The Politics of Indigeneity in Brazil: From Colonial Representations to Indigenous Activism Today

Abstract

Since the beginning of exploration in Brazil and initial encounters between explorers and indigenous peoples in 1500, indigenous peoples have had a brutal experience when defending their ways of life and values. The Brazilian Constitution of 1988 included a specific section on the relationship between the State and the indigenous peoples in Brazil, detailing a guarantee for rights and recognition of indigenous traditions and lands. The laws, however, have failed to be implemented effectively, which indigenous peoples today are protesting along with anthropologists through different mediums such as writing, photography, technology, and activism. The current Bolsonaro presidency has only further threatened the existence of indigenous peoples in Brazil. In order to attain justice for Brazil’s indigenous peoples, ideas of otherness that are remnants of a colonial past must be abandoned and traditional narratives of silencing a minority must be dismantled.