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An Indigenous Woman Troubling the Museum’s Colonialist Legacy: Conversation with Glicéria Tupinambá

2022; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 74; Issue: 3-4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13500775.2022.2234188

1468-0033

Glicéria Tupinambá,

Indigenous Studies in Latin America

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes1 The Encantados, or ‘Enchanted Ones’, are non-human entities in Tupinambá cosmology. They are closely aligned to nature and allow a connection between the Tupinambá and the knowledge of their ancestors. The sacred sentiment invested in the Tupinambá mantles means that these materials are perceived as mediators between the Indigenous people and the Enchanted Ones, allowing for a particular spiritual connection.2 An expression commonly used in some parts of the Northeast region of Brazil to refer to the mother, or to a matriarch figure in a community.3 Bill PL 490 (PL 490), introduced in 2007 and revived in June 2021, determines that the only Indigenous lands are those that were occupied by traditional peoples on 5 October 1988: the so-called ‘time marker’. If approved, the project would make it necessary to prove possession of the land on the day the Federal Constitution was passed, which would impact ownership of Indigenous lands whose demarcation processes were not complete by this date.4 A long cylindrical Indigenous weapon, made out of wood, used for attack and defence by Indigenous groups.5 During the Exhibition of Redicovery Show: Brasil+500, in São Paulo, the National Museum of Denmark loaned part of its collection. It was the first time that the 17th-century Tupinambá mantle had been seen in Brazil since colonisation.6 Despite the mobilisation of the Tupinambá, the Brazilian government did not recognise their demand as legitimate and never filed a formal request between governments for the return of the mantle.7 At the time, Nathalie Le Bouler Pavelic was a doctoral candidate onthe Multidisciplinary Post-Graduate Programme in Culture and Society (Post-Culture) at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), in joint supervision with the Institut Interdisciplinaire d’Anthropologie du Contemporain, Laboratoire d’Anthropologie des Institutions et des Organisations Sociales at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), in France.8 Glicéria is referring to the storage rooms at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, in Paris, where one of the Tupinambá mantles dating from the 17th century is held. It is considered to be the oldest mantle preserved to date.9 Similarly to Mãinha, an expression commonly used to refer to a father figure.10 The chief Babau Tupinambá, Indigenous leader and brother of Glicéria, received an honorary Doctorate from the Universidade do Estado da Bahia on 30 June 2021.11 Augustin de Tugny is a researcher at the Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia.12 The 11 existing mantles are located in the Nationalmuseet Etnografisk (Copenhagen), the Museum der Kulturen (Basel), the Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire (Brussels), the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac (Paris), the Museo di Storya Naturale (Florence), and the ‘Museum Septalianum’, Biblioteca Ambrosiana di Milano (Milan).13 A fishing tool made from a funnel-shaped net of woven thread which is tied to a hoop, used mainly for fishing in shallow waters.14 The exhibition Kwá yapé turusú yuriri assojaba tupinambá | This is the great return of the Tupinambá mantle, awarded the Funarte Visual Art Prize 2020-2021, took place in Brasília and Porto Seguro, between September and November 2021. It was curated by artist Glicéria Tupinambá and researcher Augustin de Tugny.15 Glicéria is referring to the violence which resulted from the disputes over land in the region.16 A common ritual among various Indigenous groups living in the Northeast of Brazil, which includes a circular dance in a line or in pairs, followed by singing and sounds of musical instruments, and which evokes the Encantados, also known as the Praiá.17 At the time of the fire at the Museu Nacional da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, in September 2018, the Tupinambá mantle which Glicéria had made was part of a touring exhibition at the Memorial dos Povos Indígenas in Brasília, together with other ethnographic objects from the museum’s collection. Thanks to this exhibition, entitled Indians: The First Brazilians and curated by anthropologist João Pacheco de Oliveira, these objects survived the fire which destroyed the majority of the museum’s collection.Additional informationNotes on contributorsGlicéria (Célia) TupinambáGlicéria (Célia) Tupinambá is an Indigenous leader, teacher, filmmaker and artist from the Tupinambá de Olivença Indigenous Territory, Brazil. Her work focuses on the contemporary efforts of the Tupinambá to recover their land and aspects of their material culture.