Continuing the Arts, Knowledge, and Crafts of the Indigenous peoples of the State of Tocantins Project, the team from the Indigenous Arts and Crafts Space Project of the Superior School of the Judges of the State of Tocantins (ESMAT) visited the “Awã Canoeiro” Village on May 27th, 28th and 29th, 2022.
Accompanied by the indigenous woman Kamutaja Silva Awã, the team traveled through the indigenous lands and talked to indigenous women, young people, elders, and the leadership of the association focused on culture, through an attentive, respectful, and propositional listening.
This process of listening and consultation has contributed to some important developments. Among them, the possibility of collaboration so that the “Awã Canoeiro” people of the State of Tocantins have access to the raw material for making their ancestral crafts.
The “avá canoeiro” people are today in a provisional camping on Bananal Island, in the Inãwébohona Indigenous Land, while they wait for the definitive demarcation of their land, already declared in 2016. Handicrafts allow not only income generation, but also the promotion of self-affirmation and resistance.
In the place where they are, there is no material needed for the production of artifacts, such as ornaments, weapons, basketry, and traditional ceramics. One of the proposals of the project is to establish interchanges with other indigenous peoples in the State, so that they can collect this raw material in other Indigenous Lands.
The action is an initiative of the School, together with the Court of Justice of the State of Tocantins (TJTO), with the aim of valuing, giving visibility to, and fostering traditional activities and the cultures of native people.
Awã Canoeiro Village
Currently, the village has 38 indigenous people who recognize themselves as “Awa Canoeiro”. In several articles, the Awa are cited as the "people who most resisted contact with the colonizers in Central Brazil. While waiting for the demarcation of the Taego Ãwa land in the State of Tocantins, the people, who call themselves Öwa, which in Tupi-Guarani means human being, adult person, remain on the Bananal Island.
Arts, Knowledge and Crafts of the Indigenous peoples of the State of Tocantins Project
The purpose of the visits to the villages is to present to the communities the proposal to create a space, at Esmat, for the permanent exhibition of indigenous handicrafts, and to consult with the leaders about the project.
The project is concerned with strengthening the Organizational Identity and Culture, aiming to show the historical dimension, as well as to rescue the images, recognizing the diversity of the original peoples of the State.
To arouse new emotions and perspectives about the indigenous people, an immersion in images, texts, soundtracks, artifacts, and handicrafts from the indigenous world is necessary; therefore, the Project team will travel through all the Indigenous Lands of the State of Tocantins during the year 2022 in search of materials for the exhibition.
