Olhar indígena sobre a Idzaamikhetti (doença) e a Watapetakaa (cura) na comunidade de Itacoatiara Mirim, em São Gabriel da Cachoeira/AM

Abstract

This interdisciplinary research was conducted in the community of “Itacoatiara Mirim”, located at kilometer 11 of the Camanaus Road (BR-307), in the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas, Brazill. The community brings together multiple indigenous ethnic groups, each with its own customs and traditional practices related to body care and the treatment of illness, grounded in distinct cosmological systems. The study aimed to understand how therapeutic itineraries relate to the emergence of illness and healing, analyzing them as mechanisms for the preservation and transmission of indigenous cultural memory. Healing practices involving medicinal plants, blessing rituals, and spiritual ceremonies – comprising what is known as Indigenous medicine – were central to the investigation. An ethnographic method was employed, including community mapping, participant observation, structured questionnaires with 23 Indigenous participants, an semi-structured interviews with three Indigenous women who shared their life stories. The results show that, from an Indigenous perspective, illness often stems from the transgression of cultural norms, with humans seen as the source of imbalances that affect the entire community. Human, animal, and plant life is understood as interconnected with the cosmos – a spiritual world that demands obedience, sensitivity, and faith to interpret its sings. Connection with nature is viewed as essential for health and well-being. Thus, the study contributes as a cultural record, a means of valuing Indigenous knowledge, and a tool for strengthening traditional healing practices within the community.