Mapulu, a mulher pajé: a experiência Kamaiurá e os rumos do feminismo indígena no Brasil

Abstract

As far as the memory of the most elderly can reach, Mapulu is the first pajé woman of the Kamaiurá society, people who live in the Xingu Indigenous Park, in Central Brazil. This study investigates a recent phenomenon in the country: indigenous women taking roles in the sacred world, mastering healing and pajelança practices, having access to the restricted universe of invisible forces and powers, traditional male domains. The major role taken by women in the select magic-religious universe, in many indigenous villages, finds in Mapulu a representation of the changes of the feminine place in the daily routine of the Alto Xingu. This thesis aims at studying the kamaiurá female inclusion in the sacred sphere, place that used to be exclusive of men. The research seeks in the indigenous female movement, originated from demands resulting from the contact with the hegemonic society, the roots that contributed to the resurgence and expansion of the number of pajé women; shows how Xingu has been absorbing the work of female shamans; reveals how dreams guide the path of development of a pajé and surveys the conditions that enabled the process of “becoming a pajé” of Mapulu Kamaiurá – showing how this experience affected herself and the community