The night of the 22nd of September, in the city of Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil, was marked by the formation of a Women’s Council in the Indigenous village Tekoá Tarumã, of the Guarani ethnic group, located in the town of Araquari, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
The event had the participation of members of the Network-of-Light of the South of Brazil, representatives of the cities of Joinville, Balneario Camboriu and Sao Bento do Sul. Almost 90 people altogether were present, including Indigenous people, collaborators, sympathizers, teachers and invited people.
The Women’s Council is a tradition in Indigenous villages, which has the objective of giving support to their general activities, organizing them, regulate them, solve problems, preserve customs, traditions and religiousness. The Council makes decisions concerning internal issues and is hierarchically right below the Leader, known as “Cacique”.
About the importance of this work in the village, Mari, a member of the Council formed by 6 women, commented: “It is to unite all people of the community around the common good, thinking in the collectivity. The Council met for the distribution of donations, of work, of care with the children and to help harmony in the community”.
And she added: “When a family asks to come and live here, we give the guidelines: “there is the day of general cleaning, the day of moaning, of tidying the fences, of cleaning… There is a whole organization. In all there is the “how to do it”.
The event began about 9 p.m. of the 22nd, and extended for nine hours. Hymns were sung in the Guarani language, there was a discourse of the Pajé (Sage) and of the Tiramoys (those who have the ancestral wisdom of the Guarani culture).
The Network-of-Light made use of the moment to offer part of the food distributed in the ceremony, besides seedlings of fruit trees to be planted in the village, and wood for the building of a new room. Also the handing of a net handmade by Warao Indigenous people, from Venezuela, who are refugees in Roraima.
