Socialidade e diversidade de pequis (Caryocar brasiliense, Caryocaraceae) entre os Kuikuro do alto rio Xingu (Brasil)

Abstract

This article aims to investigate and document socio-cultural aspects of the cultivation, domestication and processing of pequi (Caryocar brasiliense) among the Kuikuro Indians of the Upper Xingu, for whom this fruit has important symbolic and nutritional roles. Pequi cultivation is shared by the nine indigenous peoples who constitute the regional multiethnic system of the Upper Xingu. Despite the species' importance among these peoples, its morphological diversity has not been the subject of intensive research yet. We intend to correlate social and cultural aspects involved in the management practices of the Kuikuro and the morphological diversity of pequi. Fieldwork was carried out between 2002-2003 (Fausto) and 2010-2012 in the Kuikuro village of Ipatse in the Xingu Indigenous Park. Fieldwork involved interviewing families, participative observations and audiovisual recording. We observed that the knowledge and practices of seed selection and cultivation favor intraspecific diversity of the cultivated pequi groves. Our analysis, thus, supports the inextricable connection between genetic and cultural heritage in Amazonian agricultural systems.

How People Domesticated Amazonian Forests

“…Human criteria for selecting plant traits vary across geographical regions, through time and with cultural interests (Meyer et al, 2012), and depend on the availability of useful populations in the landscape and the knowledge to interpret and manage morphological variation (Terrell et al, 2003). In Amazonia, some studies have described domestication syndromes for useful plants: variation in the toxicity of manioc roots that were selected for different soil types (McKey et al, 2010;Fraser et al, 2012); peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) may have been first selected for its small oily fruits or wood, and later for large starchy fruits with better fermentation qualities (Clement et al, 2009); the selection of annatto (Bixa orellana) with increased pigment yield from its seeds, and changed fruit dehiscence (Moreira et al, 2015); the high morphological variation of pequí fruit (Caryocar brasiliense) varieties selected by the Kuikuro Indians of the upper Xingu River (Smith and Fausto, 2016); selection of varieties of Virola elongata with exudates of different hallucinogenic qualities, and varieties of Cyperus articulatus with rhizomes having different medicinal properties selected by Yanomami groups in Northwestern Brazil (Albert and Milliken, 2009). Along the lower Tapajós River, traditional people selected non-bitter fruits of Caryocar villosum, domesticating them accidentally or intentionally (Alves et al, 2016).…”

“…Along the lower Tapajós River, traditional people selected non-bitter fruits of Caryocar villosum, domesticating them accidentally or intentionally (Alves et al, 2016). The importance of selection for promoting agrobiodiversity in Amazonia is underscored in ethnographies of cultivated plants, such as manioc (Boster, 1984;Rival and McKey, 2008) and pequí (Smith and Fausto, 2016).…”

“…Therefore, the presence and abundance of edible trees and palms in Amazonian forests and their proximity to ancient settlements may indicate past indigenous planting activities (Balée, 2013;Levis et al, 2017b). Some examples in Amazonia are forest patches of Poraqueiba sericea (Padoch and De Jong, 1987;Franco-Moraes, 2016) in western Amazonia, C. brasiliense in the upper Xingu River (Smith and Fausto, 2016), C. villosum in the lower Tapajós River (Alves et al, 2016), and B. excelsa in Amapá (Paiva et al, 2011) that are all associated with past indigenous planting.…”

Human management and hybridization shape treegourd fruits in the Brazilian Amazon Basin

“…The distinction, however, often goes unnoticed, given the lack of understanding of how local people perceive biological diversity in traditional societies (Caillon & Degeorges, 2007). People's perceptions of cultivated and wild diversity, as well as their management practices that deal with plant hybridization, are still understudied in Amazonia, especially for tree species (Moreira, Lins, Dequigiovanni, Veasey, & Clement, 2015;Rollo et al, 2016;Smith & Fausto, 2016). Hybridization between related cultivated and wild plants may be favored or discouraged by local farmers (Jarvis & Hodgkin, 1999).…”

Dental caries at Lapa do Santo, central-eastern Brazil: An Early Holocene archaeological site

“…A high prevalence of caries (14.3% of occlusal caries, n=182 lower molars) was reported at Moita in the Mesolithic period in Portugal (Lubell et al (Nakamura et al 2010). Although these plants are non-domesticated, plant management of pequi occurs in native populations from Central Brazil (Smith and Fausto 2016). This practice seems to be very old in the tropical regions of South America (Erickson 2008).…”