{"id":29297,"date":"2016-07-01T10:37:57","date_gmt":"2016-07-01T13:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=29297"},"modified":"2016-08-23T10:08:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T13:08:00","slug":"horto-history-with-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=29297","title":{"rendered":"Horto: History with Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Nestled today in the shadow of Christ the Redeemer, the Horto<\/a> community in the South Zone<\/a> of Rio de Janeiro was\u00a0founded by workers of the Botanical Garden, established in 1808, who were given permission\u00a0to settle on the land adjacent to the park\u00a0with their families.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the history of the favela\u00a0there\u00a0does not start then.\u00a0The first people who\u00a0lived permanently in the area were indigenous slaves in the 16th century, who were used as labor on nearby plantations. Unfortunately historians still lack information on whether the land was settled by indigenous Brazilians even before the colonial period.<\/p>\n

Emerson de Sousa, coordinator of the Horto Museum<\/a>, shows visitors the oldest surviving building in Horto, built by indigenous slaves. Estimates suggest it could date back to the first sugar cane plantation<\/a> in the area, which was established in 1575.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Emerson also points visitors to\u00a0a book of great importance to the community, published in 2005 and titled\u00a0Cacos de Mem\u00f3ria – experi\u00eancias e desejos na (re)constru\u00e7\u00e3o do lugar: o Horto Florestal no Rio de Janeiro <\/em>(Shards of Memory – experiences and desires in the (re)construction of place: Horto Garden\u00a0in Rio de Janeiro).<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2001, as part of a collaborative project called <\/span>Nossa Hist\u00f3ria<\/span><\/i><\/a> (Our History) with the NGO Ler e Agir, Horto residents began the process of revitalizing the role the community’s history plays today. Oral history classes were given to young people in the community and, armed with this knowledge, they interviewed some the oldest community members in an effort to rebuild knowledge and give visibility to local culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

The project resulted in a documentary<\/a>\u00a0and the Cacos de Mem\u00f3ria\u00a0<\/em>book, which\u00a0contains the testimonials and memories of 30\u00a0of Horto\u2019s oldest living residents. Below, a sample of quotes from the book demonstrate the vibrancy of historic knowledge, both recent and old, among the older residents and now the youth who interviewed them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Documents<\/a><\/p>\n

Quotes from the book demonstrate that the neighborhood’s slave origins still influence daily life in visible ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past this area here [Morro das Margaridas, in Horto] was a kind of slave quarters. The house here was called a <\/span>senzala<\/span><\/i>, that tall house where I lived. It was only one house, that was divided. The workers needed to live closer to their work, so the house was shared\u00a0between four or five workers\u2019 families.”<\/span><\/p>\n

– Sr. Paulo Antunes da Fonseca, 60 years old<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cHere at home we were always treated with herbs. Any problem with the liver or stomach, Mom always knew what herb to use. This was passed down and it passed down to me. When I have a problem with my liver, I don\u2019t think about taking chemical medicines, I take<\/span> boldo<\/span><\/i>. There are a lot of people here who ask me and I give them the recipe. I get <\/span>brejo, quebra-pedra, <\/span><\/i>they drink the tea and feel better. Everything that we use is here, they were brought over by African slaves<\/a>. They brought over roots and planted them here. Around here there are lots of plants that come from Africa.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

– Sr. Ismael Rego de Carvalho, 66 years old<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"'Respect<\/a><\/p>\n

After\u00a0its stint as\u00a0a sugar cane plantation, the land became a gun powder factory before\u00a0the Botanical Garden\u00a0gave permission to its workers to build their houses in the area that is now Horto, so they and their families could live closer to their place of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Director of the Botanical Garden allowed all our descendants\u00a0to live here. Only the park workers lived here, only the park workers. There was a storm that knocked down some eucalyptus trees. That was where the workers took the wood from to make their houses. The director ordered the tree trunks be\u00a0sent to the Botanical Garden and he gave everyone wood to make their houses. […] So it was the Director of the Botanical Garden himself who gave us the right to live here. No one invaded here.”<\/p>\n

