Indigenismo e ambientalismo na Amazônia ocidental: a propósito dos Ashaninka do rio Amônia

Abstract

Focusing on the Ashaninka of the Amonia River in the Upper Juruá River basin, this article discusses the connection between indigenism and environmentalism as these have greatly influenced the history of Acre in the last twenty years. Within the regional context of the"Forest Peoples Alliance," gradually the Ashaninka organized themselves against illegal lumbering by seeking economic activities based on the ideology of"sustained development". In the past fifteen years they became the epitome of the"ecological Indian" and acquired an unprecedented political visibility. More recently they founded the"Yorenka Ãtame School (Knowledge of the Forest)" which aims at promoting and spreading the ideals of"sustained development" over the entire Upper Juruá River basin. In retracing the specific trajectory and inclusion of the Amonia River Indians in that regional context, the article intends to understand the place of indigenous peoples within the new"paradigm" of Amazonian development.