VESTIGES OF GOLD AND MEMORY: THE FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF THE ARRAIAL OF OURO FINO IN GOIÁS

Abstract

This article aims to recover and analyze the historical trajectory of the Arraial of Ouro Fino, in Goiás, highlighting its relevance for understanding the territorial and cultural formation of the region. Inserted within the context of the mining cycle between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Ouro Fino emerged as a mining settlement driven by the discovery of gold veins near the Rio Vermelho. Despite its existence marked by the transience of gold exploitation, the Arraial left deep marks on the landscape, on social organization, and on collective memory, constituting itself as a symbolic space of resistance and identity. The methodology adopted combined the analysis of documentary sources, specialized bibliography, and oral testimonies from residents who preserve in their memories aspects of daily life, religious festivities, traditions, and community practices. The use of oral memory proved fundamental to understanding dimensions often silenced by official historiography, allowing ordinary subjects to inscribe themselves in the construction of history. In this way, the research shows how orality functions as a counter-archive, capable of challenging hegemonic narratives and reinforcing community belonging. The results indicate that, even in the face of physical abandonment and the absence of public preservation policies, Ouro Fino continues to be a living place of memory. Its ruins, legends, and religious rituals constitute both tangible and intangible heritage that connects past and present. It is concluded that revisiting the history of Ouro Fino is essential not only to value the cultural diversity of Goiás but also to reaffirm the role of memory as an instrument of resistance against forgetting.