Abstract
The article analyzes a set of knowledge, techniques and care related to pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium, used by a network of Karipuna and Galibi-Marworno women from the Uaçá river valley, Oiapoque (AP), experts in “pulling the belly” (halevã). It aims to show this activity articulates understandings of these two populations about fertility, women’s health, pregnancy, childbirth and childhood, enunciated around the concept of the “mother body”. By emphasizing the period immediately before and after birth, it is intended to shed light on this childhood phase, which has been little studied, and to show its agency and dispositions are also recognized by adults, as it happens with older children. By presenting the composition of a supra-ethnic network for the circulation of female knowledge, the article aims to provide a reflection on modes of learning, notions of person, corporeity and childhood.
Keywords:
Karipuna; Galibi-Marworno; corporeity; pregnancy