FROM MAKUNAIMA TO THE INDIGENOUS COUNCIL OF RORAIMA: THE CONSTITUTION OF AN INDIGENOUS MOVEMENT
Indigenous Council of Roraima, Indigenous movement, Indigenous leaders
My interest in this research stems from my personal and professional commitment to being a lawyer for indigenous communities and organizations, from a perspective of popular education and popular legal advice. The work is procedural, in the strict sense of judicial and administrative proceedings, but not only that: the aim, in general, is to contribute to strengthening the struggle and the indigenous movement as a whole, with ongoing legal and political training on different fronts. The weekly routine includes trips to the communities to take part in leadership meetings, training for leaders, seminars on the right to consultation and environmental licensing, as well as accompanying delegations in incidences with the agencies in Boa Vista/RR and Brasília/DF and providing support and legal defence for the mobilizations and demonstrations that take place. Today, my home is no longer Boa Vista-RR, but Porto Alegre-RS, where I do similar work to what I did at the CIR, in another indigenous organization. This research aims to analyze the process of construction and formation of the indigenous leaders of the Indigenous Council of Roraima and the way in which they reproduce their legitimacy in the context of the council's work on the different fronts of struggle.