There is a quilombo, a settlement of fugitive slaves, in the area known as Pedra do Sal. That is what Damian Braga, president of the Association of the Reborn Community of the Pedra do Sal Quilombo said. And there have been advances in the process of its being officially demarcated.
The municipality sanctioned a proposal in 2014 by then councillor Eliomar Coelho (of PSOL), creating an Area of Special Cultural Interest for Pedra do Sal. The National Institute of Colonisation and Agricultural Reform (Incra) did a technical report to identify and mark the limits of the Quilombo, published in 2010 in the Official Diary of the Union. “We have recognition from the Palmares Foundation, which is a federal government organisation, as being a Afro-Brazilian Heritage. Now all is missing is the deeds from Incra, the state and the municipality,” Braga said.
According to him, Incra has the power to give formal deeds for 60% of the whole area, including homes. The municipality already has more than 40%, but up till now there has been no further progress. “Why hasn’t City Hall given us the deeds?” Braga asks. “Could it be that this area is the target of real estate interests?”
The photographer Mauricio Hora, born in Providencia, is also involved in the struggle for official demarcation of the Quilombo of Pedra do Sal. “We are black descendants of slaves here,” he said. “We have to fight for our right to stay here.”