Viviane Faver 

Surrounded by the Atlantic Forest, small indigenous villages still resist the invasion of construction companies and the exploitation of their resources by outsiders. One of these villages is Guarani Mbya, located just a few hours away from the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

Geni Vidal, the village’s Chief (known as Cacique in the indigenous language), emphasizes the essential role played by women in the community’s economy. They are responsible for crafting products that serve as the village’s source of income. These pieces are made with raw natural materials like bamboo, coconut trees for making bows and arrows, as well as wood from a tree known as urupá by the Guarani, sourced from Pico do Jaraguá.

After harvesting, it takes a week to prepare the wood, so they can only start crafting after seven days,” she adds.

Another famous artisan in the village is Monica Ara, who explains that each artisan has their own way of making the pieces. Tools such as chisels and pyrographs are employed, as well as glue and paint, among other things, throughout the process.

To prepare the paints, Monica Ara takes the raw material from nearby plants. ‘We have annatto, which is red, saffron, which is yellow, all planted here within the village,’ she reveals.

Each piece of craftsmanship has a meaning that can be linked to the spiritual world, the activity of war, and the cure of physical illnesses and illnesses. According to Monica Ara, the color red is used to prevent bad things from reaching a person, yellow represents freedom, green symbolizes hope, black signifies mourning, blue conveys tranquility, and orange symbolizes the sun and joy.

To get to the village, you need an authorized guide, such as Renato Crestinov, who managed to get closer to the indigenous villages in the region and open them up to bring tourists and researchers on tours after helping the community during the pandemic.

He highlights notable aspects that he has observed since he started going there regularly. ‘One notable aspect of Guarani culture is its well-defined division of roles between men and women, which appears more structured than what I observe in our contemporary society. However, when a woman or man wants to perform another activity, it is not a big problem. I have never seen any issue of LGBT phobia or transphobia or discrimination based on gender performance; quite the opposite.