Water, land and memory in the “gerais” of the São Francisco River: Cabeceirinha, in Januária, Minas Gerais

Abstract

Over several decades, farming families moved to the "gerais" region of the Upper-Middle São Francisco River in northern Minas Gerais. With free access to land and water, the “geralistas” adapted management techniques that ensured abundant production until the end of the twentieth century, when the seizure of common lands in the name of “agricultural modernization” was followed by the implementation of conservation units. These changes were fundamental to the experiences of the rural population, and their narratives illustrate a combination of assessing changes in access to resources and territory with creating forms of resistance and adaptation to new ways of living, doing, and producing. Memory supports this assessment and confrontation. This article analyzes the relationships between population, land, and water in the Cabeceirinha community, on the banks of the Pandeiros River, one of the last living rivers in this region. Ethnographic and social research techniques are used to discuss from stories and memories how land, legal, and environmental restrictions have changed customs while simultaneously forming the foundation of the daily recreation of living conditions.elocation-id: e2230111Recebido: 11.15.2021 • Aceito: 04.07.2022 • Publicado: 05.20.2022Original article / Blind peer review / Open access