Traditional knowledge of the sea in a time of change: the Caiçara of Ilhabela, Brazil

TY - JOUR

T1 - Traditional knowledge of the sea in a time of change

T2 - the Caiçara of Ilhabela, Brazil

AU - Modeen, Mary

N1 - The author gratefully acknowledges the Global Challenge Research Fund, UK under the auspices of the Scottish Funding Council as partially funding this research. Further assistance was provided by the University of Dundee, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design Research Committee; and the University of Minnesota -Twin Cities sabbatical support.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - The Caiçara fishing communities of coastal Brazil, specifically on the island of Ilhabela, demonstrate traditional knowledge of the sea. This research project features collaborative engagements undertaken with them, with the aim of sharing their observations, wisdom and concerns. Caiçara live primarily by artisanal small-scale fishing, cultivation of modest crops, and recently, catering to tourists. Their ways of life have remained substantially unchanged hundreds of years, until recently. The pattern of their lives highlights changing ecological conditions, manifesting vulnerability of the ecosystem and traditional fishing practices. Linked intimately to the environment, their ways serve to magnify many of the world’s most pressing concerns about climate change, the need for conservation, the effects of governmental regulation and the devaluing of traditional knowledge. The representation – or misrepresentation – of a people to the wider world crucially shapes their fortunes and promotes or inhibits their ability to effect positive conditions in their environment. In recognition of a long debate in cultural geography about the methods, merits and pitfalls of representation, the necessity remains for some type of portrayal of a people, if for no other reason than to permit them to be politically recognised. This participatory fieldwork transcends disciplinary boundaries through active witnessing.

AB - The Caiçara fishing communities of coastal Brazil, specifically on the island of Ilhabela, demonstrate traditional knowledge of the sea. This research project features collaborative engagements undertaken with them, with the aim of sharing their observations, wisdom and concerns. Caiçara live primarily by artisanal small-scale fishing, cultivation of modest crops, and recently, catering to tourists. Their ways of life have remained substantially unchanged hundreds of years, until recently. The pattern of their lives highlights changing ecological conditions, manifesting vulnerability of the ecosystem and traditional fishing practices. Linked intimately to the environment, their ways serve to magnify many of the world’s most pressing concerns about climate change, the need for conservation, the effects of governmental regulation and the devaluing of traditional knowledge. The representation – or misrepresentation – of a people to the wider world crucially shapes their fortunes and promotes or inhibits their ability to effect positive conditions in their environment. In recognition of a long debate in cultural geography about the methods, merits and pitfalls of representation, the necessity remains for some type of portrayal of a people, if for no other reason than to permit them to be politically recognised. This participatory fieldwork transcends disciplinary boundaries through active witnessing.

KW - Caiçara

KW - artisanal fishing

KW - material culture

KW - observational ecology

KW - phenology

KW - traditional knowledge

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85096113400

U2 - 10.1080/08873631.2020.1839711

DO - 10.1080/08873631.2020.1839711

M3 - Article

SN - 0887-3631

VL - 38

SP - 50

EP - 80

JO - Journal of Cultural Geography

JF - Journal of Cultural Geography

IS - 1

ER -