The Amazonian indigenous peoples depend on natural resources to live, but human activities’ growing impacts threaten their health and livelihoods. Our objectives were to present the principal results of an integrated and multidisciplinary analysis of the health parameters and assess the mercury (Hg) exposure levels in indigenous populations in the Brazilian Amazon. We carried out a cross-sectional study based on a census of three Munduruku indigenous villages (Sawré Muybu, Poxo Muybu, and Sawré Aboy), located in the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Land, between 29 October and 9 November 2019. The investigation included: (i) sociodemographic characterization of the participants; (ii) health assessment; (iii) genetic polymorphism analysis; (iv) hair mercury determination; and (v) fish mercury determination. We used the logistic regression model with conditional Prevalence Ratio (PR), with the respective 95% confidence intervals (CI95%) to explore factors associated with mercury exposure levels ≥6.0 µg/g. A total of 200 participants were interviewed. Mercury levels (197 hair samples) ranged from 1.4 to 23.9 μg/g, with significant differences between the villages (Kruskal–Wallis test: 19.9; p-value < 0.001). On average, the general prevalence of Hg exposure ≥ 6.0 µg/g was 57.9%. For participants ≥12 years old, the Hg exposure ≥6.0 µg/g showed associated with no regular income (PR: 1.3; CI95%: 1.0–1.8), high blood pressure (PR: 1.6; CI95%: 1.3–2.1) and was more prominent in Sawré Aboy village (PR: 1.8; CI95%: 1.3–2.3). For women of childbearing age, the Hg exposure ≥6.0 µg/g was associated with high blood pressure (PR: 1.9; CI95%: 1.2–2.3), with pregnancy (PR: 1.5; CI95%: 1.0–2.1) and was more prominent among residents in Poxo Muybu (PR: 1.9; CI95%: 1.0–3.4) and Sawré Aboy (PR: 2.5; CI95%: 1.4–4.4) villages. Our findings suggest that chronic mercury exposure causes harmful effects to the studied indigenous communities, especially considering vulnerable groups of the population, such as women of childbearing age. Lastly, we propose to stop the illegal mining in these areas and develop a risk management plan that aims to ensure the health, livelihoods, and human rights of the indigenous people from Amazon Basin.

In this article, we identify usual difficulties faced by Brazilian psychologists when dealing with Amerindian Peoples, concerning the systematic violence experienced by those Peoples, who have been suffering and fighting against a process of genocide and ethnocide. To identify those difficulties, we analysed speeches of Amerindian leaders of the State of São Paulo - Guarani Mbya, Pankararu, Xavante, Baniwa, Tupi - Guarani, Terena, Kaingang and Krenak - which were addressed to psychologists. Those speeches were delivered in events promoted by CRP-SP in 2010 and in the 2nd and 3rd Forums "The Amerindian presence in São Paulo" at the Institute of Psychology (USP), in 2014. From the analysis, we make a distinction between the notions of meeting and dialogical encounter, considering that: 1. not every meeting is an encounter, in the dialogical sense, because the meeting can happen in a way that one of the interlocutors is objectified by the other and 2. being together and building an affective ground is an a priori for the dialogical encounter to happen. Based on the leaderships` speeches and in the notions of Amerindian perspectivism and the phenomenology of alterity in Cultural Psychology, we propose alternative paths to understand constitutive aspects of a dialogical meeting in such interethnic situation. These reflections are proposed as a theoretic-empirical work, as it departs from the comprehension that the theoretical problems are not separated from the concrete situation that enables them to emerge.

