Roots that connect: an ethnography of the relationships between women, plants and the enchanted in the Toré of the Ibiramã Kiriri People of Acré.

• Grant number: 24/14123-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology - Indigenous Ethnology
• Principal Investigator: Felipe Ferreira Vander Velden
• Grantee: Maria Carolina Arruda Branco
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research proposes to ethnographically investigate the connections between Kiriri women, the Enchanted Ones and Jurema in the context of the Toré ritual in the Ibiramã Kiriri community of Acré, located in the municipality of Caldas/MG. The research also seeks to understand how the "other-than-human" beings act and transform the Kiriri context based on the relationships undertaken with the women and through their bodies. The Kiriri people of Acré migrated from the municipality of Muquém do São Francisco, in Bahia, to Caldas, in Minas Gerais, around seven years ago. The exchange of people, plants, charms and objects between the two territories has been fundamental to the continuity of traditional practices. This transit of elements seems to build a territory that is familiar to the Kiriri, where the relationships between women, plants and the enchanted are indispensable for collectivity. An important aspect is that the connections between the Encantados and the Jurema seem to be generified and mediated by the bodies of women, who are key players in ritual practices. This hypothesis is based both on direct observation in the field and dialog with the Kiriri of Acré and on the available ethnographic bibliography. The maintenance of tradition and relations with the Enchanted, carried out by the Jurema and the women, places the Kiriri in the context of cultural and linguistic recovery and territorial retaking, similar to other indigenous peoples in the Northeast and East. These relationships are preserved and reinforced through the Toré ritual. The research therefore focuses on the roles of women, plants and the Enchanted Ones and their potential in building the lives of the Ibiramã Kiriri people of Acré.