A casa do saber: vida e território para os povos do Triângulo Tukano da Terra Indígena Alto Rio Negro - AM

Abstract

The house of knowledge, in the conception of the Ye’pa Mahsa (Tukano), Ʉtãpinopona (Tuyuka) and Ʉmʉkohori Mahsa (Desana) peoples, also referred to as Bahsa wi’i by the Ye’pa Mahsa, constitutes a space for the production and transmission of knowledge. It is a house that marks the territory of a particular people or clans within the Upper Rio Negro Indigenous Land, especially in the region known as the Tukano Triangle. The house of knowledge is also understood as the place where the pajé, the kumu and the baya reside, the latter being responsible for ceremonies and traditional dances. Within this space, ancestral knowledge and the knowledge of forebears were shared, encompassing subjects ranging from territorial occupation to knowledge related to healing and illness. For this reason, the house of knowledge is also recognized as a house of wisdom, respect and formation, where teachings and advice were transmitted to adolescents and young people of both sexes so that they could live according to their culture and affirm their identity. In the Tukano Triangle, the practice of sharing traditional knowledge, such as rituals and ceremonies, together with the maintenance of languages and community ways of life, constitutes the basis of what is understood as well-living (bem viver). Currently, communities in this region have been discussing projects aimed at economic sustainability that do not harm the environment and that value forest products, such as handicrafts, sustainable extractivism and community-based tourism, particularly in the Lower Uaupés region. In this context, the appreciation of collective life, the defense of autonomy, territorial management, and the preservation of culture and identity summarize the principle of well-living among the indigenous communities of the Tukano Triangle, located in the Upper Rio Negro Indigenous Land. Before the arrival of missionaries, the house of knowledge constituted a central space for cultural and territorial organization. With missionary activity, this model was gradually replaced by another form of territorial organization, currently known as the community. Nevertheless, the social, cultural and political organization associated with the house of knowledge, even when reconstructed under new spatial and territorial configurations, continues to strengthen the identity of Indigenous peoples and to value their own knowledge systems and epistemologies, which for a long time were disregarded by Western society.

A’rã Ye’pa Mahsa, Ʉtãpinopona, Ʉmʉkohori Mahsa na tʉoñanore a’ti wi’i bahsa wi’i pehe mahsise, a’te dehsuba’ase, wehseri da’rase, a’rã ni'kʉ̃ po’rã kʉoma nise me’ra nisa na nikawi’i nisa a’ti Ohpẽko diare, toho nika a’to i’tia mahka kaharã Ye’pa Mahsa na nisetiri di’tare tohota nii ni ukũsama. A’ti bahsa wi’i a’rĩ yai, kumu, baya na niri wi’i nisa ni wahkũ eheõpeori wi’i nisa. Ti bahsa wi’i po’peapʉre mari yehkʉ̃sʉmʉa na mahsise kũkere a’meri ukũseti, bahsese, di’ta kahase a’meri ukũ a’mesʉo wesetikupã. Toho wero a’ti bahsa wi’i mahsise kʉori wi’i, wiopehsari wi’i, ma’mapihiare, nu’miarẽ pahkʉsʉmʉa añusere na were mahsori wi’i nipa. Toho werã a’tiro niri mahsʉ̃, niri mahso nii ni ukseti, mahsiokʉ̃ wesetipã. I’tia mahka kaharã Ye’pa mahsa na nisetiri di’tare na mahsise, bahsapo, bahsese, naye yemekari, a’meri wehepeose me’ra nisetirã añuro nisetiri di’ta nii ni ukũsetisama naye mahkarirẽ. A’te mari ni’karo me’ra nisetise, a’ti di’tare añuro ñanʉrʉ, dikese mahsisere kʉorã nisetise mariye mahkarirẽ añuro kahtise niro wesa. A’to Ahpẽko Di’tare añuro nisetise nisa, mari ni’karõ me’ra nisetise, mari mahseise, mariya di’tare mari maise, añse niro wesa. A’ti bahsa wi’i, arã pa’ya ehtato dʉ’poropʉre mahsese, marya di’ta nito niri wi’i nipa. Be’ro me’ra, mahka ni wameyenokaro niwʉ. Nisetise, mahsise ahpokũse, mitisa wa’kũ tuhtuasere pehkasã mariye mahsise bahutikã wekarẽ niwa. A’tokaterore mariye mahsisere mituhtuaya nʉ’konoro we.