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Land and power: an ethnography of Maroon heritage policies in the Brazilian Northeast

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 18; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13527258.2011.632024

1470-3610

Tristan Loloum, Cyro H. de Almeida Lins,

African history and culture studies

Abstract The present article explores Brazilian ethnic heritage policies in the light of land ownership. While focusing on former Maroon communities – known as the 'remnants of the Quilombos' – we analyse how and why the general consensus regarding cultural heritage can fall apart in the course of implementing these policies, especially when they appear to interfere with land tenure. In Brazil, most ethnic policies are accompanied by land restitution procedures. Cultural heritage is no longer just a question of identity and memory: it affects the very sensitive question of land reform. By superimposing ethnic claims and land ownership in a country where land distribution remains dramatically unequal, legislators have opened up a Pandora's Box full of promises, frustrations and conflicts. Keywords: ethnic heritageland restitutionMaroonQuilomboBrazil Notes 1. The Palmares Cultural Foundation (FCP) is a public organisation aiming at empowering Afro-Brazilian population and culture. It is in charge of the 'certification' of remnants of Quilombos. 2. The term Quilombo has had several meanings in the course of history. It was first defined in 1740 by the Portuguese Ultramarine Council as 'every housing of more than five fugitive negroes, usually indigent, even without ranch nor pestle in it' (Leite 2000, p. 336). 3. Ações Judiciais e Terras Quilombolas (Comissão Pro-Indio de São Paulo). Available from: http://www.cpisp.org.br/acoes/html/resultados.aspx [Accessed 28 January 2011]. 4. The Communal Association for the Quilombo of Sibaúma (ACOQUISIBA) was initially created to defend the community's interests against a shrimp farmer who had forbidden access to the Catu River, an essential natural resource for residents. They claimed recognition of their identity and their territory starting as from 2004. 5. Cyro de Almeida Lins has been working along with the inhabitants of Sibaúma since 2006. He took part in the anthropological fieldwork commissioned by the FCP and worked in several local development projects, acquiring a close insight into social and political dynamics in the community. 6. Tristan Loloum has been working since 2009 on the touristic and real-estate boom in Rio Grande do Norte. He studied the relationship between international investors and local elites, particularly concerning land ownership, urban planning and environmental law. 7. After that, the colonial administration moved to the south, to Rio de Janeiro, where a new economy was emerging. 8. Dunes did not have an environmental value officially recognised before the 1988 Constitution. 9. Grileiro come from the word grilo, 'locust' in Portuguese. It refers to a popular belief that affirms that when putting together a white paper and a locust in a box, the paper turns 'old' because of the insect's bites and dejections. In other words, a grileiro is a counterfeiter of property titles. 10. The Quilombo dos Palmares was founded in the early 1600s by runaway slaves. During almost 100 years, Palmares challenged the colonial power, resisting any attempt of invasion. It was finally abolished, erradicated in 1694. 11. 'First, we give primary emphasis to the fact that ethnic groups are categories of ascription and identification by the actors themselves, and thus have the characteristic of organizing interaction between people… Second, ...rather than working through a typology of forms of ethnic groups and relations, we attempt to explore the different processes that seem to be involved in generating and maintaining ethnic groups. Third, to observe these processes we shift the focus of investigation from internal constitution and history of separate groups to ethnic boundaries and boundary maintenance' (Barth 1969 Barth, F., ed. 1969. Ethnic groups and boundaries – the social organisation of culture difference, London: Allen & Unwin. [Google Scholar], p. 10). 12. The notion of 'Lands of Negro' (Terras de Preto) comes from a study carried out in the 1980s in the states of Pará and Maranhão (north and north-eastern Brazil) about lands of common use. They are lands donated to slave families as payment for military services or after the bankruptcy of sugar cane plantations by the time of the region's economic decline. 13. The affinity of the Lula's Partido dos Trabalhadores with popular social movements is well known. The election of Lula Da Silva has brought mixed feelings of encouragement and expectations within social movements.