The Indigenous Lands, the Protection According to the Current Constitution and the Infra-Constitutional Rules, Their Boundaries and the Conflict in the Exploitation

Abstract

The Federal Constitution from 1988 like any other before, protects the indigenous people, the same way the infra-constitutional rules do. In accordance with this Constitution, the private jurisdiction belongs to the Union when it comes to regulate the indigenous population. Likewise, the constitutional text concedes to the aborigines the right of social organization, customs, language, beliefs and traditions, and also the right to the land that they occupy, when the Union takes the responsibility to mark the territory, protect it and enforce the respect to all their goods.

The Federal Constitution from 1988 saying (article 231), lands traditionally occupied by the Indians are those by them populated in a permanent aspect, used to their productive activities, those indispensable to the preservation of natural resources, needed to the welfare and to the physical and cultural reproduction, according to the usage, customs, and traditions. To these lands, it is allowed the exclusive enjoyment of the riches of the earth, rivers and lakes that are available there. These lands compose the Union’s wealth, and they are inalienable and nondisposable, and the right over them imprescriptible. The utilization of the water resources, including the energy potential, the research and usage of mineral wealth in indigenous lands can only be realized with an authorization from the National Congress.