Grupo Paraupaba (GP) — The Study Group on Indigenous Issues in Rio Grande do Norte — was created in February 2005 at the Câmara Cascudo Museum (MCC-UFRN). On February 1, 2005, a meeting took place at the Câmara Cascudo Museum with the participation of anthropologist Mércio Pereira Gomes, president of FUNAI at the time. The meeting was attended by: Jerônimo Medeiros, director of MCC-UFRN, and Jussara Galhardo, employee of the MCC-UFRN who at the time was a master's degree student in Anthropology at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). Representatives of the Indigenous communities of Amarelão (João Câmara/RN) and Catu (Goianinha and Canguaretama/RN) were also present, as well as representatives of government agencies, the representative of the José Augusto Foundation (FJA) and the representative of the mandate of Deputy Fernando Mineiro State (PT-RN). After this meeting, it was decided to form a study and action group aimed at working with Indigenous issues in RN. This meeting was considered the first one of the Group Paraupaba.
Nevertheless, the formation of GP represented the effort and interest of UFRN artists, researchers and collaborators, as well as sympathizers of the Indigenous cause who worked at the Centro de Estudos dos Povos Indígenas (CEPI), created in 1998, under the coordination of Jussara Galhardo and Emanoel Amaral. From CEPI, several actions were developed in order to disseminate the history and culture of Indigenous peoples both in the Northeast region and in Brazil as a whole. One of CEPI's first activities took place at the 50th Meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC), held at UFRN in 1998. As part of the SBPC's program, the 1st Brazil-Indigenous Week took place: 500 years of resistance.
The members of the GP, which already included teachers, technical-administrative workers, UFRN students and Indigenous people from RN in its training, shared the concern to debate and build spaces and opportunities for reflection on Indigenous issues in Rio Grande do Norte.
The GP has followed and supported the processes of ethnic self-affirmation and its political developments in the region, contributing significantly to the political visibility of Indigenous communities in RN through studies and relevant political events, such as public hearings (2005 and 2008), an Indigenous assembly (2009), discussion forums, exhibitions and cultural events, diagnoses, programs and extension projects and production of material designed to embolden the political protagonism of family groups that are recognizing themselves as Indigenous in Rio Grande do Norte.
Due to the relevant work of Grupo Paraupaba in the context of ethnic and political mobilizations in RN, as well as in the record of such mobilizations and other actions carried out over that time, we are making available a part of the archive under its custody. As a result of the partnership with the aforementioned group through contact with its founder and current coordinator, the anthropologist Jussara Galhardo, the access to a significant part of the GP collection — which includes reports, folders, posters, audiovisual records (photos and videos) and other documents — will be very of great significance to better understand the processes and political organization of Indigenous peoples in RN.