Cartographic mirages: places and narratives of origin in dispute on the upper Uaupés river, State of Amazonas, Brazil

Abstract

This text deals with the recent experience of the Kubeo, who live on the Upper Uaupés River in Brazil (Northwest Amazon), in developing maps. I intend to show how the maps and their production participate in discussions related to claims to places and belongings by the groups involved, and how maps are linked to narrative knowledge referring back to the moment that humanity was created and the world shaped. To support its main argument, the article presents a contextualization of the Kubeo ethnography followed by the description of two experiences of mapping in the Upper Uaupés: the first, a trip to the place of transformation of the groups Yuremawa and Yúriwawa (known as Wakaipani), the second, the development of an Alto Rio Negro Territorial and Environmental Management Plan (Plano de Gestão Territorial e Ambiental do Alto Rio Negro - PGTA).

Keywords
Uaupés River; Kubeo; Narratives; Maps