Memories of the Terreiro da Goméia: between sacredness and desacralization

Abstract

Memory can be conceptualized as that human capacity to preserve specific information, feelings, and experiences that allow individuals to update past impressions or information, or to reinterpret them as the past. However, such action frequently takes place in the present and is not imbued with positions on the recollected facts. From archaeological excavations undertaken in the remnants of terreiro da Gomeia (at the city of Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro State) and the recollections gathered about its operation and succession crisis, this article aims to discuss the function of memory in the construction of narratives about that place, its functioning, the succession, and later destruction crisis. Gomeia was one of the major candomblé spots at Rio de Janeiro, having worked from 1951 to 1971 when its leader passed away and an inheritance crisis began. The formation of three strands on these facts demonstrates how political memory is, and how it aims at supporting some positions and points of view. The collected memories in research will be used as one of the supports for the construction of the archaeological interpretation of this candomblé terreiro at Rio de Janeiro.