COVID-19 pandemic for the Xavante people of the village of São Marcos (MT, Brazil)

reports from an indigenous leadership

Abstract

This article is the result of master's research carried out in 2022 on the socio-cultural processes and consequences caused by COVID-19 for the Xavante people, in particular for the families living in the São Marcos village in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. COVID-19 is an acute respiratory infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is potentially serious, highly transmissible and has been declared a global pandemic. It began in 2019 in China, and this virus has killed thousands of people around the world, especially indigenous peoples, traditional communities, homeless people, the poor and vulnerable social groups most exposed to the disease. Autoethnography was the method used to carry out this research and its methodology was the writing experience, made up of narratives by the Author/Writer, based on his memory of his people and life experiences. APIB (Brazilian Ariculation of Indigenous People) data from June 2022 shows that in Brazil more than 72,000 indigenous people have been contaminated; 1,312 deaths and 162 peoples affected, more than 50% of the peoples directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the Xavante people, participants in this research, 79 indigenous people died and in the village of São Marcos, the locus of the investigation, 18 people died. These deaths for indigenous peoples have a direct impact on their culture. This scenario has also highlighted the state's negligence in combating the pandemic, especially its disregard for indigenous health. Authors such as Heider (1975); Ellis and Bochner (2000); Barthes (1976), among others, provided the theoretical and methodological contexto for this research.