Tapuia Tarairiú

Tapará Lagoon

The community of the Tapuia Tarairiú people from the Tapará Lagoon is located in the metropolitan region of Natal, in the municipalities of Macaíba and São Gonçalo do Amarante. They have a population of one hundred and fifty families and a total of four hundred and thirty Indigenous people. They fight for territorial demarcation, their rights to unique education and health care and for accessing natural resources such as water, which has been subtracted from them to supply other locations and luxury condominiums. Nowadays, the Tapará Lagoon, which gives name to the community, is privatized, leaving the idigenous people with restricted access to it. The Indigenous families promote a Cultural Fair held in May of every year. This fair happens inside the Tapará Lagoon Indigenous Community Council and has a diversificated schedule of cultural activities such as Boi de Reis, Capoeira, Maculelê, Forró, João Redondo (mamulengo) and Indigenous sports such as peteca and corroveára (tree race). These activities aim to strengthen and enhance the identity of the Tapuia Tarairiú people from the Tapará Lagoon.