Quilombolas they are the descendants and remnants of communities formed by runaway slaves (the quilombos), between the 16th century and the year 1888 (when there was the abolition of slavery), in Brazil. Currently, quilombola communities are present throughout the Brazilian territory, and in them there is a rich culture, based on black, indigenous and white ancestry. However, the quilombolas suffer from the difficulty in accessing health and education.
read more: Zumbi's inspiration for the creation of Black Consciousness Day in Brazil
Who are the quilombolas?
The word quilombo comes from the term kilombo, present in the language of the Bantu peoples, originating in Angola, and means a place of landing or encampment. The peoples of West Africa were, before the arrival of European settlers, essentially nomadic, and the camp sites were used for resting on long journeys. At the Colonial Brazil, the word was adapted to designate the place of refuge for runaway slaves. Quilombola is the person who inhabits the quilombo.
![Remnants of the Quilombo dos Palmares region celebrate the 20th of November, Black Consciousness Day. [1]](/f/c26e32387349536a719e8c1e61b42085.jpg)
Quilombola peoples do not cluster in a specific region or come from a specific place. The common origin of the remnants of quilombos is the african ancestry of enslaved blacks who fled the cruelty of slavery and took refuge in the woods. Over time, several of these fugitives gathered in certain places, forming tribes. Further up, whites, Indians and mestizos also started to inhabit the quilombos, adding, however, a smaller number of the population.
throughout the brazilian history, several quilombos were registered, some with large numbers of inhabitants. O Quilombo dos Palmares, for example, which actually consisted of a group of 10 nearby quilombos, had an estimated population of 20,000 in the 17th century.
There are still quilombo communities today that resist the urbanization and try to keep their way of life simple and in contact with nature, but often living in precarious conditions due to the lack of natural resources and the difficult integration into urban life. tribal.
There is a difficulty, for example, in accessing health and education. Because of this, since the early 2000s, there is a government attempt to demarcate quilombo lands so that they are not taken over by farmers, loggers and land grabbers and so that there is a greater guarantee of survival for the communities that live in them.
The extinct Special Secretariat for Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality (seppir), created in 2003 and extinct in 2015, followed and tracked the quilombola communities. The National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra), by Decree n. 4,887 of 2003, is the federal agency responsible for the demarcation and titling of quilombola lands in the country.
In addition to these entities, the Fundação Cultural Palmares, a public agency linked to the former Ministry of Culture (incorporated to the Ministry of Citizenship), is responsible for the maintenance and preservation of cultural heritage quilombola.
See too: Beginning, characteristics, functioning and abolition of slavery in Brazil
Quilombolas and Indigenous
There is a general cultural proximity between quilombola populations and populations indigenous. Both groups live in a simple and integrated way with nature, taking most of their livelihood from the land. However, with the advance of urbanization, agribusiness and from unsustainable extractivism, the way of life of these communities and their preservation are at risk.
![Quilombo São José da Serra, in Rio de Janeiro. [2]](/f/c663e02f3c5a234cedee0b6ae4478f8d.jpg)
Just as many indigenous people do not live isolated from cities and rural communities, many quilombolas do not live like this either. Respect and greater actions to preserve these communities are needed so that their cultural heritage is not lost.
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Schools of Quilombola Communities
According to the Palmares Cultural Foundation, there are 1209 quilombola communities registered in Brazil and 143 quilombola areas with titled lands|1|. However, the education offered to these communities is still extremely precarious.
Educational facilities are inadequate, sanitary conditions are inappropriate for its operation, not there is drinking water or electricity in many of them, in addition to being far from the homes of many students. There is also a shortage of teachers, and the few professionals do not have adequate training and many classrooms are multigrade (they have students from various grades due to the low number of teachers).
Continuing education actions for teachers have been taken since 2007, in addition to the allocation of funds for basic education that contemplates the quilombola reality. However, despite the efforts of some governments to improve the education provided to communities quilombolas, there is still a lot to be done so that the conditions of this education are at least closer of the ideal.
