Indicating paths: From territorial (re)construction to the new prospects for the rights of indigenous people

Abstract

A broad analysis of the challenges that indigenous people have faced in claiming their territorial rights in Latin America requires a historical unveiling of the way in which territorial issues have been dealt with in these countries, both administratively and legally. Territorial rights are today one of the central items in the claims made by indigenous people. This article discusses the processes of territorial claims undertaken by the Guarani Kaiowá and Ñandeva peoples in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and the challenges that those claims have entailed for Western law, as they have brought up important issues. The main idea is that a new way of thinking about indigenous people is expressed when it disagrees with the fatalistic, terminal view. It is now possible to go beyond this position. The main reason is the physical, ethnic and cultural survival of indigenous people. Throughout history these people have resisted and acted vis-à-vis the surrounding society. The topic is discussed in the light of theoretical references in many areas of knowledge, particularly History, Anthropology and Law.

Key words: indigenous people, territories, History, Law.