Os processos de reetinização da umbanda no Ceará

Abstract

This essay evaluates the cultural change process of Umbanda as it is lound among indigenous groups that claim their ethnic recognization in the State of Ceara. This phenomenon is observed among the Pitaguaris, in the outskirts of Fortaleza, and the Tremembes, who live in the county of Itarema, the latter being the first group to be recognized by FUNAI. The Tore dance, which was claimed, at a certain time, by some, as a "thing of old Indians", became an indicator of Indian identity. When members of the Pitaguaris and Tremembes joined the Umbanda religious practices, this process was consolidated as diacritical mark to the reconstruction the Indians' ethnic identity, and lound in it a road to differentiate from Catholicism, that is, they lound a third space where cultural symbols can be reinterpreted and set apart for a particular purpose, a purpose of their own.