“Por que kamña matou Kiña?”: a retórica indigenista estatal, a FUNAI e os Waimiri-Atroari (1967-1988)

Abstract

The present research aims to investigate, from a decolonial perspective, the actions of FUNAI (National Indian Fundation) during the period that goes from its creation, in 1967, through almost the entire period of the dictatorship (1964-1985), until 1988, when the so-called Citizen Constitution, with its article 231, finally recognized indigenous populations as holders of specific cultures. Until then, they were considered to be in a situation of “transience” which, by being “civilized” – which meant being inserted into the national community – they would abandon their condition of “Indian”. In this historical context, FUNAI, an autarchy created to replace the former SPI (Indian Protection Service), acted on behalf of the rights of indigenous peoples while, at the same time, fulfilled the function of guaranteeing the economic and developmental interests of the State in traditionally inhabited regions. This mediation enters into what I called "State indigenist rhetoric", a discourse – with consequently, actions – that defended indigenist laws, but under western and colonialist conditions. FUNAI's relationship with the Waimiri-Atroari indigenous people illustrates the case well. From 1968, when studies began for the construction of the BR-174 highway, which came to cut the Waimiri-Atroari territory, the autarchy needed to “attract” them and keep them “pacified”, mediating the entry of mining and the construction of two hydroelectric plants in their territory, until, in 1988, a company started to participate in the administration of the Waimiri-Atroari Indigenous Land. This process generated, among the Waimiri-Atroari, the question “Why did kamña (white, civilized) kill Kiña (Waimiri-Atroari self-determination)?”, a question which this thesis seeks to answer