In this video, Sensei Miwa describes how the process for graduating from Kendo works, how the exam works to advance, your graduation and the places where the exams are taken. Interview with Sensei Elzami Miwa Onaka conducted by project coordinator Daniel Granada.

A resident of Taquaruçu, now the city of Fraiburgo, on the Santa Catarina plateau, who was a child at the time of the war, reports a scene of bombing:

“The government’s strength also tightened in the end. It had a stronghold, which began to be bombed by cannon, so everyone ran to the church to protect themselves. Soon a cannon shot hit the church, which was crowded with children and women, caught fire, almost all died, this I saw”.

The image of a church crowded with women and children being burned in the redoubt of Taquaruçu is a harsh memory kept by those who witnessed the tragedy. The strength of these memories is associated with strong emotional impacts caused by different images of the war. For a long time there was a kind of public silence about the Contestado War, out of interest of the state governments and the shame and fear of those who lived through this War. From the end of the war until the 1980s, this subject was not the object of public attention, although there was already a large production of military personnel and academics on the subject. Only in the 1980s did the Contestado conflict come to be remembered in different ways by social movements, state agencies and academic researchers. However, a large part of the population descended from the followers of the monk José Maria still has a war memory strongly impacted by the version of the victors and the resentments of the people.

Monk John Mary Grotto

This monument pays tribute to the healer who inspired the Contestado War, the Monk João Maria. The legend tells that João Maria always camped near fountains and that the water was blessed and became miraculous. In front of the cave is the Araucarias Lake, a historical landmark formed at the time of the foundation to supply houses and sawmills. This monument is a tourist point of the city, contributing to keep alive the memory of the War, attracting tourists who pass through the cave to know a little more about the history of the region.

John Mary Grotto; Source: Radio Fraiburgo.

John Mary Grotto; Source: Tripadvisor.

John Mary Grotto; Source: Hotel Fraiburgo.

Araucarias Lake; Source: blog lanofrai.

Reference

MACHADO, Paulo Pinheiro. Guerra, cerco, fome e epidemias: memórias e experiências dos sertanejos do Contestado. Rio de Janeiro, 2011. Disponível em: <https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2237-101X2011000100178>. Acesso em: 25 nov. 2020.

Interview with the Memory Keeper Aldair Goetten de Morais conducted by the project coordinator Professor Daniel Granada. This podcast is the fourth in a series about Contestado. Realized by the team of the Culture and Identity Project in the Planalto Catarinense – extension project of the UFSC – Curitibanos campus.

Edition by Alexandre Lima de Oliveira.

Art by Karen Wesseler Jung.

Narration by Francine Almeida

Photo by Evandro Badin.

In this video, Sensei Miwa recounts the experience she had in her first trip to Japan at the age of 17 years old and later for her master’s degree, portrays the main differences between Brazil X Japan customs, differences in Kendo and its forms of training, among other experiences she lived there.

This series is the result of an interview with Sensei Elzami Miwa Onaka by the project coordinator Professor Daniel Granada.
Edition by Alexandre Lima de Oliveira.

Art and legend by Karen Wesseler Jung.

Interview with the Memory Keeper Aldair Goetten de Morais conducted by the project coordinator Professor Daniel Granada. This podcast is the third in a series about Contestado. Realized by the team of the Culture and Identity Project in the Planalto Catarinense – extension project of the UFSC – Curitibanos campus.

Edition by Alexandre Lima de Oliveira.

Art by Karen Wesseler Jung.

Photo by Evandro Badin.

Interview with the Memory Keeper Aldair Goetten de Morais conducted by the project coordinator teacher Daniel Granada. This podcast is the second in a series about Contestado. Realized by the team of the Culture and Identity Project in the Planalto Catarinense – extension project of the UFSC – Curitibanos campus.
Edition by Alexandre Lima de Oliveira.
Art by Karen Wesseler Jung.
Photo by Evandro Badin.

In this video, Sensei Miwa tells about her vision of what Kendo is like in Brazil compared to her experience in Japan.

This series is the result of an interview with Sensei Elzami Miwa Onaka by the project coordinator Professor Daniel Granada.

Edition by Alexandre Lima de Oliveira.

Art and legend by Karen Wesseler Jung.

In this video, Sensei Miwa tells about her life trajectory linked to the practice of Kendo and how the practice began in Celso Ramos colony. This series is the result of an interview with Sensei Elzami Miwa Onaka by the project coordinator Professor Daniel Granada.

Edition by Alexandre Lima de Oliveira.

Art and legend by Karen Wesseler Jung.

Interview with the Memory Keeper Aldair Goetten de Morais conducted by the project coordinator teacher Daniel Granada. This podcast is the first in a series about Contestado. Realized by the team of the Culture and Identity Project in the Planalto Catarinense – extension project of the UFSC – Curitibanos campus.
Edition by Alexandre Lima de Oliveira.
Art by Karen Wesseler Jung.
Photo by Evandro Badin.

