Indigenous Peoples: STF launches 1st Constitution translated in Amazonas – 07/19/2023 – Power

The president of the STF (Federal Supreme Court), minister Rosa Weber, launched this Wednesday (19) in Amazonas the first version of the Constitution translated into an indigenous language and said that the initiative is a “symbol of the commitment to guarantee that the peoples indigenous access to justice”.

The Letter was translated into the Nheengatu language, which, according to the court, was chosen because it is the only descendant of ancient Tupi still alive today and which allows communication between different ethnic groups in the Amazon.

The event took place in São Gabriel da Cachoeira, one of the municipalities with the highest indigenous predominance in the country, and was also attended by the minister of the STF Cármen Lúcia, the president of Funai (National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples), Joênia Wapichana, and by Sônia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples in the Lula government.

The magistrates met with 12 indigenous leaders who carried out the translation and consultants for the work.

According to the STF, Rosa said that she would speak at the event “as Raminah Kanamari”, the indigenous name with which she was baptized in the Javari Valley, in the Amazon.

The president of the court also said at the time that, as of the 1988 Constitution, indigenous peoples had their rights recognized, no longer being “mere protected individuals” and that the translation is “a gesture of appreciation and respect”.

The STF is dealing with one of the most important judgments related to the rights of the Indians, that of the temporal framework.

The thesis states that the demarcation of indigenous territories must respect the area occupied by the peoples until the enactment of the Federal Constitution, in October 1988.

According to the criterion, indigenous people who were not on their lands until that date would not have the right to claim them. The thesis is criticized by indigenous movements, as it would legalize invasions. In June, the analysis was interrupted by a request for more time for analysis made by Minister André Mendonça.