ATL2022

“We are not alone”: indigenous leaders in ATL 2022 join forces on behalf of isolated Indigenous Peoples and of recent contact

07/Apr/2022

Photo: Pure Juma| COIAB’S communicator

At the Acampamento Terra Livre, in Brasilia, the panel “For the lives of isolated indigenous peoples and recent contact” warned about the attacks and setbacks suffered under the Bolsonaro government

The panel discussion was held this Thursday afternoon, 7, during the 18th Free Land Camp, and was mediated by the Executive Coordinator of Coiab, Angela Kaxuyana, with the participation of Tambura Amondawa, Adriano Karipuna, Junio Yanomami, from Roraima, Ronilson Guajajara, from Maranhão, Beto Marubo (Univaja), Lindomar Terena, Paulo Tupiniquim, Alfredo Marubo, Gilson Mayoruna and Luis Ventura, representative of the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi).

Many people do not know, but in Brazil there are several indigenous peoples who have chosen to live away from imposed “civilization”. They are peoples who, for centuries, have resisted colonization and the process of violence since the arrival of the white invader on Brazilian lands.

By choosing to remain in isolation, they seek to have greater control over the relationships they establish with groups or people around them and to continue living by their means, practices and habits. However, in recent years, under the Bolsonaro Government, the Brazilian State has refused to recognise their existence and guarantee their rights.

Beto Marubo, a member of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley (Univaja), attributed the setbacks in the policy of protecting isolated indigenous people to a Bolsonaro policy of genocide of indigenous peoples, which has made the National Indian Foundation (Funai) a threat.

“The Funai was created to protect and should have a responsibility towards these Peoples. Although they are free, they are very vulnerable. Do you know what Funai is doing now? It is denying [the existence of] these Peoples,” emphasized Beto Marubo during the table.

To aggravate the situation, even today there are religious missions that have the intention of colonising the original culture. This represents a great epidemiological threat, which is added to deforestation and the invasion of groups that practice illegal extraction of gold, ore, wood and hunting for trade in these regions.

The Yanomami people are among those who have had the most recent contact. A video was shown with images of the mines inside their territories, the same ones that Bolsonaro proposes to regularize with PL 191. The scenario further accentuates the health problems that the isolated peoples have been facing.

Indigenous leader Júnior Hekurari, of the Yanomami people, president of the District Council for Indigenous Health Yanomami and Ye’kwana (Condisi-YY), stressed that several complaints have already been made at the national and international level about the violence suffered by the isolated and recently contacted peoples in their territories.

“The indigenous land is being invaded by miners. Our relatives are suffering from pneumonia. Every day a Yanomami child dies, the mothers cry together with the forest. More than 25 thousand miners are inside our lands, the miners have taken over the health centers, and the indigenous people are calling for help”, said the Indigenous leader.

Júnior estimated that around 7,000 are sick with malaria. In 2021 alone, 300 children died of the disease, almost one per day. For him, the policy of the Bolsonaro government promotes risk and extermination. “Now Sesai has become a military barrack. There are many colonels, many soldiers working there. The federal government does not plan to guarantee assistance within the community,” he lamented.

Alfredo Marubo, pointed out the deviations in the actions of Funai in this process. “Every day tons of game meat passes in front of the Funai headquarters and nobody does anything. They are doing nothing, they say that we are lying, they do nothing and even threaten the Peoples. Bolsonaro is putting anti-indigenous people to look after the villages, but they just go there for a walk and leave”.

With the ineffectiveness of federal bodies in protecting indigenous rights, exploitation has advanced over the forests and is getting closer every day to the isolated peoples.

In the plenary, the Peoples who had the first contacts centuries ago showed solidarity with these Peoples who are living autonomously in the forest. “We demand respect. We are using this cursed language because we were forced, we were humiliated. We saw our children growing up and dying. Today what is happening in the Amazon, we have already suffered. So we are here to say that you are not alone. We are together. This house belongs to the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil”, chief Júnior Pataxó,from the South of Bahia, expressed solidarity.

The Executive Coordinator of Coiab, Angela Kaxuyana, stressed the importance of this union for the protection of the isolated Peoples, since the Brazilian State has not fulfilled its role of protecting their territories, putting at risk the lives of these Peoples who decided to live in isolation after fleeing from massacres.

“On behalf of COIAB, of the Amazon, we want to express our gratitude and send a message to Bolsonaro that the Amazon is not alone, that it is the essence of this indigenous movement that will win, it is this essence of the indigenous movement that must remain here in the camp of respect, solidarity and a demonstration that we are together. And we have always known, my relatives, that we are never alone, because the Northeast and Apoinme are together with the Amazon”, Angela Kaxuyana concluded.