The Contested War brings with it a very important trajectory marked by caboclo women who defended their lands, whether in acts of war, blessing peoples, caring for homes, or even for seizures. In a way, they all had fundamental roles and deserve due recognition in history. Because it was considered a holy war due to messianism and religious fanaticism, some women considered “virgins” by the leaders of the strongholds and by the Monk José Maria, had a great influence on the people of the sertanejo. These women continued with the monk practicing benedictions, psychic powers and helping in prayer.

The women were considered ‘virgins’ when they stood out in the purity of the soul and not necessarily biologically virgins, because there were married women among them. But the ones who stood out the most were the teenagers. Among the women who stood out for their acts were: Maria Rosa, Chica Pelega, Nega Jacinta and the virgin Teodora, each with their own particularities and stories.

Maria Rosa was the most prominent female figure at the time of the strongholds, due to her qualities attributed to her as commander and seer. At the age of fifteen, she was speaking with the monk José Maria in the midst of prayers. In trances, she had visions of battles. Because of these facts, she was the one who organized the group’s behavior through the orders received by the monk’s spirit. In 1913, Maria Rosa became the military chief leading the strategic retreat to the new stronghold of Caraguatá, after the first battle in Taquaruçu.

She commanded not only the redoubt in which she lived but also nearby redoubts by means of expeditions, designating who would be her commanders. He distinguished himself from others by his leadership, as a warrior, saint, leader, heroine and guide of caboclo people, and should be historically remembered for his dedication to Contested.

Image of Maria Rosa

Another great influence in history was Chica Pelega, who since she was a little girl demonstrated her skills with herbs and animal care. Such abilities were understood as gifts given by the monk. The story tells that his family came from Rio Grande do Sul and that Chica’s mother could not get pregnant for unknown reasons, until her father found ashes supposedly from a fire made by the monk João Maria, and with the ash he sewed two bundles of cloth making two amulets, one for him and one for Chiquinha, Chica Pelega’s mother. After that, even the harvests improved greatly, both multiplied in faith and Chiquinha got pregnant.

Due to this fact that there was so much relationship between Chica Pelega and the monk. After the tragic episode of seeing her father, her uncle and the family of her future fiancé all killed by jagunços, Francisca Roberta (this is believed to be the real name of Chica Pelega) and her mother go to Taquaruçu.Soon Chica gained admiration for taking care of the sick and children.  After years of fighting for justice, Chica Pelega dies in a conflict against government troops that attacked the strongholds of Taquaruçu.

Nega Jacinta was already known and called a saint for taking care of the sick, giving births, praying and blessings. There are not many bibliographical records, but from what is known she lived in a cave known today as Santa Emídia, a locality of Rio do Tigre, in the city of Três Barras – SC. It is said that in this same place she sheltered the monk João Maria d’Agostini, thus making it a place much sought after by the faithful. It has become worthy of respect and admiration for the care of people, marking its presence in the history of war.

Another female figure who gained great prominence was the Virgin Theodora, known by the caboclos for her visions, which gave hope to the population. She passed on to the caboclos orders given by the monk in his visions, and they obeyed them with great faith and hope. Theodora was a disciple of Chica Pelega, which also contributed to the increase of her reputation. Among the women who stood out, she was the only one with whom he had contact for research and interviews.

When interviewed by Mauricio Vinhas de Queiros, Teodora said that her visions of the monk were nothing more than the inventions of her grandfather Eusebio and other leaders who did this as a way to convince the people, legitimize their decisions and direct them. Teodora got married twice, had eight children and finally in 1979 died at 78 in the city of Curitiba – PR.

Image of the Virgin Teodora

Text by Alexandre Lima de Oliveira

References

GRIMES, Suelen Ramos. Jornalismo e questões de gênero: um olhar sobre a invisibilidade das mulheres na guerra do contestado. p 11-57, Criciúma, 2016. Disponível em: <http://site.satc.edu.br/admin/arquivos/30070/Seuelen_Grimes.pdf>. Acesso em: 25 jun. 2020.

TRENTO, Aline Eloíse, et al. Guerreiras imortais do contestado, as que tudo viam e faziam durante a guerra de extermínio. p 276-290, Londrina, 2014. Disponível em: <http://www.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/Geographia/article/view/20295>. Acesso em: 25 jun. 2020.

Guerra do Contestado. Os reflexos cem anos depois. Entrevista especial com Paulo Pinheiro Machado. Instituto Humanitas Unissinos, 2012. Disponível em: <http://www.ihu.unisinos.br/entrevistas/514385-guerra-do-contestado-os-reflexos-cem-anos-depois-entrevista-especial-com-paulo-pinheiro-machado> Acesso em: 23 jun. 2020.