Banca de DEFESA: DIEGO ROQUE EVANGELISTA

TERRITORIALIZATION OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE AMAZON: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ERASURE OF THE TRADITIONAL RELIGION OF THE RIKBAKTSA ETHNICITY IN THE JURUENA VALLEY NORTHWEST OF MATO GROSSO

Territorialization, Proselytism, (de)territorial marker, Rikbaktsá, Territoriality.

The arrival of Portuguese colonizers in the New World led to many conflicts between Europeans and
the indigenous peoples of Brazil, characterized by aggressive, predatory, and exploitative domination.
In this context, Brazilian history is marked by heated discussions regarding the rights of these peoples,
especially with respect to dignity, political rights, land rights, freedom of movement, religious worship,
and the right to be indigenous. Despite the constant discussion about preserving the cultural identity of
Brazilian indigenous peoples, some Christian religions have always managed to gain access to these
communities, leading to the characteristic erasure of traditional religious expression, the demonization
of their deities, the delegitimization of the role of the shaman, and the annulment of their ancestral
traditions. Some missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, have worked and continue to work in the
vicinity of indigenous communities in Fontanillas. Therefore, this dissertation aims to understand the
transformations in the spatiality and territoriality of the Rikbaktsa ethnicity in the District of Fontanillas,
Juina - MT. The methodology will be based on the bibliographic method (Gil, 2002), which will start from
the analysis of academic contributions published on this indigenous community, along with the oral
history method (Meihy, 2006), in which testimonies will be collected through interviews to understand
the impressions of the Rikbaktsa, mainly regarding the Christian influence on their living space, which
is the main problem of this research. Throughout the research, the concepts of territorialization,
territoriality, spatiality, sacred space, and proselytism will be addressed. The theoretical framework will
be based on authors such as Haesbaert, Tuan, Gil Filho, and Almeida Silva. In a way, the Rikbaktsa
perceive both negative and positive influences of Christianity on their culture, especially in the loss of
their most primordial characteristics, such as the erasure of their religious symbols and the lack of
awareness among younger generations regarding sacred spaces.