The actress, singer, songwriter and rabequeira Renata Rosa has been related for more than 20 years with the Kariri-Xocó who live on the banks of the São Francisco River in the municipality of Porto Real do Colégio in Alagoas. The singers – with their torés and rojões – together with a strong spirituality delighted the young artist who has since visited them frequently to spend long seasons with the Kariri-Xocó, participating in their rojão singing wheels, which became a strong reference and inspiration for her singing and its music. After many years singing together in Kariri-xocó territory, it was Renata’s turn to invite them to participate in their albums and later create together a show with which they performed in important Theaters and Radios abroad.
Eberu Suira and his sister Cema participated in a tour of Europe with Renata Rosa, including the important Theatre de la Ville in Paris, thus disseminating this culture brought by the memory of the teachings left by their ancestors. In addition to this record in this important theater, there are other informal meetings of Renata with Cema and Eberú in the village, showing intimacy and joy of the conviviality and singing together in records made by Melissa Huart.
The Pankararu are a people of Pernambuco and perform rituals such as the Toré and the Umbu Race, recorded in 2007 by researcher and musician Alfredo Bello. Players Eduardo no Pife and Antônio Sarrin in the armadillo tail celebrate the renewal of faith and culture of these people during the final part of the Umbu Race. Many Pankararu have migrated to São Paulo since the 1950s, and live mainly in the Real Parque community in Morumbi and in other locations in the capital and region, keeping their culture alive. The second part of the video shows Lidiane Pankararu’s participation with her group, opening the 15-year celebrations of Alfredo Bello’s World Best label.
Umbu Race Departure February
The Umbu Race is one of the most important rites of the Pankararu people of Pernambuco, it lasts for 3 months and its completion takes place during 4 weekends from Carnival Saturday. In this video, we see an excerpt of the ritual taking place on the second weekend, here the exit of the Nascente Terreiro, where the celebration takes place until mid-afternoon and leaves towards the Terreiro do Poente. The one who commanded this exit for many years was Pajé Francisco, who pulls the songs, who left us in July 2021. Alongside him, Dora and Barbara, two leaders of the Pankararu people, in front of the group the Pife and the Rabo de Tatu, important instruments of Pankararu culture.
The Praiás, which symbolize the enchants of the Pankararu, follow the exit, we also see people with branches of tiring, a type of Nettle used in the ritual by the Pankararu.
Pankararu Presentation in São Paulo
The Pankararu since the 1950s came to work in São Paulo and were located on the edge of the Pinheiros River. With the region’s gentrification, they were pushed to the area that today is the Real Park community. There they have a cultural association that maintains their cultural and religious practices. In the video, there is an excerpt from the Pankararu community’s presentation during the 15-year presentation of the Best World Seal project at Sesc Pompeia in 2019.
Recorded at Aldeia Multietnica, Chapada dos Veadeiros in Goiás in 2019, this song “Yaathelha Setsotwalha” is part of the repertoire and album “Cafurnas Fulni-ô – Woxtonã Yathe lha Kefkyandodwa Kefte” – “Come listen to Yathe, our language you’ve never heard”. The Fulniô-o are an indigenous people from Pernambuco and their songs are led by Naxiá Fulni-ô. The video begins with the narration of Fookhlyla Fulni-ô on the importance of singing in the language and protecting her culture. The Cafurnas Fulni-ô project is a tribute to Santxiê Tapuya Fulni-ô, in memory of his struggle and resistance at the Sacred Shrine of the Pajés – Brasília.
Gean Ramos Pankararu is a singer, songwriter and guitarist considered a revelation of Northeastern music and contemporary indigenous music. From the Pernambuco backlands in Jatobá, his music crossed the boundaries of the Pankararu village. Gean presents in this video recently composed songs such as The Rhymes, Old Pajés, Haikai, Nanã and Postcard Pankararu in scenarios in the rural Pernambuco region. Francisco, where he was born and raised. He has a 20-year career, with a guitar on his back and several copywriting compositions in his luggage.
Those who think there are no indigenous people in the Northeast are mistaken. According to IBGE data from 2010, the Northeast has the second largest indigenous population in Brazil (27.8%) represented by the Pankararu, Fulni-ô, Kariri-Xocó, Xucuru peoples, among others. Although, for many decades, these peoples did not call themselves indigenous because of strong repression by the State that prohibited them from speaking their languages and performing their rituals, a process of recovering those identities is currently taking place, strengthened by the Toré ritual, a spiritual expression of great importance in the indigenous Northeast.
In this round of conversation, the conversation will take place between singers Kariri-Xocó Cema and Eberu, who, in partnership with Renata Rosa, performed on some stages around the world promoting the polyphonies of these people. Alfredo Bello, musician and researcher recorded the Pankararu ritual that takes place in Pernambuco and talks with Lidiana Pankararu about the Imbu Race.