MEMÓRIA E ANCESTRALIDADE: PINTURAS RUPESTRES NO ASSENTAMENTO BACUPARI-CE
MEMÓRIA E ANCESTRALIDADE: PINTURAS RUPESTRES NO ASSENTAMENTO BACUPARI-CE
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.817811250206138
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Palavras-chave: História; Pinturas Rupestres; Ancestralidade; Memória; Bacupari-CE.
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Keywords: History; Cave Paintings; Ancestry; Memory; Bacupari-CE.
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Abstract: The cave paintings found in the Bacupari Settlement, located in the municipality of Ipueiras, in the state of Ceará, were called “signs” by the locals. These pictorial manifestations were marks left by the first settlers who inhabited the region in the past. Ipueiras is located in the mesoregion of Northwest Ceará, in the microregion of Ipu, 302.8 km from the state capital, Fortaleza. The name of the city derives from the Tupi language, composed of “y” (water) and “puera” (which once was and is no longer), referring to the indigenous influence in the location (Gama, 2024). In 1883, according to Gama (2024), Ipueiras was predominantly occupied by farms, which resulted in territorial disputes between indigenous people and farmers. These disputes ended up expelling the indigenous peoples from the region. The indigenous lands were located to the south of Chapada da Ibiapaba, on the border with the Crateús backlands, an area also inhabited by several indigenous peoples. Among them, peoples of Tupi origin, such as the Tabajara and Tupinambá, and peoples of Tapuia origin, such as the Calabaça, Carariju, Kariri, Inhamum, Karati, Jaburu and Javanbé, stood out. Given the indigenous presence in Ceará, the paintings found in the Bacupari Settlement may be associated with the first groups that settled in these lands. The archaeological collection present in Serra da Ibiapaba is significant, and the large rocks in the region preserve traces of the people who lived there. However, specifically in Ipueiras, these artistic expressions do not receive adequate recognition and care. The local community, which survives mainly from agriculture, cultivates crops close to the paintings, which contributes to the deterioration of this imagery heritage. According to Danilo Agapto, a resident of the Bacupari Settlement, the archaeological site known as “Letreiro” has already been visited by figures such as historian Ailton Sampaio and Jorge Alves, coordinator of the Ceará Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company (Ematerce) office in Nova Russas, a municipality in Ceará. However, to date, no effective strategies have been implemented to raise awareness among Ipuerense society about the historical importance of these paintings. In contrast, in the Serra da Ibiapaba, the cave paintings have been the subject of important archaeological and anthropological studies. In the municipality of Poranga – located in the Mesorregion of Northwest Ceará and the Microregion of Ipu – for example, this imagery heritage is valued based on the existence of an indigenous school that promotes the preservation of the paintings and local culture. However, in the Bacupari Settlement, the paintings continue to be undervalued by the community, with no conservation projects being implemented to ensure the continuity of this historical legacy. In this sense, the objective of this work is to analyze the cave paintings of the Bacupari Settlement, Ceará, with regard to their contribution to the construction of an ancestral memory of the indigenous peoples who first inhabited the region. The study therefore aims to reveal the layers of historical and, at times, symbolic meanings present in such graphics. The paintings in question remain, to this day, immersed in the veil of academic unexploration, lacking studies that would give them due visibility. Only the historian Ailtom Sampaio, in his travels, outlined some nuances of this heritage, although his visits to the site and the photographic records of the paintings in the Bacupari settlement did not result in a systematic analysis. In addition to this reality, hidden amidst the undergrowth, the paintings face a continuous process of deterioration, accelerated by the inexorable action of time and the lack of preservation care. Many of them have already been irretrievably erased, since the cracks in the rock cause fragments to collapse, taking with them parts of the works that were printed there. Despite the undeniable importance of the paintings, education professionals, especially historians working in the municipality, have been reluctant to delve deeper into the investigation of this cultural legacy. They generally limit themselves to recording the paintings through photographs, but fail to make any significant effort to preserve this heritage or to disseminate the historical value of these works to the local community. This gap makes it even more urgent to carry out this work, which seeks not only to fill the void left by the lack of studies, but also to contribute to reflection on the appreciation and preservation of this cultural heritage that is part of the regional identity of the municipality of Ipueiras.
- Francisco Edilson Alves Pereira
- Nádia Narcisa de Brito Santos