Main areas of work related to the Convention:
The Centro de Trabalho Indigenista works with the promotion and protection of
indigenous peoples' rights. These include territory, health, education and cultural rights.
We understand that these domains are not segregated, eventhough the Brazilian State
frequently separates them in different policies and agencies. Therefore, in working with
the indigenous for the recognition of their land and the preservation of its natural
resources, we are better able to work towards the promotion, transmission and
protection of their cultural heritage. We have aquired experience in the domain of
intangible cultural heritage, working with various indigenous groups over the last thirty
years. Currently, we are working with the Guarani people in a large project of register
and safe-guard of their intangible heritage. The project is developled in cooperation with
the Brazilian official agency responsible for intangible state policies (Insituto do
Patrimonio Hist6rico e Artistico Nacional) and the Spanish International Cooperation
Agency (AECI). We are researching vast documentation concerning the Guarani in all
public archives in the south and southeast regions of Brazil, aiming at producing the
most complete reference material available, so that the indigenous people, researchers,
government workers and policy makers and other people interested in learning more
about the Guarani and their culture or in promoting actions in colaboration with the
Guarani can have access to this information. This reference material includes, books,
reports, academic research, maps, fotographs, and audio visual registers from the
nineteenth century to present day. We are also working with the Guarani to identify the
aspects of their intangible heritage which they endeavor to preserve, protect and
transmit to future generations and are creating the means for this to be accomplished in
a long-term plan. This endeavor to affirm Guarani culture also includes the awareness of
the non-indigenous people who surround their communities and non-indigenous society
in general. Through the production of materials which contribute with this awareness, we
are hoping to promote better relations and understanding among these groups.
Objectives
Our aim is to work alongside with indigenous groups so that they can assume effective
control over all interventions that occur in their territories, informing them about the
Brasilian State's role in the protection and guarantee of the indigenous peoples'
constitutional rights. The Centro de Trabalho lndigenista has as its mission and identity
trait the direct support that we offer to the indigenous groups with which we work,
assisting them with the resources and technical support that they need to accomplish
greater political and economic autonomy, always respecting the sociocultural universe
pertaining to each indigenous community. In other words, the projects developed by the
Centro de Trabalho lndigenistas are projects in which the indigenous peoples involved
are coauthors and collaborators and in which their traditional knowledge and practices
are respected and affirmed.
Our main objectives are:
- The promotion and circulation of community-organized projects in the areas of
agriculture, education, health and culture;
- Development of actions which contribute with the legal recognition of lands
traditionally occupied by indigenous people;
- Preservation and protection of the natural environment of the indigenous lands;
- Development of actions that promote and enhance the transmission of the indigenous
peoples' traditional knowledge and practices;
- Production of audio-visual material with the indigenous groups so that they may
circulate and preserve their traditional knowledge and practices;
- Promotion of occasions in which the indigenous groups may exchange experiences
and information with other communities, research centers and organizations;.
Cooperation
The Centro de Trabalho Indigensita has worked with indigenous communities for the last
thirty years. We have worked in collaboration with the members of various indigenous
groups, so that the indigenous may assume greater control over interventions that affect
their communities and gain greater political and economic autonomy. We recognize that
for this to be accomplished it is necessary that the indigenous have a good understanding of their rights and the means by which they can guarantee respect for
these rights. On the other hand, it is of fundamental importance that we acknowledge
each indigenous group's specific forms of political, social and cultural organization and
help governmental and non-governmental agents to better understand these forms and
respect them. In recognizing these aspects, we are able to develop more effective
actions, in which the indigenous people are protagonists.