– Sra. Elza Maria de Souza, 73 years old<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Horto<\/a><\/p>\n

Horto also has strong musical roots, and many residents remember the samba played by members of the community<\/a>, especially in Carnival blocos<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere during carnival we had rival blocos<\/em>: people from Horto wouldn\u2019t go to Balan\u00e7a, and vice versa, because of the bloco<\/em>. It was a big rivalry, like Vasco and Flamengo. But there was no fighting, there were just arguments about the samba, about which one was better than the other. We always had this amazing open samba with the people. They take this kind of thing very seriously during Carnival.<\/p>\n

– Sr. Bernardo Marcello de Sousa, 82 years old<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unfortunately, like many favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Horto has faced threats of removal over the years<\/a>.\u00a0One resident remembers Sr. Luighi Schicarino (Lili), the first person in the community to fight the threat of eviction<\/a>, when\u00a0a condo development was planned for the area in the 1960s.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf it weren\u2019t for Lili there wouldn\u2019t be anyone living here. Lili was the one who took the lead, stopping everything here from being demolished. I don\u2019t know how he managed it. I never participated actively. I know that he helped a lot. People who couldn\u2019t pay taxes, he would pay for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Sra. Ruth Batista de Almeida, 76 years old<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Horto<\/a><\/p>\n

The current Horto Neighborhood Association<\/a>, founded in 1982, continues the community\u2019s fight to resist removal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is happening now, this madness, is that they keep wanting to throw people out on the street. They keep on with\u00a0this shamefulness, saying we are squatters. People who have lived here for around\u00a0100 years. That\u2019s what hurts. Ah, you\u2019re always worried! I think it\u2019s a great social injustice to force people out of\u00a0their homes, of their habitat, and send them to any old place. It\u2019s horrible!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

– Sra. Cec\u00edlia da Rocha, 70 years old<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Horto Museum<\/a>\u00a0has collected historical documents to build\u00a0evidence\u00a0that residents of the community have the right to live in their homes, a right they have maintained\u00a0since the 1800s.<\/p>\n

Despite this, the future of the community remains uncertain. In March of this year Brazil’s\u00a0Environment Minister, Izabella Texeira, together with\u00a0the President of the Botanical Garden,\u00a0announced the removal<\/a> of 130 families from Horto, apparently to expand the area of\u00a0the Botanical Garden Research Institute.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the community is determined to fight the eviction<\/a> threat as it has been doing since the 1960s.<\/p>\n

\"Horto:<\/p>\n

The slogan “Horto: History with Roots” was prominently displayed at one of the\u00a0community\u2019s most recent protests<\/a>. The community remains committed to celebrating its unique history and using this strong sense of heritage and historical rights as a tool in the fight against eviction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas Nestled today in the shadow of Christ the Redeemer, the Horto community in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro was\u00a0founded by workers of the Botanical Garden, established in 1808, who […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":29298,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1293,1288,1290,1268,1271,336,1329],"tags":[2109,756,910,504,417,221,674,11,188,884,894,2111,1346,716,618,1292,518,18,270,420,571,279,156],"writer":[1964],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-29297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evictionswatch","8":"category-highlight","9":"category-civilsociety","10":"category-favelaculture","11":"category-favelaqualities","12":"category-violations","13":"category-by-international-observers","14":"tag-community-museum","15":"tag-community-organizing","16":"tag-creative-organizing","17":"tag-culture","18":"tag-elderly","19":"tag-favela-culture","20":"tag-memory","21":"tag-forced-evictions","22":"tag-history","23":"tag-horto","24":"tag-jardim-botanico","25":"tag-medicinal-plants","26":"tag-museu-do-horto","27":"tag-museum","28":"tag-neighborhood-association","29":"tag-organizing","30":"tag-organizing-tactics","31":"tag-protest","32":"tag-resistance","33":"tag-carnival","34":"tag-samba","35":"tag-slavery","36":"tag-south-zone","37":"writer-rhona-mackay"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29297"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=29297"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=29297"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=29297"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=29297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}