Cotidiano e territorilidades de uma comunidade caiçara: Puruba, Ubatuba, SP

Abstract

This study deals with the issues of territoriality and everyday life of the Caiçara Community of Puruba Beach, located in the city of Ubatuba, in the North coast of São Paulo State. The community lives in the middle of the Atlantic Forest and in the last 40 years this region has undergone an urbanization process by the State. As a result, each one of the communities of the area had different outcomes. This fact constitutes the topic of this study. This work looks at the consequences of a historical foray and analyzes the target community from an updated perspective up to the breaking point that happened in the 70s, when the caiçara traditional lifestyle started to be compromised. The first questions came from the observation of the characteristics of the caiçara lifestyle at the Puruba Beach village. However, in face of so many influences from the urban world, it would be necessary to characterize this social group in the first place. The second step was the identification of the social relations and the institutions that formed and gave life to the community. In this step it was important to understand that culture and lifestyle are not static, that changes are social and lead to very peculiar characteristics. Such information yielded some questions and the problem of this study: how can this social group adept itself to the new conditions imposed by the urbanization of the space and by the severe environmental laws? The reproduction of the caiçara lifestyle depends on geographical isolation and subsistence exploitation of the nature, among other factors. These conditions were taken from the caiçara people; what is left for them so that they can (re)exist as caiçaras is still unknown. In order to shed some light to this problem this study will describe the everyday life of the caiçaras and how the social and cultural dynamic of the group happens by showing aspects of their gastronomy, festivals, religiosity, community relations, and work. Geographical concepts such as territory, space, landscape and place helped in the analysis of the topic of this study. It was found that despite the processes of territory loss to which they were submitted, the caiçaras could find other territorialities. This process was only possible because these people are caiçara in their knowledge and social practices. Therefore, their caiçara essence is what makes them go through several disagreements, contradictions and difficulties while defending their territory.