Since 1995, the Ylê Asé de Yansã, a Traditional Community of Terreiro (the African Yoruba Jeje sacred land where the values and beliefs of this community are rooted) is located in a rural settlement area in the municipality of Araras, in the State of São Paulo.

 

The settlement results from a process of struggle for the right to land, consolidating the community as a quilombo.  From the strategical perspective of quilombo being the place against the colonial establishment, a quilombo is a form of resistance to the context of the oppression faced by our community, where the use of land enables material and immaterial healing and create new possible ways to flourish.

 

Our community is registered as OSCIP (Civil Society Organisation in the Public Interest – third sector organisation). We are a Point of Culture and Memory recognised by the State of São Paulo. Our Ylê follows matriarchal principles of quilombo (making home and community with Afrocentric perspectives to protect, praise and pass on the culture of Black people), led by Doné  Oyassy (Rosa Maria Virgulino) and Tata Kejessy (Elvio Motta).