2018
HALSHS : archive ouverte en Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société - notices sans texte intégral
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Cyril Menta, « The Cross upside down. Circulation and transformations of a symbolic shape among the pankararé and Pankararu Indians in the Northeast region of Brazil », HALSHS : archive ouverte en Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société - notices sans texte intégral, ID : 10.4000/imagesrevues.5319
In the Northeast region of Brazil, a process of ritual convergence emerged recently following a historical movement of religious conversion among indigenous populations. Since the 1970s, numerous populations have come forward on the national political scene to obtain official recognition and territorial demarcation. As a result, the FUNAI (National Indian Foundation) has required from them the knowledge of the toré ritual. This ritual is observed by the Pankararu Indians, among others, and by virtue of their common origin – the religious mission of Curral dos Bois –, the Pankararé Indians have requested the Pankararu’s help in learning it. Interestingly, the symbol of the cross, part of the symbolic heritage from the religious mission, lies in the midst of this ritual organization and practice. It has contributed to the acceptance and stabilization of these new cultural elements among the Pankararé Indians. I analyze in this article the different occurrences of the cross symbol as observed among the Pankararu’s organization and ritual practices, and how these various occurrences traveled, have been transmitted – with more or less success, leading sometimes to new transformations – to the Pankararé Indians.