Abstract
In the Dourados Reserve of Brazil, the Guarani (Kaiowá and Ñandeva) and Aruak (Terena) communities sustain a sacred interspecies relationship wherein dogs are integral to cosmological, spiritual, and communal life. These animals transcend domestication, functioning as protectors and conduits of ancestral continuity. However, this relational ontology is increasingly disrupted by biomedical narratives that designate dogs as reservoirs of leishmaniasis—a zoonotic disease prompting state-sanctioned culling. This emergent research project employs medical anthropology and participatory action research to examine the disjuncture between imposed public health measures and Indigenous life worlds. Rather than privileging technocratic solutions, we aim to co-develop practices grounded in epistemic plurality and cultural legitimacy. Early collaborations reveal the potential of integrative strategies: community-led health education interwoven with traditional storytelling, the ethical use of insecticide-treated collars as alternatives to euthanasia, and the creation of culturally negotiated disease-management protocols through sustained dialogue between healers, health professionals, and community members. These responses are not conciliatory middle grounds but assertions of epistemic justice. The study argues that genuine health equity arises from the recognition—and not erasure—of ontological difference. By foregrounding Indigenous cosmologies and spiritual imperatives, we propose a model of intercultural public health that is co-constituted, relationally robust, and locally meaningful.
Presenters
Maria Beldi AlcantaraResearcher and Professor in Medical Anthropology, Indigenous Health, Cultural Dialogues, and Rights, Medical Faculty at Universty of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Indigenous Spiritualities in Global Perspective
KEYWORDS
Epistemic Justice, Intercultural Health, Relational Ontology
