QUILOMBOLA COMMUNITY OF ATOLEIRO: HISTORIES, ORALITIES AND AQUILOMBAMENT

Abstract

The present article aims to discuss the importance of the oral tradition of the Atoleiro Quilombola Community, located in Caetés-PE, through the study of its stories and oral histories. Throughout the text, we will highlight how this culture of orality can be understood as a movement of quilombamento, as well as how the exchange of experiences between the elders and youth of this community can contribute to the perpetuation of ancestral knowledge within it. To do so, we will discuss three layers/concepts: the history of the community, oral traditions, and quilombamento, as a form of resistance that spreads among the youth through the teachings provided by oral tradition. We will also analyze how these practices are experienced through interviews conducted by the "Quilombola Youth Commission of Atoleiro," a group organized by the community itself with the central purpose of rescuing and strengthening its culture. We will then narrate the history of this Quilombo from the perspective of its residents. Moreover, through the analysis of this history, we seek to contribute to a broader understanding of what it means to be a "quilombola" in order to eradicate the erroneous view of a quilombola as merely a "runaway slave.