ABSTRACT
The presence of the Yanomami in the Parima Mountains, on the border between Brazil and Venezuela, has been progressively revealed to the Western world by explorers and boundary commissions since the 19th century. However, the integrity of the Yanomami territory is still confronted with a number of serious external threats. For over 50 years, in order to keep an acceptable distance from the regional economic frontier, the Yanomami and Kayapo villagers have developed complex migration dynamics which represents one of the keys to their adaptation to historical changes. The Brazilian NGO has a strong historical legitimacy through its involvement in the fight for the legalisation of the Yanomami Indigenous Land. The Indigenous Lands of the Brazilian Amazon were not initially created to protect the environment of the region but to guarantee Amerindians their historical rights over protected areas in which they could maintain their social structures.
