Quilombo de Souza e Mestra Maria de Tiê

Between 1695 and 1696, a large number of Africans arrived in Porteiras from the cities of Florestas and Belo Jardim in the state of Pernambuco, to work in the sugar mills, coffee plantations, and cattle ranching. They settled in the Araripe Plateau, where their cultural values ​​were planted and their history perpetuated from generation to generation. Today, a community remains on top of the Araripe mountain range, known as "Os Souza," which still, in a fragmented way, maintains the same habits, customs, and traditions. One of the figures responsible for the survival, rescue, and valorization of the Quilombola people is Mrs. Maria Josefa da Conceição - Maria de Tiê - one of the icons of traditional popular culture in Ceará, a Living Treasure of Ceará, with the title of Notable Knowledge in Popular Culture by SECULT CE and UECE. Mrs. Maria was born on 09/18/1958 in Porteiras-CE, and she is still a community leader and master responsible for keeping alive the Coco Dance and Maneiro-Pau in the Quilombola Community of Souza. As a descendant of Quilombolas, she lives in constant struggle for improvements and valorization of her people, and she was the one who, years ago, proudly recognized her origins by reopening space in the world for the strength and beauty of blackness and her Quilombola people. Through the Coco Dance and Maneiro Pau, Mrs. Maria coordinates activities bringing education and culture to children and teenagers from the entire Quilombo de Souza and neighboring communities, contributing to the preservation of local customs and the transmission of her knowledge to new generations. Brazilian and foreign visitors also come in search of cultural festivals and the source of ancestral knowledge represented by Mrs. Maria in Quilombo de Souza.