The saga of Payaré Akrãtikatêjê against the Brazilian State in the context of the construction of the Tucuruí hydroelectric dam

Abstract

This article is the result of research that was conducted during the year 2011, based on the life history method, here mainly concerning oral history. The result of this research was presented in my graduation monograph, evaluated in the same year, and here revisited in order to tell the story of Payaré Akrãtikatêjê. Indigenous leader Akrãtikatêjê fought a judicial battle for more than thirty years against the Brazilian state to see repaired a historical error of Brazilian justice that denied the indigenous identity to him and his people in the context of the Tucuruí hydroelectric project. With the construction of the hydroelectric dam, the lands of the Akrãtikatêjê people were flooded and the Payaré saga to guarantee the survival rights of his people began.

Keywords
Indianness; Akrãtikatêjê; People affected by dams