Importance of the Batiputá fruti (Ouratea fieldingiana Gardner Engl) in strengthening the culture of the Tremembé indigenous people of Barra do Mundaú, Itapipoca, CE.

Abstract

The territory of the Tremembé people of Itapipoca is located in the west of the state of Ceará and has a territorial area of 3,580 hectares. This territory is preserved by the indigenous people so that there is no deforestation by the “non-indigenous” present within the territory, in order to safeguard the medicinal plants that are of great importance to them. The objective of the present work was to verify the importance that the Batiputá fruit (Ouratea fieldingiana Gardner Engl.) has for the strengthening of the culture of the Tremembé people of Barra do Mundaú, state of Ceará. The research had an ethnographic and qualitative approach, being carried out through semi-structured interviews with indigenous members of the Tremembé villages of Barra do Mundaú. In the interviews, information was sought on the main characteristics of the fruit and how it is present in medicine, cuisine and festivities of the Tremembé people. A study on this fruit was necessary to emphasize its importance, aiming at greater knowledge and dissemination about it in indigenous culture.