Aqui tem sangue e suor de índio: resistência, etnicidade e luta política dos tapuias da Lagoa do Tapará - RN

Abstract

The present study addresses to the indigenous issue by discussions involving ethnicity and political struggle. Through the experience of the Tapuia people from Lagoa do Tapará, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, I intend to investigate the indigenous resistance in this community, analyzing their history, memory, social relationships and sociopolitical structure articulated with their political claims. My intention is to understand how the political organization process of the Tapuia has been happening and its possible connection with the group’s ethnicity. For this purprose, I tried looking for the relations of the members between themselves and the other indigenous and nonindigenous groups - be it through partnerships or conflicts, as well the elements used to delimit their differences. The anthropological research made possible to understand how the Lagoa do Tapará’s Tapuaias (re)build their socio-political organization, rework their culture, give them a new significance to their values and fortify their mobilization strategies in the present context of the struggle for civil rights.