Biotemas (May 2004)
The cultural significance of plants of the Pernambuco indians: The Xucuru case
Abstract
The Index of Cultural Significance (ICS) created at the end of the 1980´s, aims to register the value of each vegetable species and to disclose its importance for the biological and cultural survival of a traditional community. Initially, the ISC was considered and applied in aboriginal communities in Canada and the United States. Aiming to verify its applicability for Brazilian aboriginal groups, it was used in the present work to evaluate the cultural meaning of the useful species for the Xucuru tribe, in pesqueira county, Pernambuco. In Brazil, it is the first time that this index has been used with a northeastern aboriginal community, the Xucuru, one of the seven tribes remaining in Pernambuco. From informal interviews, 97 useful species were registered among trees, shrubs and grass growing in the Pedra D’Água forest (Humid Ororobá-Forest), in yards, and in small cultivated areas in the village. The ISC provided a numeric order of importance for the plants registered in the Xucuru tribe, much like the one observed in the field. Musa paradisiaca was the species of greatest meaning for the community (ICS 120), followed by Rosmarinum officinalis (ICS 92), Xerophyta plicata (ICS 88), Aspidosperma sp. (ICS 84) and Cymbopogon citratus (ISC 80). The place of distinct prominence for non-native species of the area (exotic) evidences the importance that such species have acquired in the Xucuru culture.
