Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Brazil: A Conceptual Framework on Indigenous Constitutional Law

Abstract

The recognition of indigenous peoples as subjects of rights by the 1988 Brazilian constitutional as well as the development of International Law opened the way for establishing, at least in a theoretical perspective, an “essential core of rights” of indigenous peoples, surpassing the historical integrationism. However, these norms vary significantly with a reality marked by the permanence of integrationist practices, asserted by the state, as is the case of “timeframe thesis”. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to critically analyse, landed on the fields of constitutional theory and legal sociology, the essential core of indigenous peoples’ rights in Brazil, pointing to the current issues that hinder or hamper its enforcement. Keywords: Indigenous peoples’ rights; Brazil; Indigenous Constitutional Law; Human rights.