This paper is an exploratory study that examines the illegal goldmining impacts on Munduruku communities’ “Good-Living” (Xipan Jewewekukap) and explores the possible relationship between chronic methylmercury (MeHg) exposure and the worsening mental health conditions in three villages in the Middle-Tapajós River, Brazilian Amazon. The region has been experiencing a long-lasting threat of goldminers’ invasions. A total of 109 people were interviewed and evaluated. Total mercury (THg) exposure levels were evaluated through hair samples analysis, from which MeHg exposure levels were calculated. The Geriatric Depression Scale—Short Form (GDS-SF) was used as a screening tool in order to assess mental health indicators. Brief non-structured interviews were carried out to investigate how goldmining is impacting the communities Good-Living. A Poisson regression model was used to estimate the possible association between mental health indicators (assessed through the GDS-SF) and the following independent variables: (i) mercury exposure level (<10.0 μg/g vs. ≥10.0 μg/g), (ii) self-reported nervousness, (iii) self-reported irritability, (iv) age group, and (v) monthly income. The analysis revealed high levels of mercury in hair samples (median: 7.4 µg/g, range 2.0–22.8; 70% and 28% of the participants had THg levels ≥6.0 and ≥10.0 µg/g, respectively) and pointed to a tendency in which higher levels of methylmercury exposure (Hg ≥ 10.0 µg/g) could be linked to worse mental health indicators. Although the GDS-SF has presented limitations due to the Munduruku sociocultural context, our findings suggest a tendency of worse mental health indicators in participants presenting high levels of MeHg exposure. Despite this limitation, the qualitative approach indicates an evident association between the impacts of goldmining and the Munduruku people’s decreasing autonomy to maintain a Good-Living on their own terms, pointing to the importance of carrying out new investigations, especially considering longitudinal studies with qualitative methodologies and ethnographic approaches.

Ao Américo Socot e à Isabel Socot, pelo acolhimento generoso e carinhoso, pelos ensinamentos, pelos momentos que vivemos juntos e pela amizade.Ao Álvaro Socot e à Karmem Socot, pela amizade, pelas trocas, pelos ensinamentos e pelo acolhimento. Aos professores GilbertoSafra e Marina Vanzolini, por me guiarem com atenção, carinho e bom humor neste percurso. Agradeço pelo acolhimento, pela disponibilidade e por seus indispensáveis apontamentos e recomendações do início ao fim do trabalho. Aos professores Eduardo Nunes e Gabriel Binkowsky, pelas sugestões e críticas no exame de qualificação. À Cláudia Rocha e Adriana Pavaneli, da Secretaria do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia Clínica, pela atenção e pelas orientações. Ao professor Danilo Silva Guimarães e aos demais integrantes da Rede de Atenção à Pessoa Indígena (IP-USP), pelo acolhimento, pelo imenso aprendizado, pelas amizades, pelo incentivo, pelas indagações e pelos tantos caminhos que percorremos juntos. Aos professores Paulo César Basta, Ana Cláudia Vasconcellos e a todo o Grupo de Pesquisa Ambiente, Diversidade e Saúde (FIOCRUZ), pelos aprendizados, pelo acolhimento, pelas conversas estimulantes, pelos trabalhos de campo, pelo apoio e pelo engajamento compartilhado. À Luciana de Andrade Carvalho, aos professores Flávio Dias Silva e Hermano Tavares e aos demais colaboradores do Projeto Iny de Telematriciamento (IPq-HC-FMUSP/UFT), pelas conversas instigantes, pelos aprendizados e pelo trabalho em conjunto. Ao professor Danilo Paiva Ramos, pelas conversas, pelos aprendizados, pela amizade e pelos caminhos compartilhados. Também agradeço aos demais integrantes do Grupo de Pesquisa em Etnologia, Linguística e Saúde Indígena (EtnoLinsi -CNPq), pelas trocas estimulantes, críticas e sugestões.

There has been an alarming rise in suicide attempts among indigenous people in Brazil leading to national concerns about the provision of psychosocial care and professional support. In this study, we make an attempt to understand the perspectives of professionals in assisting indigenous people from a specific group, the Iny, and identify the specific challenges of addressing issues through the mental health care system, related specifically to suicide prevention. Using a qualitative approach with participant observation and semi-structured interviews, the research included indigenous and their families assisted by three public institutions, and the professionals that work in the public psychosocial assistance. For this paper we examined the tensions, conflicts and challenges of the health care professionals at one of these institutions, a Psychosocial Care Center in the state of Goiás/Brazil. For the analysis of data, a sociocultural protocol was built to identify dialogical tensions between the different thematic-fields of mental health care. The findings reveal that the theme of suicide was an important concern in the daily work with the community, but there were significant issues related to the assumptions, methodology and meaning of care between the professionals and the community on account of which the objective of the programme to address suicide attempts had not been effective or successful. The discussion of the results raises several critical questions about possible contributions of dialogical cultural psychology in the context of indigenous health, and also has important implications for the global issue of well-being of indigenous people.