Mitologia e conhecimento: a saga cosmogônica karitiana e saberes e práticas relacionados aos animais

Abstract

This article discusses the relationships between the Karitiana, a Tupí-Arikém-speaking indigenous people in southwestern Brazilian Amazon, with other-than-human beings (and especially those we call animals) from what tells their main and longest mythical narrative, that they call the history of the old times, or the so-called “Karitiana cosmogonic saga”. Four episodes of this myth, which correspond to four forms of interaction with animals (hunting, breeding, fishing and more general relationships) are analyzed. My aim is to show that, although mythic narratives are not aired and used, directly or consciously, as guides for action –they are not told, for example, to explain an event or practice at the moment they appear or are carried out nor are they invoked to support the motives of an action–, they notwithstanding convey a plethora of knowledge that allows us access to the habits, techniques and activities of everyday life of the Karitiana, and can guide us on issues related to the involvement of Amerindian peoples in environmental policies and actions to protect biodiversity, among other critical issues to the contemporary world.