Mocambos na Amazônia: História e identidade étnico-racial do Arari, Parintins/Amazonas

Abstract

The present work presents a discussion about the Agrovila of the Mocambo do Arari, belonging to the municipality of Parintins, State of Amazonas. The delimitation of the research arose from concerns about whether or not the term Mocambo refers to the black presence in the locality and whether or not there is the (re-) knowledge of the inhabitants of a black identity with the place where they reside, whether there is perception, recognition or affirmation of the black presence in the Arari Mocambo and what are the signs of the black presence in the community. Our main objective was to analyze the formation of the Arari Mocambo and to identify the black presence in the community. We verified documents that indicate the black presence in the Lower Amazon in the periods prior to the formation of the Mocambo do Arari community. We know the concepts of the community about the black presence in the locality and follow the daily life of the community, showing the relationship of the residents with their local identity. For this study we rely on the works of Flávio Gomes (1995/1996), Euripides Funes (1995) and Patrícia Sampaio (2011). Official documents (Provincial reports) and offices of police stations were verified. We use ethnographic procedures to understand the different aspects of the culture of the locus of the research. Currently, the Arari Mocambo is characterized as Agrovila and District belonging to Parintins. The need to use ethnographic procedures is due to the search for a research closer to the reality of the inhabitants of the locus researched. Since the Mocambo do Arari is a community where black ancestry is not recognized - contrary to the African term "mocambo" attributed to the locality - what would be the meanings of the history, culture and identity of the inhabitants of Mocambo? With this and other questions about the history, culture and identity of the Mocambo, on-site analysis was necessary to obtain the best knowledge about the locality investigated. Contact with teachers, fishermen, farmers and women potters of Mocambo do Arari became fundamental for the realization of the research.