“TO BUILD ANOTHER VILLAGE”: SOCIAL AND TERRITORIAL BOUNDS IN THE PROCESS OF RETAKE, TUPINAMBÁ VILLAGE IN SERRA DO PADEIRO, BAHIA

Abstract

This article, based on ethnographic research, considers the process by which, in the last decade, the Tupinambá people of Serra do Padeiro (in Southern Bahia, Brazil) have retaken possession of its traditionally occupied lands. More specifically, it focuses on the retomadas de terras, the main form of political action developed by the group nowadays. In a short definition, the retomadas can be presented as processes by which the Indigenous community retakes possession of its traditionally occupied lands –which were in the hands of non-Indigenous people–, which fall within the borders of the Terra Indígena Tupinambá de Olivença. By retaking areas, they have been able to leave behind their old positions amidst the regional society (especially as workers living in precarious conditions in cocoa farms) and to resume traditional activities, such as small-scale farming, hunting, fishing and collecting. Also, they have been revisiting their history and redefining their future trajectory. This article aims to demonstrate the relations between the retaking process and the maintenance and reinforcement of the ethnic identity of the Tupinambá people, their social and territorial bonds.