ON PLANTS, FISH AND RELATIVES: TECHNIQUE AND COSMOLOGY IN THE DEBATE ON FISHING WITH TIMBÓ AMONG THE WAPICHANA OF SERRA DA LUA, RORAIMA

Abstract

This article discusses the reflections of the Wapichana, arawak speaking people who lives in savannas in the state of Roraima/Brazil, in Guia­na and also in Venezuela, about the validity of a knowledge practice considered traditional: fishing with timbó. Questions related to the (un)­-sustainability of the use of this heterogeneous set of plants as a fishing technique have been a constant in day-to-day conversations between communities living in the Serra da Lua region, in Roraima, and also in recent public discussions about environmental care. This paper has the objective to present some elements that allow the comprehension of the debate between Wapichana people in its conceptual terms and in the re­lational aspects present in the indigenous analyses about the tecnichque. The argument is that this controversy about technique reflects a cosmo­logical dynamic as far as indigenous analyses are reflections about social organization and reciprocity in natural resource management. Keywords: traditional knowledge, technical process, indigenous analy­ses, Wapichana