Ethnomycology of the Guajajara indigenous peoples of Maranhão, Northeast Brazil

The Cerrado biome is home to diverse traditional communities, including indigenous peoples. The Guajajara are present in this biome, occupying areas from the state of Maranhão to the northeast of Pará. Considering the importance of research into ethnomycological knowledge in indigenous communities for the preservation of culture and the environment, especially in relation to macrofungi, the aim of this study was to document and compile the uses of macrofungi by the original Guajajara peoples to evaluate and revitalize traditional knowledge among indigenous generations. The study was carried out in the Cana Brava reserve, located in Barra do Corda, in the state of Maranhão (northeast Brazil). The methodological approach used rapport techniques, semistructured interviews, guided tours, checklist interviews with photo albums and fresh or dried fungal samples, field notebooks and quantitative analysis via Use Value. Ninety-six indigenous people from the Pé de Galinha (28.2%) and Três Irmãos (71.8%) villages were interviewed, 54.1% female and 45.9% male. Discourse analysis revealed that Guajajara once used at least six of the 42 species documented. Although they no longer use them in their diet, they agree that Auricularia tremellosa (Fr.) Pat. was used in the diet of their ancestors. For recreational purposes, they use Calvatia rugosa (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) D.A. Reid, Geastrum hariotii Lloyd. and G. javanicum Lev. and occasionally for medicinal purposes: Pycnoporus sanguineus (L.) Murrill and Lentinus crinitus (L.) Fr. We can be sure that these villages do not have a total aversion to macrofungi and can be considered partially mycophilic. Vertical transmission is responsible for the dynamics of macrofungal knowledge. This study can contribute both to the appreciation and conservation of traditions and to Brazilian fungal biodiversity.