Aproximação etnográfica da espiritualidade dos Ejiwajegi (Kadiwéu)

Abstract

This research focuses on the spiritual life of members of an Amerindian society in present-day Mato Grosso do Sul. The spirituality of the Kadiwéu, self-identified as Ejiwajegi, is quite rich and complex, reflecting historical processes of contact with the surrounding society and the incorporation of symbolic and material elements found there. Descendants of the feared Guaicurus horsemen, a warrior and resilient people who opposed Spanish and Portuguese invasions, allying themselves with the Brazilian government during the War of the Triple Alliance, they witnessed a rapprochement with the Gospel since the second half of the 20th century. The objective of this research is to understand the spiritual reality of Kadiwéu society, considering the processes of cosmological resignification in which it is embedded, the diverse traditions that converge within it, and the relationships established between them in the construction of ideals of ethnic and spiritual authenticity. This research, therefore, does not address a particular religion or the act of conversion, but rather the multiple ways in which the identity processes of this people develop within an intrinsically multicentric spiritual universe. It is developed along three cross-cutting axes, each with its own problems, objectives, and methodologies: the first revisits, essentially through a reinterpretation of classical ethnographic literature with an updated theoretical perspective, the study of animistic beliefs and shamanic practices of a traditional religion that was officially supplanted by the penetration of (evangelical) Christianity; the second focuses on the evangelical present, also drawing on the testimonies of some elderly individuals who participated in the major transformations that led to its formation; In the third axis, we explore the ways in which animist cosmology, Catholic and Evangelical popular culture, through continuous symbolic processes of resignification and appropriation, are combined to give life to a way of being in the world, understood as authentic, unique, and original. Here, we conduct some diachronic inquiries and comparisons of shamanic and Christian rituals, the actions and prerogatives of nidjienigi (healers) and pastors, and cosmologies and narratives, both ancient and present, paying attention to the elements of continuity and discontinuity that emerge. This work, which seeks to contribute to the literature on the spiritual life of the Ejiwajegi, is based on a qualitative, ethnographic approach (with fieldwork conducted primarily in the village of Alves de Barros, the Kadiwéu "capital"), using conversation circles and observation, both participant and non-participant. Keywords: Ejiwajegi/Kadiwéu; spirituality; cosmology.