Passar para indígena na Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Amanã (AM)

Abstract

In the interior of the middle Solimões region, several communities, some within Conservation Units (Unidades de Conservação UCs), have since the last decade demanded the recognition of an indigenous identity and to indigenous rights to which they are eligible. These requests of 'turning into Indian' ('passar para indígena') fall into the national context of praising the term 'indian', relate also to the regional colonial history and to political movements of 'ribeirinhos' and 'indians' that developed since the 1980's. The demands are characterized by local particularities, such as community history, local relationships, and thus these networks must be described case by case. This dissertation proposes to describe the protestant community of Ebenézer, located in the Sustainable Development Reserve (Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável - RDS) Amanã, that 'turned to Indian' in the last decade, recognizing itself as 'Miranha'.