological strategy to cope with isolation during the covid-19 pandemic, which was the “traveling notebook”. The notebook crossed the rivers on the way to and from the capital Belém to the community of Boa Vista, bringing the narratives and allowing us to accompany the children, especially in the non-in-person moments. Conversation circles were also held, as well as walking classes, cirandas (a Brazilian folk dance), paintings on canvases, drawings, the construction of collective texts, and provocations about the children’s perception of daily life, analyzing and interpreting them in the light of cognitive operators with Edgar Morin’s analytical categories. The research hypothesis was that understanding and explaining relationships involving elements of the land, the swidden, and the plantation are essential for quilombola children to learn about nature and culture. The results point to the understanding that the children have knowledge about daily life practices in a quilombola community, contributing to the strengthening of their culture and identity. This knowledge is expressed in their oral, written, and imaginary narratives and shows practices with the land, through the plantation and the swidden, among others elements that emerged during the construction of the doctoral dissertation.