Tradition of Quilombola Communities
It's hard to pinpoint a unique quilombola tradition, since the quilombos were formed and organized in the most diverse ways. First, it was not just African descendants who populated the quilombos. In addition to black peoples (which are predominant today in the ethnic composition of quilombo areas), there is a significant presence of indigenous and European descendants.
Organizations formed by quilombos were also the most diverse. There was a predominance of the tribal way of life in them, but many quilombos developed trading systems and some even established internal political systems such as kingdoms and republics.
It is the case of the Spring Quilombo, led, for a time, by the resistant leader Felipa Maria Aranha. This quilombo, located in what is now the southern state of Tocantins, was temporarily organized as a true republic, having a civil code, an army and a voting system. democratic.
despite the diversity of cultural backgrounds, some general features of african culture are present in quilombos, in addition to the religious syncretism of Afro-Brazilian religions, which they mix the traditional cult of orixás with Catholicism, and the cuisine, with several elements indigenous peoples. Quilombolas in general are very fond of traditional music, singing, dancing and parties.
O Pará municipality of Oriximiná, for example, is located in a region that houses several quilombos. There, there is an immense cultural diversity. On January 6th, there is the traditional Aiuê a São Benedito, a party in celebration of the patron saint of the Jauari community, São Benedito. In this community it is common to practice football as a favorite sport of men and women. The dances range from African rhythms, such as lundum and mazurka, to a traditional European rhythm, the waltz. The so-called “brega” music, which is widely heard in Pará, is also a favorite in the municipality of Oriximiná.
O municipality of São Bento do Sapucaí, 185 kilometers from the city of São Paulo, in Serra da Mantiqueira, is also home to a quilombola community. The handicraft produced there is a reference in quilombola art and keeps alive the cultural tradition of the ancestral peoples of the quilombo in that region. Using banana straw, corn and other natural elements, the artisans produce their items for sale in the city's tourist complex.
This community has also been celebrating, for over 50 years, the traditional Quilombo Party, kept alive by 86-year-old Luzia Maria da Cruz (better known there as Dona Luzia, the matriarch). The party is celebrated on May 13, the date on which the abolition of slavery in Brazil was sanctioned.
The typical foods of the quilombos are more determined by the region where they are than for an ethnic unity. In the Bahian quilombos, for example, acarajé is a typical delicacy. In the northeast in general, they eat a lot of couscous, which is no different in these communities. Tapioca and garapa (the traditional sugarcane juice) are also enjoyed in several quilombos across the country.
As for the religion worshiped in the quilombola regions, there is no specific one. Quilombos have several religious matrixes, with Candomblé, Catholicism and Protestantism being predominant. In them the syncretism between Catholic and Candomblé elements is also very present.
Know more: Differences between Candomblé and Umbanda
Brazilian states with the largest number of quilombos
With the exception of Acre, Roraima and the Federal District, all Brazilian states have quilombos. Although the Federal District does not have them, in the surrounding district regions belonging to Goiás they are present. The Brazilian states with the largest number of remnant quilombo communities are Bahia, which has 229 registered quilombos; Maranhão, with 112; MinesGeneral, with 89; and For, with 81 registered quilombola communities|2|.
At Quilombo communities in the Northeast they represent the majority of the quilombola concentration by region and maintain a strong tradition due to the existence of quilombos that have marked history, such as the Quilombo de Palmares. In Bahia, there are quilombola communities that suffered from the violence of land grabbers and ranchers, but today they are protected by Incra and by projects to restore their culture. Bom Jesus da Lapa it is a municipality that concentrates many remaining quilombo communities.
Image credits
[1] Ministry of Culture/commons
[2] Halley Pacheco de Oliveira /commons
[3] Renan Martelli da Rosa /Shutterstock
Grades
|1| Check the data by clicking on here.
|2|Check the data by clicking on here.
by Francisco Porfirio
Sociology Professor
