Ailton Krenak is one of the greatest political and intellectual leaders intellectual leaders who emerged during the great awakening of the the great awakening of the indigenous peoples in Brazil, which took place 1970s. His work has been fundamental in the struggle for indigenous rights struggle for indigenous rights and the creation of initiatives such as the such as the Union of Indigenous Nations and the Alliance of the Peoples of the Forest. Ailton is an accurate and original thinker about the the relationship between Amerindian cultures and Brazilian society society, creating provocative and far-reaching reflections such as those presented in the interviews and statements contained in this volume of the Coleo Encontros.
"I think that there was a discovery of Brazil by the whites in 1500, and then in 1500, and then a discovery of Brazil by the Indians in the 1970s and 1980s. The one that is valid is the last one. The Indians discovered that, although they were symbolically the symbolic masters of Brazil, they have no place to live in this country. place to live in this country. They will have to make this place to exist day by day. It is not a ready-made conquest. They are going to have to do it day by day, and do it expressing their vision of the world, their power world view, their power as human beings, their plurality, their will to be and to live. plurality, their will to be and to live."