A etnoictiologia de pescadores xikrin da terra indígena Trincheira Bacajá - Pará, Brasil

Abstract

This thesis was developed in five villages of the indigenous community Xikrin-Mebêngôkre, which inhabit the Indigenous Land Trincheira Bacajá - ILTB, Pará, Brazil. The overall objective was to analyze by ethnoictiology, the various ecological, cognitive and behavioral aspects of fishermen, aiming to understand the basic interactions that this community has with fish stocks and other elements of the ecosystems in ILTB. With the proper permits, the research was conducted between the months of April 2011 to April 2013, in seven trips to five villages, totaling 153 days. The information was obtained through ethnoictiological and ethnoecological approaches and employing a set of methods related to participatory research. The study included 103 Indians aged 15-84 years and residents of villages: Mrotidjãm; Bakajá; Pytakô; Pat-Kro and Pykayakà. According to the knowledge of Xikrin, the aquatic resources perceived by them in the ngo (water) field and used most often are made up of toe (fish) and they allowed to generate an ethnotaxonomical list consisting of 144 fish species that were grouped into four categories (consumption, commercial, bait and handicrafts) according to the diversity of use in ILTB, with 135 species declared for consumption (94% of total); it is noteworthy that there is overlap among species usages, ie, some fish have multiple functions and are used in different ways, however, the primary function is the protein source, ensuring family livelihood. According to the seasonality, this diversity of fish occurred in at least 26 preferred microhabitats. The waki (screen) mode was used in all seasonal periods and opportunely was built in ILTB an ethnoecological seasonal calendar, which were summarized the close connections of the biotic and abiotic components existing in the region. In these ethnoictiological records of species of cultural importance Xikrin represent the first steps towards understanding the process of use of fish and it is considered that the continuity of this knowledge, sayings and doings Xikrin, acquired over many years and passed by mebengêt (old) are indispensable to the daily life of the entire population speaker and reader of language Mebêngôkre, not only for survival and empowerment of the communities, but also for the intrinsic value of belonging and being Xikrin.