Deforestation alerts

In 2021, deforestation increased in indigenous lands with the presence of isolated indigenous Peoples, according to the Sirad-I bulletin of the Socio-environmental Institute (ISA). In the year, 3,220 hectares were deforested, with 904 alerts within the territories.

The alerts were concentrated, mainly, in the Piripkura (MT), Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau (RO), Araribóia (MA) and Munduruku (PA) Indigenous Lands. In addition, throughout 2021, it was also possible to detect major deforestation on the edges of these territories, which indicates a tendency of increasing invasions against the territories of these isolated Peoples.

The Araribóia Indigenous Land, located in Maranhão, was one of the most devastated by invasions by loggers and land grabbers, with more than 380 hectares deforested inside it. In addition, in 2021, arson attacks punished the territory.

Isolated or Decimated

The isolated or decimated campaign is headed by the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) and the Observatory of Human Rights of the Isolated and Newly-Contacted Indigenous Peoples (Opi), and includes the participation of other organizations in the socio-environmental field, such as ISA, Survival International and Operation Native Amazon (OPAN). Launched on August 20, 2021, the campaign is focused on pressuring Funai for the renewal of four ordinances: Piripkura Indigenous Lands (MT), Jacareúba/Katawixi (AM) and Piriti (RR) and Ituna-Itatá IT (PA).

ACCESS: https://www.isoladosoudizimados.org/

Since last year, several actions have been carried out in order to alert public opinion to the current condition of isolated indigenous Peoples who are at risk of losing their territories, without legal and effective protection.

At the end of November 2021, Coiab launched a manifesto in defense of the life of isolated indigenous peoples, where it highlighted that the growing attacks and pressures on the territories are linked to the gradual weakening of FUNAI’s indigenous policy and the strengthening of the government’s anti-indigenous agenda.

Faced with the setbacks of protection by State agencies, the indigenous movement, together with its allies, is strengthening strategies to contain the invasions in the Indigenous Lands, with monitoring and autonomous protection actions in the territory, in order to protect their “isolated relatives”. In addition, they have made numerous complaints and brought legal actions to guarantee the legal protection of their territories and ways of life.

MST and Apib build an united kitchen for 7 thousand indigenous people in Brasília

07/Apr/2022

By Geanini Hackbardt For Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil – Apib

Close to the plenary tent of the 18th Free Land Camp, it is possible to hear the noise of pans beating, knives cutting and see the food loads arriving all the time. The heat of the cookers in full steam spreads an aroma of abundant and tasty food. Food here has history and the taste of struggle. It is not just anyone’s mission to satisfy the hunger of the more than 7 thousand Indigenous from 200 different Peoples present in Brasilia up to now. And this challenge fell to the warriors of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST).

Over 400 kilos of meat, two tons of rice and about two tons of beans are served daily in this kitchen, prepared by the careful hands of 31 men and women from the countryside, with the guidance of 3 nutritionists. Nilma de Jesus Ribeiro, from the Roseli Nunes Settlement, coordinates the team and says that “as MST, we always try to work with organic food. Everything we are doing here at the Indigenous Camp is organic and healthy. We use only natural spices, lots of garlic and onions, because it is the garlic that gives flavour to the food, there is no need to use condiments that have a lot of chemistry. It’s very interesting because we start to learn from each other’s culture”.

This space, however, does not only feed the body. The ATL 2022 kitchen feeds the dream of those who believe in the much needed unity of the peoples to take back Brazil. This is what Dinamam Tuxá, Apoinme’s representative and Apib’s executive coordinator, explains to us. “At this moment the ATL seeks to implement healthier food for our People, with an identity that comes with the struggle. All the food that comes here is the result of a history of resistance, the history of the MST, which is also fighting for its territories. Fighting for their space, for Agrarian Reform. And we have agendas in common. For several years, we have been walking together, but always in a political field. Sometimes we have a joint struggle in practice, but this was diffused within the field of action of the social movements and in the Acampamento Terra Livre we managed to materialize the struggle of the indigenous peoples and the struggle of the MST, represented through their food”.

