Ethnobotany and Indigenous Traditional Knowledge in Brazil: Contributions to Research in Ecopsychology

This paper is the result of an investigation of the flora and traditional knowledge in the conception of Javaé indigenous people from the Txuiri village located on Bananal Island, Brazil. The objective is to investigate the plants used by these indigenous people, their diverse uses and to understand how traditional knowledge is passed on to new generations. This is a quali-quantitative, descriptive and interdisciplinary survey, whose data collection strategies included the application of semi-structured questionnaires and collection of plants for cataloguing according to Angiosperm Phylogeny Group or APG III (2009). We identified 28 plant species, used for various purposes such as medicinal use, food, construction, craft and cultural, which were deposited in the Herbarium of the Federal University of Tocantins. Roots, stem and leaf are the plant parts most used by the community. The plants mentioned were most frequently found on the banks of the Javaés River and in the backyard of the residences. Significant traditional knowledge of these people about the plants are transmitted to new generations, through visual, orality and experimentation. Ethnobotanical studies strengthen research in ecopsychology while allowing research into the interactions between human populations and plants.