THE INY-KARAJÁ ETHNIC GROUP DURING THE MILITARY DICTATORSHIP

A PROJECT OF FORGETTING

Abstract

In the history of Brazil, the development of the capitalist economy is deeply intertwined with the sacrifice of indigenous rights in the face of political and economic interests. Certain historical periods, such as colonization, the March to the West, and the Civil-Military Dictatorship, represent major events that mark the devastation of indigenous territories. In more central regions, such as the state of Goiás, the scarcity of documentary sources and the lack of depth in existing documents impose a systematic 'forgetting' of indigenous populations from the memory of Goiás, due to the expansion of the capitalist economy over the territories of indigenous populations. Factors related to the 'development' and 'modernization' of the Cerrado disregard the millennia-old presence of indigenous populations and their relationship with the land, a central element of this dispute. On one side, indigenous existence is inseparable from this element, while on the other side, historically, it is a resource of utmost importance to the capitalist economy. In this sense, by attributing to the indigenous people and their traditional way of life the condition of an obstacle to 'development,' and by removing them from their territory in an organized and articulated manner, the process of 'forgetting' can be observed as a systematic project to nullify indigenous protagonism in the history of Goiás, or at best, considers it only in the past, thus a status to be overcome.