Ancestral Lnowledge Pitaguary

Ka'aguy Mbo'e as a strategy for intergenerational revitalization of traditional knowledge about medicinal plants

Abstract

This study investigates the traditional knowledge of the Pitaguary people, with an emphasis on the use of medicinal plants and healing practices, with a view to cultural preservation and environmental education. Motivated by the urgent need to revitalize and value indigenous knowledge in a scenario of increasing urbanization, the study is based on interviews with elders – the “old trunks” – and young people from the community, revealing a gap in the transmission of knowledge between generations. To promote this connection and facilitate access to traditional knowledge, an informative guide called Ka’aguy Mbo’e (teachings of the forest) was created, containing detailed descriptions of medicinal plants and their applications. Ka’aguy Mbo’e, produced with the participation of community members, seeks to bring new generations closer to cultural practices that are being lost, in addition to functioning as a document of collective memory and cultural resistance. As a result, this work not only documents knowledge essential to the Pitaguary identity, but also offers a strategy for the continuity and valorization of these practices amid modernization, contributing to the affirmation of indigenous identity and the preservation of biodiversity.