The General Secretariat of the Indigenous Women's Movement of the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR) and the Leaders of the Amajari region, held from March 22 to 24 in the space of the Seeds of Arts Project, in the Mangueira community, Araça indigenous land, Amajari Region, the first regional Meeting of Artisans in order to reach women, young people and traditional leaders who seek to value and strengthen indigenous handicrafts.
Professor Elton in Maruai ritual
The meeting took place over three days, and brought together artisans from the Taurepang, Macuxi, Wapichana and Warao peoples. The workshops were given by Terêncio Malaquias, from the Macuxi People, master in handicrafts with clay/ceramic pots, Makdones Santos, Wapichana artist and artisan, Marisela Borjas and Celina Augustin from the Warao People, artisans of Buriti fiber.
More than 50 people participated, where workshops made biojewelry, clay pots (ceramics), and handicrafts with buriti fibers, in addition to presentations, cultural songs and ritual with the smoking of the maruai.
Maria Betânia Macuxi, Secretary General of the Indigenous Women's Movement of the CIR, congratulated the people present and highlighted the importance of holding the meeting.
"We need to multiply more and more, and without the presence of everyone we would not have this wealth on the table, we need to multiply more and more and not stop at this first meeting, we will continue. It is only the first meeting, that is why we defend our mother earth. We must value our craftsmanship that come from her, she is sacred to us, because it is from her that we get our sustainability",stressed Maria.
Maria Betânia, Secretary General of the Indigenous Women's Movement
Elton Tenente, from the Taurepang People, who is the coordinator of the Seed of the Arts Project, gave a brief report on the beginning of the work and thanked the CIR for its support.
"I thought about everything I was already doing, about art, so I called my friends, presented the idea, looked at my backyard, imagined a lot of people, today it is a dream come true. I presented the project in 2018 to Maria Betânia before the pandemic, and today everyone will be able to take a little of the essence of this work".
Clay Pots
An important fact to mention is that the clay to make the pot came from another region, as an experience for the meeting, since according to the coordinator Elton, the clay usually used in this type of workshop will be 'lost' due to the asphalting and expansion of a highway in the vicinity of the indigenous land, in which the clay was taken.
Marisela Borjas, an artisan from the Warao people of Venezuela who currently lives in Pacaraima, thanked and highlighted:
“Thank you for the opportunity, to all the brothers and sisters of different peoples, I took advantage of the time, I am seeing this strength, this strength and unity, which serves to multiply, and we will set an example, our community, our women, this is culture, this is cultural heritage", he commented.
Marisela and Selina, artisans of the Warao People
According to Maria Betânia, other meetings are already being organized, but without a scheduled date. And it will have part of the articles made for sale, which allows the maintenance and obtaining of new equipment for the community's internal project.
In all, 53 pieces of clay ceramics and 137 pieces of Warao biojewelry and handicrafts were made. And it had the support of the CIR, local leaders of the Region and the Ford Foundation.
