A brief history of retaking: the Lago da Praia community and territorial conflicts

Abstract

In April 2004, the Lago da Praia indigenous community started, based on ethnic mobilizations of the Wapichana and Macuxi of the Serra da Moça indigenous land. Its creation was largely related to the local conflictual context, in which the relationship between indigenous people, farmers, and other agents has historically been marked by violence and the usurpation of their territories. In this sense, social tensions have worsened over the years, mainly due to the regional political situation, related to the struggle for the demarcation of the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous land and the “conditions” imposed by the Brazilian Supreme Court. In 2009, the indigenous people began to experience several critical events and to be coerced to leave the community, causing the expulsion of the indigenous people from their homes. In 2010, the Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes founded a Cautionary Action, favoring the Government of the State of Roraima and affirming that the referred indigenous land could not be expanded. This article deals with this land retaking, the construction of the Lago da Praia community, and the expulsion of the Wapichana and Macuxi.