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| In the Saraua
Indigenous Land, the rivers, igarapés (small
Amazon waterways) and lakes form a "water territory",
as Assis puts it , because they constitute the space for
work and leisure for the community. The forest is equally
important, as a source of food, medicines and prey. The
forest felled and converted into roça is considered
a kind of extension of the house, in which anyone can
get food without fear.
The igarapés are the privileged
places for hunting. There are two types of prey: big
game (such as tapir, wild pig and red deer) and small
game (paca, or spotted cavy, and capybara). Many birds
are also eaten. But timber extraction has been having
great influence upon this productive system, especially
in regard to fishing, from which the Amanayé
take the most important item of their diet, because
of the silting of lakes and igarapés.
Fishing has also been negatively affected by the intensive
activities of fishermen from São Domingos do
Capim.
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| Written after a text published in
the series Povos Indígenas no Brasil, number
8 - Sudeste do Pará (Tocantins); and report by
Elimilton Correia de Alencar, 4ª Suer - Funai,
October 1990. |
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