A luta histórica dos povos indígenas do leste brasileiro: do direito à valorização do patrimônio cultural material e imaterial no Brasil

Abstract

Indigenism is a school of thought, developed within the scope of romantic and humanitarian movements, which contributed to the imaginary construction of the Indian, starting mainly from the questioning of Indianness. Understood as a state strategy to organize multi-ethnic societies and to bring together and promote the “integration of indigenous peoples into national societies”, through policies established outside the context of these groups, it constituted a counterpoint to the dramatic processes of ethnocide and indigenous depopulation, supported, including, by legal and institutional apparatuses. And it is from this perspective that this article aims to carry out an analysis of the process of inclusion of indigenous communities within the scope of constitutional law, and, above all, in the context of heritage policies of recognition and valorization of indigenous cultural and intangible heritage in Brazil. In this sense, this article will also seek to survey practices for preserving and recognizing indigenous cultural heritage in eastern Brazil (a geographic region that corresponds to the north of Espírito Santo, southeast of Bahia, and northeast of Minas Gerais). This article is the result of research projects carried out within the scope of the Cultural and Ethnogeographic Studies Group (GECES) of the Postgraduate Program in Geography at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). For this purpose, fieldwork was carried out in indigenous villages in Minas Gerais (TI Krenak – municipality of Resplendor/MG and TI Fazenda Guarani of the Pataxó ethnic group – municipality of Carmésia/MG). In addition, the methodology used was based on documentary, cartographic, and historical surveys of the processes of territorialization, identity construction, and indigenous cultural heritage. It is highlighted in this article that many policies have been established since the last century, and it is impossible not to highlight the importance of many of them for the preservation of this heritage that is important for the entire Brazilian nation. However, it is the identity and cultural strength of these populations in the struggle to achieve these rights in the past, present and future that truly guarantees their recognition, appreciation and perpetuation for future generations.