Autonomy in the process of demarcating indigenous lands: analysis of the demarcation of the Raposa Serra do Sol TI
Demarcation, Autonomy, indigenous, Raposa Serra do Sol
Indigenous autonomy is an old demand of indigenous movements in the Americas. This demand gained strength in the 1980s and 1990s, leading many countries to reform their Constitutions to include the recognition of people's right to autonomy in their highest law. After constitutional reforms, indigenous peoples faced and continue to face a series of obstacles and challenges in the application and guarantee of their right to self-determination and autonomy. There is, even today, a misunderstanding of what indigenous peoples' demand for autonomy represents. This misunderstanding is partly due to the polysemic nature of the concept and the fact that, for each people, this demand is expressed in a different way. The difficulty of discussing indigenous autonomy is related to the debate surrounding the right of indigenous peoples to possession and ownership of their lands. In fact, issues such as indigenous people's possession or ownership of land are points that still raise many political and legal controversies in Brazil. Mainly, the topic of property is not discussed, despite being a right recognized in Convention 169, in its article.14 1: “The rights of property and
possession of lands traditionally occupied by the interested peoples must be recognized”. The lack of recognition of ownership of traditionally occupied lands highlights the invisibility of the autonomy of a people who, despite having their rights guaranteed in the Constitution, are not realized. An indisputable example of the non-realization of rights is the failure to comply with the 5-year deadline for demarcation of indigenous lands established in article 67 of the Transitional Constitutional Provisions Act. Indigenous peoples have their own way of social organization, which pre-exists the political and legal systems that govern Brazil. This organization is internal and governed by its customs and traditions. And they have the autonomy to transform traditional forms and reinterpret their own internal organization, based on contact with other people, which makes it changeable according to their own interests. At times, their internal organizations can be externalized with the creation of associations that represent the villages.