Abstract
Based on oral testimonies of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, alongside documentary sources, this article is a (re)construction of the trajectory of an important indigenous leader of the Tapeba people, who stood out in the first half of the twentieth century: José “da Isabel” Alves dos Reis, or Zé Zabel Perna-de-Pau (wooden leg). Grounded on Vansina’s (1965)VANSINA, J. Oral tradition: a study in historical methodology. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1965. conceptual and methodological repertoire and inspired by ethnobiographical oeuvres (Albert, 2015ALBERT, B. Postscriptum: quando eu é um outro (e vice-versa). In: KOPENAWA, D.; ALBERT, B. A queda do céu: palavras de um xamã yanomami. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2015. p. 512-549.) and the notion of “social biography” (Werbner, 1991 apud Jimeno Santoyo, 2006JIMENO SANTOYO, M. Narraciones, historias de vida, autobiografías. In: JIMENO SANTOYO, M. Juan Gregorio Palechor: historia de mi vida. Bogotá: Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2006. p. 33-52., p. 48), I treat the set of narratives about Perna-de-Pau as an oral tradition. By (re)building his trajectory - physical characteristics and personal conduct, talents and skills, networks of kinship and relationships, leadership style and range, and territorial rooting - I wish to unveil important aspects of tapeba lifestyles and territorial expressions in the recent past, and dimensions of how they think of themselves as a distinct people and live in the territory they struggle to recover.
Keywords:
tapeba; indigenous people; oral tradition; social biography.