This article analyzes the issue of the border based on a study of the experiences of the Terena indigenous people in Mato Grosso do Sul, living in villages situated in an international border region. I present a number of theoretical reflections on these symbolic conflicts, the border development process and its effects on indigenous societies. The article contains two analytic movements: 1. an analysis of the symbolic conflict permeating the legal processes linked to the territorial conflicts between the Terena and rural producers, showing how the idea of the border is activated in the construction of political mechanisms for excluding and (de)legitimizing ethnic groups; 2. an analysis of the State's border policies, the territorial dynamics and its confrontation with the indigenous symbolic policies in the different local situations on the border, which also form part of the symbolic fight for recognition of the legitimacy of indigenous identities and territories.
Border; Identity; Terena
