 |
|
The central feature of the Taurepang economy, as well
as of the other groups that inhabit the TI São
Marcos, is a strategy that embodies the hope of successfully
combining a traditional subsistence model with the intensification
of market linkages.
In certain parts of the extreme north of the Terra Indígena,
a forested area, there is a high availability of such
game as agouti, tapir, coati, wild pig, monkey, deer,
peccary, macaw, guan, curassow and tinamou. These resources
are however not exploited as the two villages best placed
to exploit them (Bananal and Nova Esperança) allege
religious reasons (the Taurepang may not hunt large animals),
lack of weapons and the fact they no longer use bow and
arrow or blowpipe. In the rest of the area it is said
that game is generally scarce nowadays, in contrast to
the past when in certain places women were afraid to work
in the gardens because of the numbers of wild pig.
In respect of fish it should be recalled that this area
is located close to the Pacaraima mountains and contains
the headwaters of tributaries of the Parimé e
Surumu, as well as the sources of these rivers themselves.
The greater part of the available resources is therefore
small fish and minnows. According to several informants,
in the past the Parimé was an important source
of fish for the villages, but nowadays the supply is
relatively small.
As a consequence the greater part of the animal protein
consumed by the villages is the result of purchases from
the butchers in the Vila de Pacaraima, where according
to the indians, cattle is slaughtered daily.
Fruit gathered includes bacaba, inajá, taperebá,
urá, ingá, bacuri, tucumã, açaí,
patauá, castanha do mato, buriti and jenipapo.
However these resources, as well as being seasonal and
available only in small quantities, appear not to be
much sought after.
One factor that has contributed to reducing hunting, fishing
and gathering activities is the growing orientation of
economic activities towards the commercial market of Pacaraima.
For the local indigenous groups this implies increasing
their efforts and the time devoted to producing agricultural
surpluses that can be placed on this market.
Gardens and animals
Agricultural activities among the villages in the northern
portion of the TI São Marcos are extremely diversified.
Family gardens grow the following species: manioc, banana,
maize, rice, beans, yam, taro, potato, squash, sugarcane,
sweet manioc, papaya, watermelon and orange. The patios,
areas of varying size around the house, are used to grow
fruit trees: ingá, mango, cashew, lemon, tangerine,
guava, peach palm, Amazon olive, coconut, soursop, cupuaçu,
Brazil nut, rose apple, avocado, cotton, spiny andira,
annatto, trumpet bush, orange, breadfruit, pineapple,
genipap, sugar apple, lime and sweetsop. It should be
noted that this high diversity of species grown on house
patios refers to all the villages in the area, including
Taurepang, Macuxi and Wapixana groups.
Generally speaking swidden gardens contain manioc, banana,
maize, rice and beans. The first two are planted in
much larger numbers in the expectation of commercial
sale. The gardens are always individual and it is commonly
said that past attempts to plant collective gardens
were unsuccessful. Normally each family will have three
gardens in different phases: one in full production,
another being prepared and a third on the way to being
abandoned. Preparing the ground for a new garden starts
in January and continues until March. During this period
the ground is hoed and the trees are felled, to be followed
by burning. Planting occurs from May onwards and the
harvest takes place the following year.
Like gardens, raising chickens, pigs and sheep is carried
out individually and is widespread. Despite the introduction
of these animals, the Taurepang diet continues to be based
around damorida, a pepper stew made with leaves of the
bush known as aurossá, cooked together with the
meat, and beiju [unleavened manioc bread].
The shed where the manioc is processed is used on a daily
basis by families taking turns throughout the week to
prepare beiju and farinha [manioc flour]. The typical
sound heard in the afternoon in the villages is the noise
of the small motor turning the manioc grater, combined
with the singing of children practicing for the services
of worship. At the end of the afternoon the women go from
house to house with pans of damorida and handfuls of beiju
to be consumed at the frequent collective meals where
the Taurepang meet for lively and informal conversations
before retiring for the night.
Trade
Trade in agricultural products and the purchase of goods
that nowadays involve the villages of the northern part
of the TI São Marcos take place almost exclusively
in Pacaraima. The main products sold by the villages are
banana, farinha, beiju, manioc starch and tapioca. Proximity
to the highway and the availability of transport determine
to a large degree the level of commercial activity each
village engages in. On Fridays there is a street market
in the town and this is the opportunity for the indians
to sell their produce.
In the northern sector in 1998 there were 54 pensioners
and at least one salaried teacher in each village. In
order to acquire more expensive items such as clothes
and footwear, indians increasingly frequently look for
temporary work as building or agricultural labourers.
Such purchases are generally made in the Venezuelan town
of Santa Elena where prices are lower.
Cattle
It is frequently said in the villages that, if there is
one thing the indians of the Roraima high plains have
learned over the course of more than two centuries of
contact, it is how to manage cattle. In nearly every village
the cattle are differentiated: there is a collective herd
and an individual herd. The latter is the sum of all the
cattle belonging to each domestic group that makes up
the village.
The creation of an individual herd begins when the village
receives cattle. A herdsman is immediately chosen from
among the men of the village and is responsible for
looking after the cattle. He is paid a ‘quarter’,
receiving one out of every four newborn calves to start
his own herd. As the job of herdsman is held in rotation
by each man in the village, after a few years everyone
will be the owner of a part of the overall herd.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Print