Territory and domestic ecology among the Kaiowa of Mato Grosso do Sul

Abstract This paper aims to analyse the territorial dynamics resulting from the dissymmetric relationship between two processes of dominialisation in which the Kaiowa are involved in Mato Grosso do Sul. The first is represented by the process of territorialisation established by the creation of indigenous reservations and their management by the State, as well as the simultaneous and correlated formation of rural properties and urban centres. The second process, expresses the indigenous response to the territorialisation, through the ecology of their households, engendering adaptations in the activities of its members and strategies to regain control of their expropriated lands. Under these real conditions, the Kaiowa reflect on the configuration of their territorial spaces by creating important cultural categories related to them, thus revealing that territoriality is not an immanent and/or previously defined structure, but something that is historically constructed.