Memory ethnographic photo of three anthropological reposts with quilombola communities in the interior of Pernambuco State, Brazil.

Abstract

This essay aims to show, briefly, general aspects of three rural black communities (remnants of quilombos), in which Anthropological Reports were made for identification and territorial delimitation. In the construction of these reports, as a research technique, photography was used. "The proposal here is the use of visual anthropology as an autonomous narrative resource in the function of converging meanings and information about a given social situation." (Achutti, 1997: 13). The communities shown here are located in the semiarid region of the state of Pernambuco, Brazil.

n Brazil, anthropological reports (also called reports or expert reports) have been demanded by indigenous groups and quilombola remnants through administrative or judicial proceedings.

In this sense, the concepts and conceptions about quilombo remnant territories must be detached from the idea of quilombo as the site of “black runaway slaves”. The theoretical reference for the construction of a quilombola identity in contemporary times is based on self-attribution criteria, supported by Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO). The anthropological reports, unlike a legal-administrative proposal that aims to affirm or deny the identity of a group, seeks to understand what are the elements and mechanisms, triggered in the construction and assumption of an identity such as the “remnant of quilombos” ( Cantarelli, 2008).

Thus, the gap between the legal field and the anthropological field gets smaller. Mutual contributions are what characterize the report in its ultimate end: the definition of a territory for a group based on its identity built on its categories of appropriation of a space of sociability and production based on an ethnic identity. “And in this sense everything expands: the dialogue is not only with the legal, but encompasses society and various areas of knowledge, discourses, actors and sometimes antagonistic interests. (MILK, 2000: 67).

Regarding the use of photography as an “auxiliary” resource in research, we emphasize its importance beyond the merely illustrative aspect, as it is known that. In this paper, we understand photography or photoetnography as a necessary element for the composition of the Anthropological Report.This is the perception that guided these reports and here we present a textual and image synthesis that, in this context, serves to give visibility to these quilombola communities. The State of Pernambuco brings together more than 100 Quilombola communities across the state, according to the Pernambuco Quilombola Communities State Commission. Currently, 1228 communities are certified by the Palmares Cultural Foundation across the country, according to self-recognition criteria, 83 from Pernambuco - 2 in the metropolitan region, 2 in the forest zone, 33 in the wild and 46 in the backlands.The three communities presented here are located in the backlands, Massapê (in the municipality of Carnaubeira da Penha), Buenos Aires (in the municipality of Mirandiba) and Santana (in the municipality of Salgueiro).