The phenomenon known by terms such as méconaissance, cross purposes, productive misunderstandings, wrong compatibilities, etc. are studied. They refer to the socio-political consequences of imperfect communication in the context of interethnic relations between indigenous people and the surrounding society. Within a wide spectrum, three concepts were chosen based on the obvious contrast between indigenous and national interpretations: democracy, power and nepotism. These concepts and their practices exemplify a new phase of Indigenism that could be called not interethnic, but epistemic friction in Brazil and abroad.