O domínio da tática: práticas religiosas de origem africana nos engenhos de Chapada dos Guimarães (MT)

This paper aims to discuss the maintenance of African-derived religious practices on the plantations of Chapada dos Guimarães (MT) based on the material culture recovered from contexts related to slaves and planters. It is affirmed that this material culture played a major role on the reproduction of these systems of beliefs in such a way that their structure still conforms the traditional religious practices of the local peasant population. “Since African Religion belongs to the people, when Africans migrate in large numbers from one part of the continent to another, or from Africa to other continents, they take religion with them. They can only know how to live within their religious context. Even if they are converted to another religion like Christianity or Islam, they do not completely abandon their traditional religion immediately: it remains with them for several generations and sometimes centuries” (Mbiti, 1991:14-15). 2VESTIGIOS-Dez2007-Symanski-02.pmd 20/12/2007, 11:08 9 Revista Latino-Americana de Arqueologia Histórica | Vol. 1 | No. 2 | Jul Dez | 2007 10 O DOMÍNIO DA TÁTICA