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Socioeconomic Factors and Cultural Changes Explain the Knowledge and Use of Ouricuri Palm (Syagrus coronata) by the Fulni–ô Indigenous People of Northeast Brazil

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Socioeconomic Factors and Cultural Changes Explain the Knowledge and Use of Ouricuri Palm (Syagrus coronata) by the Fulni–ô Indigenous People of Northeast Brazil. The contact of indigenous people with non–indigenous societies has provoked socioeconomic and cultural change. One of the main consequences of these changes is the deviation of cultural traits, which may be related to a decrease in traditional knowledge of natural resources. We collected data on the knowledge and usage of the Ouricuri palm (Syagrus coronata), cultural change variables, and socioeconomic profiles of artisans of the Fulni–ô indigenous community of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. We found that diversity of resources for craft production and higher levels of education were related to a higher knowledge of Ouricuri palms. The practice of collecting Ouricuri leaves is maintained by younger artisans, those who diversify the resources for craft production, and those who diversify their income-generating activities. However, Fulni–ô who used leaves from such species had lower levels of education compared with those who did not use them, demonstrating that higher educational levels contribute to the maintenance of Ouricuri knowledge, but not to the Ouricuri leaf usage.

Mudanças culturais e fatores socioeconômicos explicam o conhecimento e uso do Ouricuri (Syagrus coronata) pelo povo indígena Fulni–ô no Nordeste do Brasil. O contato de povos indígenas com sociedades não indígenas tem provocado mudanças socioeconômicas e culturais. Uma das principais consequências dessas mudanças é a perda dos traços culturais, o que pode estar relacionado com a diminuição do conhecimento tradicional a respeito de recursos naturais. Foram coletadas informações relacionadas ao conhecimento e uso da palmeira Ouricuri (Syagrus coronata), variáveis relacionadas a mudanças culturais, além de identificar o perfil socioeconômico de artesãos da comunidade indígena Fulni–ô de Pernambuco, Nordeste do Brasil. Verificamos que a diversidade de recursos para a produção de artesanato e um maior grau de escolaridade estavam relacionados ao maior conhecimento a respeito da palmeira Ouricuri. A prática de coletar folhas de Ouricuri é mantida por artesãos mais jovens, por aqueles que diversificam os recursos para a produção de artesnato e aqueles que diversificam suas atividades geradoras de renda. No entanto, os Fulni–ô que utilizavam folhas dessa espécie apresentaram menores níveis de escolaridade quando comparados àqueles que não as utilizavam, demonstrando que maiores níveis de escolaridade contribuíram para a manutenção do conhecimento sobre o Ouricuri, mas não para a manutenção do uso das folhas dessa espécie.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Fulni–ô indigenous people and the members of the Laboratory of Ecology and Evolution of Social–ecological Systems (LEA) of the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) for support during data collection.

Funding

The authors thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for the Ph.D. scholarship granted to JLAC and the productivity grants in research granted to UPA and ELA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos, Centro de Biociências, Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Juliana Loureiro Almeida Campos & Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque

  2. Laboratório de Ecologia Vegetal dos Ecossistemas Nordestinos, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Elcida de Lima Araújo

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Orou G. Gaoue

  4. Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, Parakou, Benin

    Orou G. Gaoue

  5. Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, APK Campus, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Orou G. Gaoue

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  1. Juliana Loureiro Almeida Campos
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  2. Elcida de Lima Araújo
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  3. Orou G. Gaoue
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  4. Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Juliana Loureiro Almeida Campos or Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque.

Ethics declarations

For our research, authorization was requested from the National Commission of Ethics in Research (CAAE 24211014.0.0000.5207), National Indian Foundation (authorization no. 04/AAEP/PRES/2015), National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (case no. 2000.000203/2014–35), and System of Authorization and Information in Biodiversity (authorization no. 41944–1).

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Campos, J.L.A., de Lima Araújo, E., Gaoue, O.G. et al. Socioeconomic Factors and Cultural Changes Explain the Knowledge and Use of Ouricuri Palm (Syagrus coronata) by the Fulni–ô Indigenous People of Northeast Brazil. Econ Bot 73, 187–199 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-019-09457-0

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