From the tears of Aiti to the various dreams of the Tuxá people: myth, resistance, conflicts, and territoriality in the context of the São Francisco River in Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Based on the living myth recounting the birth of the São Francisco River in primordial times due to the sadness and the copious tears shed by the indigenous girl Aiti, this article proposes a reflection on the sociocultural- subjective relationship between the São Francisco River and the indigenous peoples. An ethnographic study was conducted in the original village of the Tuxá people in northeastern Brazil, focusing on the various conflicts caused by state policies of socioeconomic development that have historically affected the interrelationship between indigenous people and the São Francisco River. This study prompted a new understanding of the meaning of myth in Amerindian societies, disconnecting it from the Western semantic value of "fable". Myths do not fulfill the restricted function of explaining the emergence of natural phenomena. On the contrary, they are part of an Amerindian religious worldview, which connects spiritual beings with elements of nature, unlike the State, which has vehemently neglected both Amerindian cosmology and ecological systems, developing megaprojects such as hydropower plants and large-scale water transfer interventions, with the sole vision of promoting economic development.