Território dos “Flutuantes”: resistência, terra indígena Mura e mineração de potássio em Autazes(AM)

Abstract

The Mura have inhabited the Madeira River region since at least the 17th century, when the Portuguese colonizers registered their presence in this region. Despite resisting the invasion of their territories, since then, the Mura have been persecuted until almost exterminated. In recent decades, these people have risen, but the social conditions that have brought them to the brink of extermination are still in other forms nowadays. The social repression processes against the Mura led to their territory fragmentation, which is distributed in eleven municipalities in the State of Amazonas. Currently, the Mura are facing a new threat to their territories posed by potassium mining in the municipality of Autazes. The installation prospect of a potash mine, a road and a port in the lands of the Mura people in Soares Lake and Urucurituba village represents a new risk to the territories and life of the Mura people of these localities. Faced with this threat, the Mura resist potash mining on their lands and demand that the Brazilian government and the Brazilian mining company Potassium respect their right to free, prior and informed inquiry as provided for in ILO Convention 169. They also require consultation to take place in accordance with the rules set out in their Consultation Protocol. Mining activity in the Amazon is a major cause of social conflict and aggression against indigenous territories and traditional communities. In the case of Autazes, the risks and negative effects that potassium (K) mining may bring are the causes of the social conflict between the Mura and the Brazilian potassium mining company, which develops both politically and judicially. The Mura develop their territoriality in various ways, especially the "floating", type of houses that float on the water, and which in the last decades of this century has served to promote mobility in the territory of the Mura in Soares Lake.