Lucas Guaraldo*
Anari Braz Bonfim is an indigenous researcher, anthropologist and activist born in the Coroa Vermelha Indigenous Land of the Pataxó people, in the south of Bahia. She holds a master’s degree in Ethnic and African Studies from UFBA (Federal University of Bahia) and is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). Throughout her career, she has worked for the preservation and recovery of extinct or threatened indigenous languages. She is also a member of the National Working Group for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, a Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) initiative that highlights the disappearance and preservation of indigenous languages and dialects around the world.
Since 1998, Anari and a group of teachers and researchers from the Pataxó people have been independently carrying out documentary and field research to recover historical records and the memories of elders with the aim of reviving their original language, Patxohã, which was declared extinct in the mid-19th century after centuries of colonization and conflicts in the region. The language is part of the Macro-Jê trunk, like Kayapó and Paraná, and of the Maxakali linguistic family. The term Patxohã means “warrior’s language” and its predominant use today is as part of traditional rituals and ceremonies.
To understand the lost language, Anari conducted an ethnographic study with Pataxó children and elders, gathering oral and written accounts of the people’s relationship with the language. They also investigated the processes that led to its apparent disappearance and how Portuguese teaching policies and the exodus to non-indigenous areas have jeopardized the perpetuation of the Patxohã oral tradition
For Anari, the preservation of indigenous languages is directly linked to the protection of the peoples themselves. Without the original language, she says, essential rites and stories for the maintenance of communities and territories are lost, damaging the cultural identity of these individuals and violating the basic rights of the original peoples.
“We have as much right to speak our language as people have the right to speak Portuguese and their languages. Indigenous peoples need this to exist and they must be respected with their diversity and specificities. They are an essential part of the preservation of indigenous peoples’ cultures, spirituality, territories and traditions. Our language echoes in our songs and dances. It is where the life of indigenous peoples lies,” she said.
Despite these efforts, Anari says that the process of reclaiming indigenous languages is still suffering the consequences of centuries of silencing and colonization. In addition, there are still few programs and public policies aimed specifically at teaching and preserving these languages.
“Throughout these 525 years we have been silenced. There were laws to ban our languages and now it’s time for us to stand up for our languages. Despite the 1988 Constitution guaranteeing the use of our languages, we still have a big challenge because we still don’t have a national language policy in all the states. There are guidelines for indigenous education, but we have a lot of difficulty because we don’t have programs aimed at indigenous languages,” she adds.
According to a survey by the Ibero-American Institute of Indigenous Languages, 38.4% of indigenous languages in Latin America and the Caribbean are at risk of disappearing. In Brazil there are 190 indigenous languages in danger of extinction: it is the third country with the most languages at risk. In this sense, researchers like Anari have been working for decades to reverse this process, creating mechanisms for preserving and recording traditional knowledge that would be lost if its speakers disappeared.