Our presence here is ancestral. We draw our strength from the land. We maintain ourselves as people, we cultivate our culture, we grow our food, we derive our sustenance from it. What we do today is for the existence of tomorrow. We, Indigenous peoples, know that the earth is our mother. Our relationship with her cycles is profound. Our lives are connected to the time of nature. In the past, we Indigenous peoples didn’t need to publish anything; there was no need for writing or paper. Our relationship with our ancestors ensured that our knowledge was learned and passed down from generation to generation. The great threats that have been growing around us have brought changes that have affected our lives, and we must pay attention to what is happening and record it. It’s a way of not losing ourselves in the face of so many changes. When we understand our ancient calendar and what is happening now, we understand better and can discuss how we will cope. The importance of updating our traditional calendar is to look back in time and understand how it was before and what is changing, what these changes mean for our lives. With the current calendar, we have another tool to fight to improve the lives of the community and defend our rights. Tirecatinga is a territory of intense resistance and struggle from the diverse peoples who live here. It began with the Mission, when the priests took away our freedom to speak our language, to talk about our lives as they were. So, speaking about our ancestry today is about reclaiming and strengthening our identity. We reemerged through our culture and gradually adapted to a new reality. To support us in this work, we invited OPAN, which has always been a great partner of the Thutalinãnsu Association, has contributed to our Management Plan, and is present in strengthening the community to face this moment, together with FUNAI1, which was also present, participating and contributing to this development.”

Cleide Adriana Terena, president of the Thutalinãnsu Associatio