THE TERRITORY AS AN EXPRESSION OF SYNCRETISM IN THE DAILY PRACTICES OF THE QUILOMBOLA COMMUNITY OF MATA CAVALO (MT)

Abstract

This article examines the cultural and religious syncretism presente in the daily practices of the Mata Cavalo Quilombola Community, located in Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The study seeks to understand how the combination of cultural and religious elements contributes to the construction of the community’s territorial identity, considering its history resistance and its longstanding srtuggle for land rights. The research is based on a literature review and document analysis, which made it possible to identify how agricultural practices, tradicional knowledge, social relations, and cultural and religious celebrations express different forms of syncretism. These expressions strengthen the community’s sense of belonging to the territory and highlight the central role of memory and orality in the transmission of ancestral knowledge. The study concludes that the territory extends beyond its physical dimension, functioning as a symbolic space of resistance and cultural continuity.