ANNA KOMANTO' ESERU' - Macuxi Clay Pots Festival of the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land in Roraima

In the Macuxi worldview, Ko Ko Non , Grandma Clay, is the land that generates food and nourishes the people. This nutrition, not only physical, but also immaterial, would not be possible without the ritualistic of the pot. The Clay Pot is the materialization of an ancestral rite performed centuries ago by Macuxi women. The clay is collected in a place considered sacred in the mountains that are on the outskirts of the community, where the women, indispensably, ask permission from Vovó Barro and under her protection, return to the community in order to ritualize the ancestral know-how.

The artisanal process of making, from the collection of the sacred clay to the completion of the piece, comprises the universe of female ancestral knowledge. It involves, in addition to the techniques, the close relationship of Macuxi women with Ko Ko Non . There is a very respectful consideration, so as not to make her "angry". Women do not handle the clay if they are menstruating or in mourning. This is so that Grandma Barro does not feel the sadness and the piece does not have cracks.

In an interview with G1 Roraima, ceramist Macuxi E. Raposo reports: "the clay feels it and our sadness goes all to her, to Grandma Barro. The pieces never work out, sometimes they go perfect in the fire, but there they explode". Joy is a recommendation from Grandma to be in the production wheel of the pot. Another ceramist, C. Raposo, says: "This is our culture. We need to move so as not to forget. To remember all the ancestors who did [...]. It's a cultural heritage"

The Clay Pots Festival – Anna Komanto ' Eseru , is the culmination of this traditional know-how, in which pots and pans are celebrated. Both people from the community and visitors, who arrive at the invitation of the community itself, celebrate the festival with dances ( Paxirara, Areruya ), body painting (graphics), presentation of rituals (smoking and curing), traditional games (archery, cassava grating, etc.) and consumption of traditional cuisine ( Caxiri, Damurida ). The Festival has been going on since 2012.

The Raposa I community - Maikan Pisi Pata' is located in the municipality of Normandia, state of Roraima, in the Raposa ethnoregion, one of the four that make up the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land in the extreme north of Brazil. Access to the community, from the capital Boa Vista, is via BR-401, a paved road that connects Brazil to Guyana up to the height of km 100, requiring conversion to BR-433 to the community, totaling approximately 240 km.

Raposa I receives visitors in an ethnotourism proposal, not only on the occasion of the Festival but also in other periods, since it received the consent of the National Foundation of Native Peoples/FUNAI to execute the Tourist Visitation Plan. The Plan was submitted to the agency in 2018 in compliance with IN No. 03/2015-FUNAI, when the community entered into partnerships with the institutions – Federal University of Roraima, State University of Roraima, Federal Institute of Roraima, Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service, Cactus da Amazônia Consultoria, State University of Amazonas, Federal Public Prosecutor's Office of Roraima, and the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples – for its preparation.

The submission of the Plan was processed and evaluated, obtaining authorization in 2020. However, the Letter of Consent of the Tourist Visitation Plan was only signed by FUNAI Nacional at the beginning of the current year. For the Raposa I community, it was a long wait, as there was a great community effort to adapt the Plan to the mandatory rules and guidelines for visitation for tourism purposes in indigenous lands.

This year, the Clay Pots Festival is in its ninth edition and the community of Raposa I invites the general public to get to know it and dive into the lagoon of Macuxi cultural immersion. In the words of E. Raposo, Executive Coordinator of the Festival, ethnotourism takes place "[...] when the visitor immerses himself in the ancestral culture", tasting the ancient food and drink and when he "touches the sacred clay to make a clay pot". In this immersion, the visitor has the opportunity to hear stories of the ancient way of life of the Macuxi. Raposo (2023), highlights that ethnotourism, in the community's view, is a practice allied to traditional indigenous knowledge in order to contribute to the management of ancestral community territory; emphasizes that they do not see it only as an economic alternative for the community.

On the contrary, for the community, ethnotourism is necessary and is establishing itself as a device for maintaining its traditions involving the cultural essence of the Macuxi people. At the same time, it dialogues with the contemporary debate in relation to the use of new technologies, new productive arrangements and especially in the possibility of achieving real indigenous protagonism (RAPOSO, 2023). In this sense, the Raposa I community is resilient when faced with the effects of global crises in its territory.

In the case of indigenous potters, there is a concern about the main raw material, clay. According to an interview with the environmental manager of the Indigenous Council of Roraima, S. do Vale (Wapichana indigenous leader), climate change threatens the achievement of the Macuxi indigenous tradition. The manager reports that the ceramists observed, in the environment where the clay is collected, that due to the droughts that affect the region, the material is becoming very dehydrated, losing the characteristics of clay, which has made the collection process difficult.

Another issue concerns the effects of illegal mining. Ceramist C. Raposo points out that mining also brought losses to the production of pans. She reports that, due to the activity of the miners, it is no longer possible to collect clay at certain points where collections were carried out. Thus, the ancestral Macuxi territory is threatened by the uncertainties arising from the predominantly hegemonic actions of political groups contrary to the effective right of the native peoples over their lands, however, it is thriving in the resistance of its people.

Thus, it must remain resilient in the face of the scenario in which Bill No. 2,903/2023 (Time Frame - which arbitrarily regulates indigenous rights over their territories), was approved by the National Congress, "partially" vetoed by the President of the Republic, however with the possibility of rejection of the vetoes by the legislature. Despite all the other forms of violence, already denounced by the original voices, the Macuxi Clay Pots Festival remains fertile with all the ancestral knowledge that nourishes the indigenous resistance movement. Long Live Anna Komanto ' Eseru !

References

Ramalho, Y. G1 RR, Boa Vista, 08 Nov 2022. <https://g1.globo.com/rr/roraima/noticia/2022/11/08/panelas-de-barro-produzidas-ha-seculos-por-mulheres-macuxi-devem-ganhar-selo-de-referencia-a-terra-indigena-raposa-serra-do-sol.ghtml>

Raposo, C. A. Cruz, M. O. S. Dictionary of the Makuxi Language. 2. Ed. Boa Vista: Editora da UFRR, 2016.

Raposo, E. Disclosure of the IX Festival of Clay Pots - Anna Komanto' Eseru, 2023.

Santos, E. R. Macuxi Ethnogeography: the place in the memory of the Raposa I Indigenous Community, State of Roraima. Master's thesis. Graduate Program in Geography. UFRR, Boa Vista, 2020.

Vitório, L.S. Reports of Technical Visit to the Raposa I Community, Federal Institute of Roraima - carried out in 2017, 2018, 2019.