Name: LUÍS AUSSE
Publication date: 06/08/2025
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ADAYLSON WAGNER SOUSA DE VASCONCELOS | Examinador Externo |
| JOÃO BAPTISTA AMIDE | Examinador Externo |
| JOAO CLAUDIO ARENDT | Presidente |
| LUIS EUSTAQUIO SOARES | Examinador Interno |
| MICHELE FREIRE SCHIFFLER | Examinador Interno |
Summary: This thesis, titled “Yawo mythology: the value of things in the preservation of natural resources
in the Niassa Special Reserve (REN)”, aims to investigate how mythical narratives help with the
preservation of natural resources in REN. Specifically, it intends to describe the origin, uses and
customs, beliefs and experiences of the Yawo people, and characterize the mythical narratives of
natural resource preservation produced by the Yawo community. Moreover, it presents the
constitutive relationship between the ancestral knowledge and the religiosity of the community,
and analyzes the contribution of mythical narratives to the preservation of natural resources.
Methodologically, we used the interview method, whose interaction involved eighteen subjects.
At this stage, the work consisted of formulating in-depth questions with some of the residents,
community leaders, hunters and local medicine practitioners. Our goal was to learn more about
the settlement of the Yawo people in the region where REN is located today, the formation of the
Nangwaale dynasty, the routes of migration, from the region of origin of the Yawo people to
Mecula, their connection with nature, their myths and rituals involving the use of plant parts or
animal sacrifices, and their offerings to deities and spirits, among other topics. The research
focused on four conservation areas: Chiulesi Project, Mariri Investment, Luwire Wildlife
Conservancy and the community of Matondovela, with a view to surveying and recording all
Sacred Bodies. To complement these methods, old documents from the local government and
National Ethnography Museum were analyzed to verify the years in which the three
administrative posts were established and compare the official registration of names that have
animal and plant origins. Ultimately, it was discovered that the life of the Yawo people is
founded on worldviews and world perceptions, whose interpretation is challenged in a symbolic
language. In view of this, there are Sacred Bodies (lakes, mountains, forests) and Supernatural
Beings that are evoked as a condition for the divine to provide for the preservation of nature and,
therefore, the full life of the Yawo people. This study has a huge difference in relation to
ethnographic research and opens a new front for literary studies. Furthermore, it is expected to be
innovative and useful when reflecting on the contribution of local knowledge to tackle
environmental issues. Hence, it is necessary to adopt strategies that favor an equal path between
Western currents of natural resource conservation and mythical narratives.
Keywords: Yawo people; Divinity; Mythical narratives; Natural resources; Ancestry.
