Identidade étnica: os Sateré-Mawé no bairro Redenção, Manaus-Am

Abstract

The present dissertation aims to study the construction of ethnic identity in Manaus, taking as case study the Amerindian community Sateré-Mawé Y’apyrehyt, in the neighborhood of Redemption. The research was accomplished through workshops of situational maps, interviews, testimonies, and organized information starting from the interaction with the social agents of the community. The work is centered in the process of territorialization of Sateré-Mawé people in the urban perimeter, ruled in a theoretical discussion that emphasizes the social construction of the collective identity, of the cultural conscience, the invention of the tradition and the politics identity. The study showed that the ethnicity is mediator of the social process of territorialization, that is aimed in the social movement of ethnic character. The field experience evidenced that the socio-cultural organization is processed by the elaboration of an ethnic identity, that joins different ethnic groups, and the recovery of the historical process of the Sateré-Mawé. Furthermore the fragmented forests of Manaus and surroundings constitute peculiar element offering its natural resources, in which the ethnic subjects rethink the social control. In this case, the city is seen by the subjects as a cultural forest.