The Sairé as a Sociocultural Expression of the Descendants of Indigenous Peoples of the Lower Amazon/PA

Practice resulting from the civilizing process among the Borari Indians

Abstract

This work is part of ongoing studies and research within the doctoral program in Society and Culture in the Amazon at the Federal University of Amazonas (PPGSCA/UFAM). The objective is to analyze how religious missions, especially the Society of Jesus, acted upon ethnic groups with the aim of converting, catechizing, and civilizing indigenous peoples of the Brazilian Amazon, based on the configuration of the Sairé – a semicircle made of vine covered with cotton, colored ribbons, and mirrors containing crosses at its ends symbolizing the three persons of the Holy Trinity and at the apex a larger cross representing the figure of the One God – accompanied by songs, prayers, and processions. It also aims to understand how these elements of the Jesuit missionaries' civilizing strategy, considering their re-significations, remain present in the sociocultural expression of the descendants of the Borari people of the village of Alter do Chão/PA, as manifested in the Sairé festival. This study draws on the theoretical contributions of Norbert Elias on the civilizing process in the context of modern and postmodern society, and also incorporates information collected through oral history from community members of Alter do Chão, using intensive interviews and ethnographic documentation in an attempt to understand the figurations that comprise the festival praising the Holy Trinity and the Divine Holy Spirit. It is characterized as a qualitative study.