Cerrado, Waters, and Identity

The Inỹ Karajá (Re)existence in the face of the socio-territorial siege in Aruanã (GO)

Abstract

The Cerrado of Goiás, historically inhabited by a wide diversity of Indigenous peoples, retains in the Inỹ (Karajá) people of Aruanã (GO) one of its main enduring populations and symbols of resistance. The central question guiding this research is: how do the Inỹ (Karajá) articulate their socio-historical identity in the face of ongoing territorial conflicts and the expansion of extractive frontiers in the Araguaia Valley? The empirical scope focuses on the Buridina and BdèBure villages in Aruanã (GO). Methodologically, the study adopts an exploratory qualitative approach grounded in a decolonial perspective. The procedures included a literature review, documentary analysis of cartographic databases from the State Geoinformation System (SIEG-GO) and the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI), as well as fieldwork. Data collection techniques comprised participant observation, ethnographic conversations, and keeping a field diary. Data analysis was guided by the intersection of oral narratives, official data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), and the theoretical framework. From this perspective, the study breaks with colonizing approaches, recognizing the Inỹ (Karajá) as active interlocutors of their own history. The analytical dimension reveals that the strategies for safeguarding this people’s identity operate in direct tension with urbanization, predatory tourism, and the expansion of cattle ranching. Considering the preliminary stage of the research, it is observed that the Cerrado of Goiás constitutes a vital foundation for the sovereignty of the Inỹ (Karajá), where memory and territory function as devices of resistance against hegemonic forces that pressure their physical and symbolic boundaries.