Indigenous Body Painting, Between Ecology and the Cosmos and the Historical Struggle Against the Karõ da Aldeia

pt

Abstract

This text aims to explore the historical struggle of the Mebengokré in defense of their way of life, against the expansion of Brazilian territorialization in Central Brazil, through various settlement fronts. Initially, through personal accounts of Indigenous peoples and ethnological references, we seek to situate the Mebengokré in terms of historical settlement in this region, also considering their particular history in relation to other Jê-speaking peoples, to whom they are signatories. Next, we present Indigenous paintings from a complex perspective, simultaneously considering their technical, therapeutic, and cultural aspects. All within the framework of a cosmopolitics that allows us to contemplate Indigenous culture as a cultural and artistic expression of Mebengokré society, central to the strategy of self-production and the constitution of the Indigenous way of life, as highlighted by Jê ethnologists. Finally, we demonstrate the present threats to the indigenous way of life, which are seen as a kind of ghost that haunts and/or threatens the existence and continuity of the Mebengokré way of life.