Paths and plants: territory and mobility among the Laklãnõ/Xokleng in Brazil

Summary

The Laklãnõ Xokleng Indigenous people occupy a tropical forest area of the Southern valley of Brazil, in Santa Catarina. Historically, they were documented as a hunter-gatherer population with high mobility system who occupied and managed an extended and diverse territory, including high plateaus, forested valleys and coastal areas. Archaeologically it is still difficult to affirm if this documented mobility pattern is an (in)direct result of European contact and reorganization of indigenous territories or a more ancient traditional social form. Despite its temporality, mobility was and is an important aspect of Laklãnõ Xokleng life. In this paper, we will focus on the perception of mobility, its meanings and relation with territoriality among the living Laklãnõ Xokleng. This population, since 1914 was forced to settle into a small, fixed, indigenous land by government policies. Although living in stable villages, their territorial perceptions, environmental management and cultural discourse is attached to various movement rhythms. In this paper we focus on their perception of territoriality and mobility during these contact and contemporaneous changes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• E pur si muove: Exploring Mobilities in Latin America

Keywords

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