Traditional Peoples in the RMBH - More Information

Historically, native peoples were victims of countless violence and for many years they lost visibility. However, in recent decades, indigenous resistance has revealed a new chapter in history, with the reappearance, resumption, and reaffirmation of various indigenous groups in the RMBH. Indigenous migrations to cities are constant and have different motivations, the main ones being the need to obtain income, the search for formal education and literacy, and qualified assistance in the health area. An intense migratory flow of people coming mainly from the North and Northeast regions has increased the number of peoples and brought to light a new process of indigenization in the region. Living conditions outside indigenous lands are marked by situations of socioeconomic vulnerabilities such as informality at work; access to health, education, transportation and precarious housing and immersion in contexts of ethnic-racial prejudice and violence.

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The main form of subsistence of indigenous groups in the RMBH has been the production and sale of indigenous art and crafts, since in the city they do not have access to land for planting and do not access public policies that guarantee their protection. The sale of handicrafts constitutes a way of resistance of their culture and traditions, and, at the same time, a way of survival in the cities. However, many families have had difficulty in maintaining the commercialization of these materials, having to live with a market logic and competition very different from the exchange and cooperation relations prevailing in their peoples, as well as suffering violence and institutional racism in places of commercialization as physical aggressions from the local security itself and impediments to the sale by other merchants. In addition, in the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, sales of handicrafts at fairs are interrupted, making it even more difficult for these people to survive in the city.

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Source: Texto produzido por Adriana Fernandes Carajá, Eni Carajá e Thiago Campos.

References: Site CEDEFES: https://www.cedefes.org.br/artigo-povos-indigenas-em-minas-gerais/ Acesso em 29/04/2021