{"id":33109,"date":"2021-08-18T20:54:17","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T20:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/?post_type=noticia&p=33109"},"modified":"2021-09-09T18:33:49","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T18:33:49","slug":"how-quilombola-communities-view-the-projects","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/how-quilombola-communities-view-the-projects\/","title":"How quilombola communities view the projects","content":"

\u201cThose of us here who are the peoples of the Chapada do Araripe do not really consider ourselves from the states of Pernambuco, Para\u00edba, Piau\u00ed or Cear\u00e1. We are the peoples from the area surrounding the Chapada do Araripe, which used to be a nation called Cariri,\u201d explained Alemberg Quindins, founder of the Casa Grande Foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alemberg is referring to the mid-20th century, a period when the people who previously inhabited the region around the Chapada do Araripe called it the \u201cState of Cariri\u201d and referred to themselves as the \u201cPeople of Cariri\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe territory of Cariri was divided by the state borders of Pernambuco, Para\u00edba, Piau\u00ed and Cear\u00e1. But as far the Cariri people were concerned, it was a single territory. The Chapada, for them, represented the promised land for the peoples of this piece of the Brazilian northeast,\u201d he added. <\/span><\/p>\n

The term \u201cCariri\u201d has indigenous origins. In Tupi, the main language family of the tribes of the <\/span>sert\u00e3o<\/span><\/i> hinterland, \u201cKiri\u00b4ri\u201d means \u201csilence\u201d. As things currently stand, part of what remains of the cultural heritage of the Cariri people is present in the Cariri Indians, who live in the Serra Grande community, located in the municipality of Queimada Nova, in the state of Piau\u00ed, nearly 550 km from the capital Teresina. The Cariri of Serra Grande were the first indigenous group in Piau\u00ed to have their territory officially demarcated, in August 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another part of the cultural preservation of the peoples of the Chapada do Araripe is present in the quilombola communities. This is the case of Serra dos Rafa\u00e9is, a quilombola community containing some 60 families located in the area that is part of the municipality of Sim\u00f5es, in Piau\u00ed. \u201cOur concern is being left homeless, that the companies will take our homes. This is what concerns us,\u201d explained Dalva de Jesus, a community leader.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very clear for those of us who work with historically exploited peoples that their lives, their economy, culture and leisure, their entire world is attached to their land and how they identify with it. When people are worried that they might not be able to stay on their land, they are in fact concerned with their own existence as a people, which is a huge impact,\u201d said Alexandre Andrade Sampaio, coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Accountability Project.<\/span><\/p>\n

Association for the defense of their rights<\/b><\/h2>\n

Apprehensive about the frequent visits by representatives of the wind power companies that covet the land given its so-called \u201cwind potential\u201d, the community leaders, most of them women, set up the Association of Remnants of Quilombola Communities of Serra dos Rafa\u00e9is and they use the village church to discuss and decide on actions to take with all the residents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Video compiles accounts of residents and researchers who visited the region: <\/b><\/p>\n