Xakriabá Voices:

Participatory Actions in the New Social Cartography as a Qualitative Methodology

Abstract

This article addresses participatory actions within the New Social Cartography and their relationships and implications as qualitative methodologies on the Xakriabá Indigenous Land, located in São João das Missões, northern Minas Gerais, Brazil. The aim is to promote the interdisciplinarity of participatory actions in the New Social Cartography as a participatory methodology, with the goal of promoting a dialogue between qualitative methodology and the experiences in the Xakriabá Indigenous Land and surrounding communities. The New Social Cartography extends beyond map production by utilizing community participation. Self-mapping and self-representation highlight the community's history, identity, and territorial dynamics. The research was developed through specialized literature review, documentary study of iconographies in historical maps, fieldwork with photographic records, and documentation of local narratives and institutional discourses. In the interdisciplinary context, three “participatory actions” are presented: the first with “recognition of the historical process”; the second with “instrumentalization of spatiality in territorialities”; and the last with “voices, realities, and lived experiences.” The study reveals that the New Social Cartography is a tool for autonomy and emancipation that strengthens the community's voice in preserving identity, forms, and solutions in the face of conflicts and resistances.