August 9, 2021

23:08

Ricardo Oliveira – from Cenarium

MANAUS – The indigenous communities Nova Esperança and Terra Preta, which integrate the Sustainable Development Reserve (SDR) Puranga Conquista, in the region of the Anavilhanas archipelago, participated in a series of actions promoted by the Coordination of Indigenous People of Manaus and Surroundings (Copime), in partnership with the Observatory of Socio-Environmental Law and Human Rights of the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam).

The goal is the institutional strengthening of the indigenous movement as a social organization, based on a training agenda related to associactivism, with a view to valuing the local culture. Located on the Cueiras River, on the left bank of the Negro River, the Puranga Conquista Reserve was established by State Law 4016, of March 24, 2014.

The Observatory of Socio-Environmental Law and Human Rights in the Amazon has provided legal advice to Copime, supporting, especially, the indigenous education and health agendas. “We, from the observatory, collaborate in this training process with a space for interaction so that the participants can ask questions related to the demands faced in the community.

Legacy

According to professor Diego Oseagawa, a collaborator in the course “Indigenous Licensing: Educational Policies and Sustainable Development” and a doctoral student in Biotechnology and a Law graduate, the Terra Preta community has 50 families and, in its surroundings, açaí trees, “a banquet for the dozens of toucans that every day in the morning and late afternoon feed and make a racket in the sky.

The natives of Terra Preta are bilingual, that is, they speak Portuguese and Nheengatu. “I teach children between the ages of three and seven here at the little school. It is important that we pass on this knowledge to the young people. It is our culture. It is our legacy”, comments teacher Jonas Baré, 59 years old.

The main source of income for Terra Preta and Nova Esperança is handcrafts, made by the community members. Wooden spoons, blowpipes, canoes and necklaces are the most demanded by visitors. “The foreign tourists, when they visit here, take almost everything”, says Arnaldo Baré, 31 years old.

Union

The Baré chief Clodoaldo Aleixo, 45, emphasizes that the community is an example of union. “Here we help each other. We have fish, chicken, and cassava plantations. What is missing in our community is a health center. Women need to do preventive health care,” he adds.

Most of the deliveries in the community have been performed by Eunice Baré, 68 years old. “I’ve delivered more than 20 babies, but I can’t do it anymore. Currently, the pregnancy is accompanied by doctors in Manaus.

The creation of the Baré Indigenous Community Association of Nova Esperança (Acibane) is another old longing in the community, which decided to include in the association a council of elders, with the function of guiding the Executive Board.

The chief elected for the Acibane management, Reinaldo de Souza Santos, pointed out that the community approved the social statute and will have a lot of work ahead of them, since the leadership is important for the community’s future claims.

According to the coordinator of Copime, Marcivana Saterê-Mawé, “the creation of an association is extremely important for the organization of the communities”. The next step, according to her, is to seek improvements also with other partners for the community. “The partnership with the observatory was important to clarify constitutional rights and for the study of the social statute in its construction,” she concluded.