Research
Projects

Coordinator: Artionka Capiberibe

Funding agency: São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

Abstract: This project poses the following question: how can clean electricity impact the lives of Indigenous populations? Guided by this central question, the project will be developed in two distinct regions of the Brazilian Amazon: the lower Oiapoque River region, in the state of Amapá, which encompasses the Uaçá, Juminã, and Galibi Indigenous Lands; and the Calha Norte region, specifically the areas relating to the Trombetas-Mapuera and Nhamundá-Trombetas Indigenous Lands. The project's core concern is the precariousness of access to clean energy, which hinders the daily lives of Indigenous populations in these regions, limiting the possibilities of producing resources for access to goods that have long been incorporated into village life. With electric power as its foundation, the proposal will address the issue of income generation, focusing on the production of artefacts (basketry, pottery, beadwork, seed crafts, among others) for both community use and sale. It is also understood that the implementation of electric power is a fundamental subsidy for economic production that combines traditional knowledge with formal school education and adds value to the marketed objects. In summary, this project is structured on a tripod consisting of: 1) sustainable electric power generation; 2) promotion of artefact production chains; and 3) the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge. Finally, the project was conceived based on the demands of the Indigenous peoples in the regions covered and is structured in an interdisciplinary and collaborative manner.