Redefining identities, redefining landscapes: indigenous identity and land rights struggles in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Amazonian ecological and cultural landscapes have been cause for debate between environmental and development agencies that have attempted to re-configure them into conservation regions and frontier areas for agricultural expansion. However, it has also been the diverse Amazonian peoples, through their socio-political dynamics, rights struggles, and reactions to state control of space and resources, that have re-defined their identities and landscapes. This article examines the political struggle for the revitalization of indigenous ethnic identities and the recognition of territorial rights of the Indigenous Council of the Lower Tapajós-Arapiuns (CITA) in the state of Pará, Brazil. CITA's claims became visible in 1998 within disputes between globalizing development and conservation strategies that questioned the legitimacy of indigenous land rights claims and identity. Findings indicate that essentialized notions of indigenous peoples and the Amazonian landscape have been appropriated by non-indigenous actors to strategically argue against CITA's rights claims. I argue that the changes perceived in both the Amazonian rainforest and indigenous peoples' socio-cultural formations have become a discursive strategy to legitimize the expansion of agricultural production into the secondary forest, and a way to deny the rights of indigenous peoples.

Keywords:

• Amazonia
• indigenous
• identity
• landscape
• conservation
• forest

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the Tropical Conservation and Development Program and Amazon Conservation Leadership Initiative at the University of Florida and the Education For Nature/World Wildlife Fund scholarship that supported my studies and research project in Brazil. I also thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.

Notes

1. ITTO defines primary forest as a “forest which has never been subject to human disturbance, or has been little affected and that its natural structure, functions and dynamics have not undergone any changes that exceed the elastic capacity of the ecosystem.” Secondary forest is “woody vegetation re-growing on land that was largely cleared of its original forest cover” (ITTO 2002, p. 10).

2. The communities are Escrivão,Camarão, Pinhel, Jaca, Jacaré, Paranapixuna, Jauarituba, Santo Amaro, Mirixituba, Muratuba, Limãotuba, Brinco das Moças, Marituba, Alter do Chão, Bragança, Takuara, Vila Franca, Paricatuba, Braço Grande, Muruci, Nova Vista, Aningalzinho, Amina, Arapiranga, São Miguel, Novo Lugar, São José III, Bom Futuro, São João, Miripixi, Cachoeira do Maró, Arimum, Garimpo, Lago Da Praia, Caruci, Açaizal, and São Pedro.

3. Caboclo is a very complex and contested term in Amazonian population literature. People from the region do not refer to themselves as caboclo, since this is considered a pejorative term. In what follows, I will not use the term caboclo to refer to the people from the lower Tapajos-Arapiuns region, because they do not consider this definition as part of their identity.

4. I have defined “indigenous peoples of mixed descent” as those who, through a historical process of change, have re-defined and re-signified their cultural traditions and social structures. This concept is presented in opposition to the traditional view that considers “mixing” as a destructive force acting against indigenous culture. See Oliveira (1999) for an interesting analysis regarding the notion of “índio misturado,” or mixed Indian, Guzman (2006) for the case of Negro river region, and Bolaños (2010) for the case of the lower Tapajós-Arapiuns region.

5. Ethno-political action is understood here as any organized mobilization in pursuit of a group's interests. Brysk (2000) explains that the term refers to the political use of a collective identity and the politicization of cultural practices.

6. According to Asner et al. (2005) these five states—Pará, Mato Grosso, Rondonia, Roraima, and Acre—account for about 90% of all deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

7. The communities within the area of the extractive reserve are: Escrivão, Camarão, Pinhel, Jaca, Jacare, Parana-puxina, Juarituba, Santo Amaro, Mirixituba, Moratuba, Paricatuba, Brinco das Moças, Vila Franca, São Miguel, Arapiranga, Aminã, Anigalzinho, Nova Vista, São Pedro, and Braço Grande.

8. All direct quotations from interviews were translated by the author from Portuguese.

9. The FDA is a social movement in western Pará, which groups several grassroots organizations, international environmental NGOs, and research and education institutions. CITA has been member of the FDA since 2003.

10. The Forest Code established the legal framework for sustainable use and preservation of forest in Brazil and imposes requirements for sustainable forest management plans. A recent proposal to reform the forest code has created controversy among environmentalists. The proposal intends to reduce the forest area to be preserved in private lands, which is considered to be an open door to allow agricultural expansion into the Amazon (IPAM 2010).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Omaira Bolaños

Omaira Bolaños is Coordinator of the Latin America Program, Rights and Resources Group, 1238 Wisconsin Ave NW, Suite 204, Washington D.C., 20007, USA