Traditional knowledge: results of the proximity to nature in the Quilombola Community of Ibicuí da Armada

Abstract

The aim of this research is to understand in which ways traditional knowledge dialogues in
the relationship between human beings and nature in the Quilombola Community of Ibicuí da
Armada, in the municipality of Santana do Livramento, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In
Agroecology, it is mandatory to cognize and value traditional knowledge, but this issue still needs
to be further studied in the context of the Brazilian-Uruguayan border. Six open interviews
were carried out about the topic with local residents. Besides the interviews, a brief immersion
into the local reality was also accomplished. Some knowledges are in way of transformation,
but they are still based upon their proximity to local natural resources, as it happens with house
building and sympathies. Others, nonetheless, are not being transmitted to the new generations,
such as the craft of midwifery and healer. This community has a way of life characterized
by its proximity to nature, the context under which a complex network of knowledge is woven
throughout time.