Under the guidance of the Legal Counsel of the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), leaders of the Novo Paraíso indigenous community, Surumú region, Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous land, held on April 13, 2024, a workshop on Internal Regulations, with the objective of strengthening the social organization of the community.
The invitation was made by the regional coordinator of the Rights Operators of the Surumú region, Francinete Garcia, from the Macuxi people, to the team of lawyers Ivo Cipio Macuxi, Fernanda Felix Wapichana, Junior Nicacio Wapichana and the intern, Carla Jarraira Macuxi. The leaders and a group of children welcomed the team with traditional Macuxi songs and dances.
Francinete explained the purpose of the meeting, and informed that the community began the elaboration of the community's Regulation. Then, Dr. Fernanda read the first part of the Regulation, which tells the way of life of the Macuxi and Taurepang peoples who live there.
During the speeches, Dr. Ivo Macuxi emphasized the importance of the autonomy of the community, considering that indigenous peoples have the right to apply and create their own laws, guaranteed in the Brazilian Federal Constitution in articles 231 and 232. The legal advisor explained how the Brazilian penal system works, and also informed that currently in the prison system of Roraima there are more than 200 indigenous people who are serving time.
Since 2014, Dr. Junior has been following the construction of the internal regulations of the Pium community, located in the Serra da Lua region. Nicacio shared the experience together with Wapichanas of the Pium community in the construction of their internal laws. The results were presented through a video, produced by the legal department of the CIR.
"The role of the legal department is limited only to providing legal support and talking about Brazilian laws that address indigenous rights, because the rules must be written by the communities themselves, that is, the rules already exist, but they are not documented. The Rules are another instrument for the defense of rights and protection of the territory", explained Junior.
The Francinete leader told how the process of building the internal regulations was, the document that brings the history of the community, with the participation of all residents, including young people, children, women and traditional leaders, in addition to the support of teachers, Adenildo Garcia Macuxi and Graciela André Macuxi.
"Stories and Experiences of the Novo Paraíso Community", the name given to the internal Regulation, is not only about rules and punishments, but about the community's way of life, as explained by Francinete. "It's how our meetings are organized, the work, makes clear the role of the leaders," said the coordinator. The regional coordinator of Operators in Law, reinforced that the work will continue and intends to present the second part of the regulation in June 2024.
Professors Adenildo Garcia and Graciela André told how it was the experience of helping to prepare the regiment. At first, both found it difficult, because it was something they had never done before. For Professor Adenildo, the history of the community is an important part, and all the writing of the history involved the residents. "The younger ones drew the map of the community, and located the houses, the gardens and the entire structure of the community," said the teacher.
The presence of the CIR's legal advice is important in the communities, dialoguing with the leaders and getting to know the reality of indigenous peoples. In Roraima there are 11 indigenous peoples and more than 300 communities, occupying 36 indigenous lands. Each community has its own way of organizing, Therefore, it is essential that the communities resolve their internal conflicts, because leaving it to outsiders to resolve or decide for the leaders, is to continue with the violation of indigenous rights.
Novo Paraíso Community:
The Novo Paraíso Indigenous Community is located in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land, Surumu Region, Centro Pedreira, in the Municipality of Pacaraima, State of Roraima, 80 meters from the border between Brazil and Venezuela. The community is more than 200 km from the city of Boa Vista, and 8 km from the seat of the municipality of Pacaraima.
The Community chose this name because in the environment there are hunts, forests, native fruits, birds and good land to make plantations, livestock, cold and healthy climate. From the achievements that the name of Novo Paraíso was called.
Currently, the community has a population of 153 people and 34 parents from the Macuxi, Taurepang, Kamarakoto and Wapichana peoples.