Santos, Valéria da Silva; 0000-0002-7096-3879; http://lattes.cnpq.br/9066876323798011
Resumen:
How do Indigenous women in Northeastern Brazil construct and practise self-care in relation
to their reproductive health? This question frames the central concern of the present
monograph. Drawing on a bibliographic review, the study analyses the worldviews of four
Indigenous peoples located in the states of Bahia, Pernambuco and Ceará: the Tupinambá of
Serra do Padeiro, the Pankararu, the Tapeba and the Tremembé. The aim is to understand the
conceptual context that underpins the ways in which these women care for their bodies
throughout reproductive events, articulating notions such as techniques and fabrication of the
body, habitus and personhood. The cosmologies of these peoples mobilise fundamental
categories — such as the Open Body, Blood, and the Mother/Owner of the Body — which
inform and structure their self-care practices. Although the Brazilian state partially recognises
Indigenous specificities and provides a differentiated healthcare model through the Special
Secretariat for Indigenous Health, operationalised by the Indigenous Special Health Districts,
access to biomedical services remains fraught with challenges. Health professionals’ practices
are frequently structured in hierarchical ways, giving rise to tensions with local Indigenous
medical systems. It is therefore argued that the implementation of healthcare services in
Indigenous contexts must take into account dynamics of interculturality and intermedicality,
fostering effective dialogue with Indigenous medical systems and a deeper understanding of
their worldviews.
