The healing practices among the Bororo people of Mato Grosso

Abstract

An experience is reported here among the Bororo people, in the mission of Meruri, located in the Center-West of Brazil. Presented by Father Gonçalo Ochoa (SDB), who dedicated his missionary vocation to this mission for more than 50 years, when he arrived from Colombia and was welcomed as a family member. In this 21st century he is considered one of the authorities among the most dominant and knowledgeable about the culture and language of the Bororo people. Indians of this ethnic group occupy Indigenous Lands demarcated in the state of Mato Grosso, in a not continuous and decharacterized territory, called Meruri, that takes an area 300 times smaller than the traditional territory. Considering also that the present work wants to be an account of Salesian Missionary experience among the Bororo de Meruri, as far as possible, I rely on oral statements and testimonies that testify to the Bororo's actions in the care of their own health. Every action supposes at least one agent. In this way, the history of contact with the Bororo involved several diversified agents and interests. The agents involved are concrete people. They could be defined as beings who have experienced life within a specific group, situated in a physical space and in a period of time. In short, these people express themselves through a particular culture, driven by particular interests.