Interested and engaged participants were invited to discuss the main narratives related to Indigenous peoples and the strengthening of their advocacy work and rights in Brazil. For non-engaged audiences, the question focused on their perceptions and feelings towards Indigenous peoples.

Most engaged respondents described “Indigenous peoples as protectors of the environment”, “guardians of the forest”, and “essential for the fight against climate change” as the main narrative of the past decade. The climate-environmental narrative has emerged strongly on the global stage, and has been adopted by the Indigenous movement and by part of civil society in Brazil.

“The greatest development in this decade has been the narrative that Indigenous territories are key in the fight against climate change. More people now understand that forests in protected areas and on Indigenous lands are critical to preventing or delaying a climate collapse. As a result, territorial rights are no longer just part of what is provided for in the Constitution, but have become part of a logic associated with climate balance, carbon stock, and environmental services”, one of the journalists interviewed said.

Among non-engaged audiences, the connection of Indigenous peoples with the environment was recognised by opinion makers and by the members of the general public that had more empathy with the cause. However, this recognition was not always manifested spontaneously, or recognised as an important contribution by Indigenous peoples.

The narratives about Indigenous ways of life, subjectivities, and cosmologies were presented as an “evolution” and a “deeper” approach than the one presenting Indigenous people as “guardians of the forest”. Although these narratives are still limited to some segments of Brazil's cultural elite, they were presented as the most powerful “counterpoint to the crisis affecting capitalism and the climate'', as they “stir up and provoke our imagination” and enable “much needed processes of healing and enchantment”.

The narrative presenting Indigenous cosmovisions as technologies is seen as particularly powerful. “Cosmovisions include practical wisdom, such as how to take care of the fields, and how to produce abundance from biodiversity, for example. They also include a poetic wisdom, which takes account of the continuous creation of relationships with living beings. I really think we have to look at these practices as very advanced technologies: a cosmopolitical wi-fi, which includes medicine, shamans, music, and arts”, one of the curators said during the interview.

One of the respondents pointed out that “there are still very few translations and studies on Amerindian narratives, similar to those we find, for example, about ancient Greece and many other classical cultures”.

Studies demonstrating that forests have been managed by Indigenous peoples for several millennia are still considered little known, albeit very important to enrich narratives that have been retelling the history of what we now call Brazil.

Identity pride, appreciation, and connection with ancestry and anti-colonial discourses were pointed out as emerging narratives, which should gain even more visibility and be strengthened in the coming years. This phenomenon was also described as “memory as a tool for our struggle” by some Indigenous respondents. These narratives that challenge and modernise discussions on Brazilian identity have generated more and more interest among culture and entertainment players, as well as in the advertising industry.

The main narrative adopted by Indigenous peoples is the one focused on rights, especially their right to the lands they traditionally occupy, enshrined in the 1988 Constitution. Narratives on Indigenous rights have gained more visibility in Brazil over the past decade due to “Indigenous peoples’ greater organisation and awareness of their rights” and “the clear threats they have been facing”. On the other hand, land rights was also the most controversial topic emerging from interviews with non-engaged audiences, who voiced the most critical arguments against Indigenous peoples.

In Brazil, narratives about the “sustainable use of Indigenous territories”, “bioeconomy'', and' “forest economy” were described as extremely important by interested and engaged respondents, and were also appreciated by opinion formers from non-engaged audiences, particularly businesspeople. They were described as the most urgent narratives in contrast with those promoted by the Jair Bolsonaro government, and the predatory development model currently under way in the Amazon.

"The standing forest economy is the most important narrative at the moment" — considering that the narrative about so-called "development at any cost" has gained so much strength in this government. Organisations have been forced to quickly create a counterpoint. Although it is still a poorly coordinated effort, which lacks the scale it deserves, it has been growing significantly. We need to increase the visibility of this narrative that values the conservation of biodiversity, a decarbonised economy, and traditional knowledge" a representative of a Brazilian NGO highlighted.

Some believe that environmental defenders, Indigenous peoples, and traditional communities are fighting not only for their survival, but are indeed on the front line to protect our planet, and their lives and territories are under attack. This narrative was presented as very powerful, especially overseas. “Today, they could say, ‘we've guarded the forest until now, but it's not working any more, as you've advanced too much’.”

Due to the growing number of initiatives to address the climate crisis, with investors and companies committing to zero deforestation, and the European Union and the United Kingdom engaging in efforts to regulate international commodity trade, narratives about rights violations, socio-environmental impacts, and the increased vulnerability of Indigenous territories were identified as important, and should be strengthened.

In Brazil, there was a suggestion to expand, deepen, and diversify the ways of disclosing the amount of degraded and unused land in the country vis-à-vis the expansion of the agricultural frontier, expanding data and understanding about subsidies to agribusiness, and the concentration of land in the country.

Interested but non-engaged respondents criticised the lack of contact, dialogue, and dispute with those that have opposing views; others claimed that the debate was too strongly “linked and limited to identity agendas' and not to 'more universal agendas, which might mobilise Brazilian society as a whole”.

A considerable number of respondents expressed concern about the counter-narratives promoted by the Bolsonaro government and their allies. “I see the past ten years as a period of setback” in public opinion in Brazil. “The brutality and violence in far-right political views have promoted not only the idea that Indigenous people have far too much land, but also that these populations have little or no value, as explicitly expressed by the President of the Republic.”