THE KARAJÁ ARUANÃ-GO OF RESTRICTED AND ITS TERRITORIES: low biodiversity, integrity shaken

Abstract

What are the survival strategies of the Karaja indigenous people of Aruana-GO in face of the loss of biodiversity in the Cerrado and the fragmentation and reduction of their territories? This is the central discussion in this article. Over the centuries, the Karaja people have seen their traditional lands reduced to three fragmented areas, and farming and tourism continue to put pressure on them. The arrival of the first settlers in the territory, currently known as Goias, triggered the process of reduction, fragmentation and loss of indigenous territories. Because of this process, currently, the fauna and flora of the Cerrado - one of the basic elements for maintaining the physical and cultural integrity of indigenous peoples – have been vanishing in the shadow of deforestation and of other forms of environmental degradation that have plagued that county. Dwelling on the threshold of the tradition which sets Araguaia River as the main pillar of cosmology and of the ethos of an urban municipality that meets the demands of global capitalism, the Karaja people face a myriad of challenges to keep themselves alive, physically and culturally. In reason of that, the Karaja people have articulated strategies for developing new meanings to their craft production and to the use of their territory through a dynamic process that can offer multiple paths in the search for space resources and market for their handicraft production. In this research priority was given to territorial approaches and qualitative discussions which were developed from a rich variety of theoretical and methodological resources. The main objective was to establish dialogues with the individuals involved.