LEGACIES OF THE RIVERSIDE WOMEN OF ‘VELHO CHICO’: AUTOETHNOGRAPHY OF A RIVERBANK DWELLER

autoetnografia de uma beiradeira

Abstract

This article aims at reporting a process of transmitting historical, social, and cultural knowledge carried out by riverside women in their daily lives along the banks of the Rio Grande, more precisely within a region of a municipality located in the territory of the São Francisco River, known as ‘Velho Chico’. This river serves as a working environment for the local population and is closely tied to the survival of the people who have inhabited its shores throughout the history of the municipality. The shared knowledge is considered here as an ancestral legacy passed down to women of different generations. The report, stemming from orally transmitted narratives, is supported by autoethnography and is grounded in reflections on the significance of riverside women in an emotionally connected geographical space. The reflections' outcomes indicate that riverside women, during their gatherings by the riverside, share, teach, and develop skills associated not only with their own survival but also with the connections they establish with the territories of their birth. These learnings and connections emerge as crucial, both in terms of valuing the legacy of riverside women and in strengthening the emotional and identity bonds they establish with the river, as well as in relation to the care for and preservation of river waters, which are indispensable for the populations residing along their banks.