The food comes from agrarian reform areas of the Federal District and surrounding areas, such as the Oziel Alves, Pequeno Wiliam and Roseli Nunes settlements and from the states of Goiás, Rio Grande do Sul and Minas Gerais, says Adonildo Rodrigues Souza, MST coordinator and camper from the 8 de Março area in Planaltina. For him the work in the kitchen is the practice of solidarity which only exists among the working class. “For us, this space is of great importance, not only for the kitchen to be set up, but for the cultivation of the relationship of solidarity. Despite the little difference we have, it is the causes, the agendas that unite us to fight against this fascist government that every day tries to harm us, workers. It is clear that this government acts to exterminate the poor”, he says.

He explains that the menu was designed to cover the cultural diversity of Brazil and the follow up of professional nutritionists seeks to nurture and strengthen the fight. “How in a country like Brazil, where there is no investment in family farming and agrarian reform, can we get so much food from agriculture, without any policy for this? The ones who feed the Brazilian people are family farmers,” says Adonildo. And Nilma proudly shows the food in stock. “We are offering the best of what we have, cassava, couscous, yams, sweet potatoes, bananas, oranges. The meat is also all organic”.

Dinamam highlights the presence of the MST in this edition of ATL as an intentionality. “We know that this unity is what we need to combat this evil that has been installed in Brazil. This evil of hate, of structural racism, of institutional racism that these two movements have been feeling, especially with this policy that does not recognise family farming, that does not recognise traditional farming, that does not encourage actions aimed at strengthening our traditional and family practices. So, we took the decision to unite to strengthen our production chain, to strengthen this relationship that is more than just political, it is a relationship of struggle. This is a unity for all Brazilian people, in the name of the common good.

Indigenous people from all over the country march in Brasilia to defend the demarcation of territories

07/Apr/2022

More than 7 thousand indigenous people, from 200 peoples of Brazil, marched for the demarcation of territories and against the anti-indigenous agenda of the Brazilian government; the march was part of the ATL 2022 programme

The strength of the indigenous peoples took over the streets of the federal capital on the afternoon of Wednesday (6): with banners and chants, more than 7 thousand indigenous people from 200 peoples from all regions of the country marched in defense of the demarcation of territories and against the anti-indigenous agenda of the Brazilian government. The march was part of the programme of the 18th Free Land Camp (Acampamento Terra Livre – ATL) 2022, located outside the Funarte Cultural Complex, on the Monumental Axis in Brasilia.

The final destination of the march was the National Congress, where projects that violate the rights of indigenous peoples are being processed, such as Bill 191/2020, which opens the way for the exploitation of the lands of Indigenous peoples, and the bill 490/2007, which makes the demarcation of indigenous lands unfeasible in practice.

During the mobilization, leaders spoke from a sound car and stressed the importance of arriving in Brasilia this week to fight for the indigenous cause.

Samuel Gavião spoke about his struggle, as a student, to win the rights protected by the 1988 Federal Constitution. “We are studying to seek our right, what is ours. We have to fight. Our relatives trust us and put us forward to fight alongside them, to return to our lands. We will not give up. We will fight with strength, we are not a minority, we are many. We will fight until the end, while we are alive”, he said.

Also present at the march, Agnaldo Francisco, Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe leader and general coordinator of the United Movement of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Bahia (Mupoiba), commented on the first march of ATL 2022, named “Demarcation Now”.

“This act today [6] is very important to show Brazilian society that people will not be able to live without the demarcation of our territories, because if the territory is not demarcated, a project of death will be implemented. Death not only for us [indigenous peoples], but for all Brazilians, for the whole planet. The demarcation of our territory means the preservation of the environment, it means preserving and reducing the depletion of the ozone layer”, explained the Mupoiba coordinator.

ATL 2022

Considered the largest indigenous mobilization in Brazil, the camp takes place at the same time that the National Congress and the government are voting on projects that violate the rights of indigenous peoples.

The mobilisation is organised by the Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), which returns to Brasília this year with the theme ‘Retaking Brazil: Demarcate the Territories and Indigenize thePolitics’. The ATL closes on April 14.

Access the programme here.

Milestone Thesis (Tese do Marco Temporal)

On the first day of the camp, Sônia Guajajara, executive coordinator of Apib, said during a press conference that the peoples are preparing to return in June to the capital, when the Federal Supreme Court (STF) will judge the Milestone Thesis. This trial will define the future of indigenous land demarcations in Brazil.

Apib highlights that the Milestone Thesis restricts the right of communities to the lands they traditionally occupy and is repudiated by indigenous peoples, who point to the thesis as unconstitutional.

In 2019, the STF recognised the general repercussion of Extraordinary Appeal (RE) 1.017.365, a case that discusses a repossession suit filed against the Xokleng people in Santa Catarina. This means that the decision taken in this trial will have consequences for all the indigenous lands and Peoples in Brazil.