Territory, Materiality, Language Attitude

tools of the Guaporé Ethno-Environmental Protection Front in the contexts of Massaco, Rio Omerê and Tanaru Indigenous Territories – Rondônia, Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

The Guaporé Ethno-Environmental Protection Front operates in three indigenous territories: Rio Omerê, the region where the recently contacted Akuntsú and Kanoé of the Omerê live; Massaco, area of isolated groups; and Tanaru. The Front activities guarantee the protection and autonomy of these peoples, as well as the preservation of their integrity in the broadest sense. For the Akuntsú and Kanoé peoples, intervention was vital to safeguard their lives, when in the late 1970s, economic expansion systematically penetrated their traditional territories. For the isolated from the Massaco and Tanaru Indigenous Territories, non-intervention through contact proves to be successful and, since 1990 (Amorim 2016), their rights have been guaranteed, preserving their decision to maintain a situation of autonomy vis-à-vis the national society. Thus, this article seeks to understand the three realities in perspective, reflecting on contextual issues in a historical, linguistic and indigenist view. We understand that, in these contexts, recent contact and isolated peoples reflect historical processes of resistance in the middle and lower Guaporé River.