Rachel Moen  

Rachel Moen '19

Project Title: Indigenous Peoples Increasing Connection to the Modern World: Challenges and Alliances as a Result of Development

Summary: Many contemporary institutions and organizations (at the international, national, and local levels) have sought to incorporate indigenous peoples into 'modernity.' The objective of this thesis project is to show that even as contemporary organizations and institutions claim to be creating benefits by incorporating indigenous communities, it is common that indigenous interests and needs to be disregarded. This project explores conflicting visions of indigenous people's struggle for territorial rights in the Brazilian Amazon and assesses the challenges faced by indigenous peoples that are created by the modern nation-state, multinational corporations, and international organizations.