O Isolamento em perspectivas: Povos isolados e de recente contato entre os Arawá dos Purus

Abstract

Considering the ontological mismatches that contextually produce different perceptions of the way of life of "isolated peoples'' between indigenous groups and representatives of national society, this dissertation consists of a systematization of the different conceptions of "isolation" attributed to isolated and recently contacted peoples in the Arawá ethnographic panorama (Hi-Merimã and Suruwaha, respectively), in the Juruá-Purus interfluve, Western Amazonia. Based on a bibliographic investigation, the different "contact milestones'' produced by antagonistic segments of the State and civil society with the Suruwaha are analyzed, in order to reveal the dubious and distinct perceptions of the "isolated/unapproachable peoples'' in the different spheres investigated. Moreover, aspects of Arawá peoples’ cosmologies are discussed, especially of those who inhabit the non-floodable regions, the Jarawara, Jamamadi, Banawá (Arawá/Madi language) and the Suruwahá (Arawá/Suruwaha language), covering topics such as the notion of person, "mixed kinship", cultivated plants, shamanism, relations with whites and the polarity of mansos/brabos (tame/wild) Indians. In this context, we observed how the Arawá peoples mobilize heterogeneous discourses about the nature of "isolation" and the neighboring isolated peoples, and how this is linked to the concept of a transformational world conceived by these peoples, diverging contextually from the ideals produced within the framework of indigenist policies.