INDIGENOUS RIGHTS IN BRAZIL: THE PATH OF INDIGENOUS GROUPS THROUGH NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONS

Abstract

Our article presents the representation of indigenous cultures in the history of the constitutions of the country. It’s worth highlighting that since Brazil’s first Magna Carta --"Constituição do Império do Brasil", granted by Dom Pedro I on March 1824 -- until the 1988 Constitution, currently in effect, indigenous people were considered by the state as a transitory category, during which integration to the national community was mandatory. The 1988 Constitution, enacted after a period of political closure, was the first to dispose about indigenous rights. Therefore, we work with the following questions: How was the process of establishing the new constitution? Did the Indigenous Movement have actual influence over the final text? I.e., our main goal is to investigate the results of the trajectory of indigenous rights throughout history. In order to do so, we visited the National Congress archives and others archives. The researched files often embodied other subjects, so it was necessary to screen proceedings and reports to find the sections about indigenous peoples. In interviews with Álvaro Tukano (indigenous leader) and the journalist José Ribamar Bessa Freire we sought memories of the period.