Na barra da saia dela tem ciência : Joana Pé de Chita, um dialógo sobre gênero na Jurema

Abstract

This research aims to analyze a trajectory of the master Joana Pé de Chita focusing her relevance as a religious woman, resistant to police repression against Afro-Brazilian cults. Among the points that justify the choice, is that it is an emblematic character within the Afro- Brazilian/Amerindian religions: the Catimbó (Sacred Jurema). Joana foot of cheetah comes from the town of Santa Rita, in the floodplain of the Paraíba do Norte river. This famous teacher at Jurema was a priestess, healer and a symbol of female resistance against police persecution experienced by people who practiced the various African cults in the country/PB until the 1960s. She presents herself with her various heteronyms as Joana Malhada, Maria Dagmar, Joana Caipora, Joana Amorim, Joana Lina or Joana Pé de Chita. Our Problem Issue was the question about the importance of Joana Pé de Chita in the fight against police repression against African cults in Paraíba. The methodology used was a qualitative approach of the documentary type, based on the material catalogued in books and in the Paraiba press, namely the newspaper A União e Correio da Paraíba in the first decades of the 20th century, bibliographic, participatory/ ethnographic field research and with the resource of oral history, where were interviewed mom Rita Preta de Oxalá and mom Lourdes de Oxum. As for the theoretical scope, we held a dialogue about gender within Jurema, in a discussion about the achievements of women, with emphasis on our subject , master Joana Pé de chita. Among the results achieved, we confirmed the contribution of Dona Joana in the fight for freedom of worship, resisting. We consider this research to be an affirmative action against religious racism and misogyny and we have produced a didactic material on the Catimbó/Jurema that can be used in basic religious education, contribute to academic research and to the Afro ameríndia community, safeguarding a memory of Joana Pé de Chita.