PELAS FRONTEIRAS DO MEDO: RESISTÊNCIA AO PROCESSO DE IMPLANTAÇÃO DO TURISMO NA ILHA DO MEDO – MARANHÃO, BRASIL

The article analyses a project for communitarian tourism at Ilha do Medo, Maranhão State and the local‟s reaction to tourists. It also analyses dialogues between natives people and tourism planners in the place. Local´s reaction to the attempt of turning the island into a new attraction at San Luis indicates their concern in preserving their way of life. To do so they use fear as a strategy to keep “invaders” at a distance. The analysis made possible to reflect on relationships between tourists and native people, understand the social network woven among tourism planners, natives and ethnographers in the field, as well as learning the flux at the boundaries of fear