INDIGENOUS RIGHTS OF THE FULNI-Ô PEOPLE OF ÁGUAS BELAS - PERNAMBUCO: LAND DEMARCATION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Abstract

For indigenous peoples, land demarcation is a deeply desired outcome, as territory embodies memories, ancestry, and cultural life. This work aims to present important facts concerning the struggle for indigenous land demarcation. The Fulni-ô ethnic group, chosen as the subject of this dissertation, is a strong, persevering people with striking cultural peculiarities. Their native language, Yaathe, and the Ouricuri ritual, for example, enable this people to hold firm positions to prevent their disappearance as an ethnic group. The objectives of this dissertation are to highlight the main episodes in the Fulni-ô struggle for land demarcation; furthermore, to show the human rights violations suffered by these Indigenous people, identifying the prejudices they endure; in addition, to celebrate the rich Fulni-ô culture; and, presented under the deductive method, it is based on the studies of various researchers, in their dissertations and theses, who are also enchanted with the Fulni-ô way of life. Numerous legal and parliamentary websites, as well as various detached writings, were consulted with the aim of tracing the progress in negotiations about Indigenous land demarcation, focusing attention primarily on the Fulni-ô. From this research, it is extracted that Indigenous land demarcation is a slow process, but it is a right that all ethnic groups have, and consequently the Fulni-ô, who continue the struggle for the demarcation of their lands in Águas Belas – Pernambuco.