Memórias costuradas: as andanças de mulheres indígenas em contexto urbano

Abstract

This work reinforces the power of memory intertwined with the life stories of two indigenous women in an urban context. One of them is my late paternal grandmother, Angelina Maria de Jesus, born in Gongogi-BA, with indications that she was a villager; and the other is called Dona Patrocínia Oliveira, Kariri-Sapuyá, a villager, born in Jequié-BA. In my research, I sought to understand their trajectories, their movements to different cities, as well as to listen to the memories they told and the representation of a people in their existences. In this sense, I used the concept of “territorialization” and the idea of “sprawl” in relation to indigenous studies in order to associate them with the displacements they suffered, as well as relating their oral life stories with the “official” stories of the cities. Unsurprisingly, I observed how the indigenous issue is mentioned on institutional websites, noticing gaps and silences. Another aspect I analyzed concerned the erasure suffered by life stories, both within a family, like mine, and in institutional spaces that partially or totally silence indigenous stories in cities. During fieldwork, between 2021 and 2025, I produced an audiovisual, conducted interviews using oral history methodology and life stories, in the form of conversations, as well as using family photographs, in addition to records made by myself. I also made audio recordings to transcribe speeches. I've even inserted fragments of the audios throughout this text in order to broaden the way in which the results are presented in different languages, such as audio, visual and verbal, making the study more sensory and closer to those who read it. I understand memories as patches of fabric and as fragments that remain in time, but which can be mended, sewn together and analyzed, as in a research project. The “finish” left more questions than a conclusion or finalization of the work. I have tried to contribute to anthropology, particularly regarding indigenous ethnology, memory and studies that focus on indigenous people living in urban contexts.