Resistindo às políticas de morte e promovendo políticas de vida: a experiência Xucuru-Kariri da Mata da Cafurna na pandemia de Covid-19

Abstract

This research aims to understand the sociopolitical impacts of COVID-19 experienced from 2020 to 2022 by the Xucuru-Kariri people of Mata da Cafurna village. Brazil has become one of the most affected countries by the coronavirus, particularly impacting vulnerable groups such as indigenous peoples. The crisis caused by the pandemic, however, only worsened existing economic, political, social and environmental inequalities already experienced before. In the state of Alagoas, the Xucuru-Kariri people have been dealing with land conflicts, lack of access to quality healthcare, sanitant and education, further many other issues caused by the violation of their basic rights. These issues demonstrate that their fights goes beyond combating COVID-19 and extends to resisting a state and society project that systematically denies their rights. In this qualitative field research, we adopted a theoretical and methodological framework based on an Indigenous Research Paradigm, following an anticolonial logic of doing and researching. The main tools for producing the research corpus was conversations with leaders, mezinheiras, indigenous health professionals, young people and elders of Xucuru-Kariri people, registered through diaries and audio records. Thought Ritual, a method that integrates indigenous knowledge and Western research approaches, was adopted as our analytical foundation. Based on the analysis of narratives, the results and discussions were addressed in two chapters: one that contemplates the historical indigenous resistance against death policies and the intensification of this struggle during the pandemic period, and another in which we discuss the understanding of the territory, of land, nature, spirituality, knowledge and traditions as life-promoting policies for the Xucuru-Kariri people. Naturally community ways of (re)existing, those elements challenge racist, exploitative, colonial, and capitalist logic of contemporary society. In conclusion, this research highlights the importance of recognizing and valuing the knowledge and practices of the Xucuru-Kariri people as essential tools to confront and overcome some challenges faced by the contemporary world and its crises. Furthermore, we emphasize the need for policies and actions that promote social justice and respect for the rights of indigenous peoples, contributing to the construction of a more equitable and fair society.