Políticas de resistência e de saúde: um estudo sobre problemas de saúde e práticas de autoatenção na comunidade indígena Tapuias Tarairiús da Lagoa de Tapará - Macaíba/RN

Abstract

This research was carried out with the indigenous people Tapuias Tarairiús from the Tapará lake, located on the border of the municipalities of Macaíba and São Gonçalo do Amarante, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Over the years, the Tapará community has faced health problems due to socio-environmental issues, such as deforestation, underground contamination, among others. According to the interlocutors, those issues are directly related to the group's health and well-being. To solve these broader health problems, the community has been demanding the demarcation of its traditional territory with FUNAI. Simultaneously, there are effective internal actions to intensify the use of self-attention practices, as well as promoting actions aimed at accessing public policies on indigenous health. Those action are proposed in the legislation and were not yet implemented in the Tapará community. Therefore, the research aims on the understanding of the multiplicity of problems and meanings of health in a group composed mainly of women. Methodologically, we used data such as interviews and field diaries, which were collected onsite during fieldwork, as well as materials collected in university extension workshops. All data was collected between 2017 and 2021. Finally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I used social networks to access people in the community and continue with the actions remotelly.