The Grammar of the Relationship with the Land between Quilombolas from Maranhão and Peasants from Sertão do Piauí

Abstract

In this article, an effort is made to decipher the grammar of relationships with the land between quilombolas from villages in the interior of Alcântara, in Maranhão, and peasants from the sertão, in Southeastern Piauí. For these populations, the meanings of land go beyond the agrarian and incorporate in their relationships other beings, in addition to men and women. Furthermore, land is the category by which men and women refer locally to their living spaces, but they also speak of territory, especially when they are organized in struggles for land. We propose that the grammar of relationships with land-territory implies systems of differentiated uses and combined rights between the collective and the individual. This article intends to be a contribution to the understanding of common use systems proper to many traditional populations in Brazil.