From Disappearance to Hope: The Construction of the Brazilian Indigenous Movement’s Imaginary (1974-1977)

Abstract

This article analyzes the construction of the imaginary created by the Brazilian Indigenous Movement against the historical representations imposed by the non-indigenous, of disappearance, and backwardness. It is based on the study of the speeches of the assemblies of Indigenous chiefs between 1974 and 1977. The crisis of institutional Indigenism, military authoritarianism, and developmentalism announced the extinction of Indigenous peoples. Faced with ethnocidal integrationism, the Indigenous chiefs had to deal with the challenge of ethnic differences, external influence, and dehumanizing stereotypes to build a new ideological framework. This research focuses on the mechanisms that led from an imaginary of disappearance to one of hope in a context of aggressive growth of neoliberal threats against Indigenous lands.