Abstract
This article is written by a young woman from the Karipuna of Amapá people. However, what is in it is not solely my own since the text comprises collective knowledge shared by all those who, like me, are Karipuna. The article discloses a series of reflections, the first of which is about the experiences I have with the ‘ancient women’ of my people during anthropological field research conducted with them. These experiences shaped other reflections regarding collective authorship, ‘autoethnographic’ writing, and the importance of indigenous people speaking and writing in our own terms. Finally, one last reflection concerns how the acts of learning and writing with relatives can be understood as a maiuhi, a word in Kheuol (the language spoken by my people), which when translated into Portuguese, means mutirão (joint effort) or ajudado (assistance) and that explains the relevance of collective work for the indigenous people of Oiapoque.
Keywords
Karipuna of Amapá; Indigenous people of Oiapoque; Indigenous women; Collective authorship; Autoethnography; Maiuhi