29/Oct/2021
We, Indigenous Peoples of the Brazilian Amazon, have long observed climate change and its effects due to our relationship with the Mother Earth. From her, we receive all our sustenance needs in addition to the explanations for the phenomena that affects the lives of all living and cosmological beings.
In Brazil, climate crisis is directly related to the greed over Indigenous lands and the natural resources therein, coupled with the ongoing regression and rollback of Indigenous and environmental safeguards and rights. It is essential to think seriously about the need to respect the socio-biodiversity present in our territories, especially at this time that we are living in, in which a virus stopped the world and affected the routines of billions of people from all social classes and different cultures. However, the current government in Brazil is acting in lethal ways with anti-environment, anti-climate, and anti-Indigenous policies. Our territories, which belong to us by our Constitutional right, are being invaded by illegal miners and loggers; villages are surrounded by large-scale cattle and soybean farms; rivers are being contaminated with pesticides and mercury; and the Amazon rainforest is burning to ashes. Yet, governments and funds that operate internationally continue to finance this unbridled greed, this economy of destruction that kills and destroys lives and the planet.
Now more than ever, everyone needs to hear our call, that we Indigenous Peoples have been warning for centuries based on our traditional knowledge that guides our way of seeing and understanding the world. It is in this context that we once again call attention to the need to construct a climate justice that is inclusive and participatory with respect to our cosmologies, our safeguards, and our territories. It is necessary to go beyond the targets established in international agreements and begin to consider the vital role that we play in this process. All this in consideration of social and environmental responsibility.
We have now reached the tipping point. The recent report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, titled “Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis,” clearly demonstrates that man-made changes to the climate are irrefutable, irreversible, and will worsen in the coming years and decades if we do not have practical actions to change the narrative of the climatic, environmental, and societal crisis. Likewise, even if we zeroed greenhouse gas emissions, we would already have had a significant increase in global temperatures with catastrophic effects.
There is no other way forward but to recognize, strengthen, and promote the very important role played by us, Indigenous Peoples, within our territories. For us, talking about climate justice is precisely thinking about the fate of the present and future generations, as well as those who have chosen different forms of social structures like the Indigenous Peoples in isolation or recent contact who live in the Amazon. This is related to the need of respecting diversity. Indigenous cosmology makes us understand the signs of Mother Earth, imposing the duty to recognize ecocide. The rivers, lakes, animals, forests, and all cosmological beings that live within are subjects of rights just like us human beings, and their rights must be respected. Therefore, when talking about climate crisis, it requires recognizing the important role of Indigenous lands, and our own, who give our lives to protect the forests and its biodiversity, in balancing the climate and benefiting all Humanity.
Yet, there exists a practical solution that we Indigenous Peoples have been pointing out. That is, demarcating our territories, shifting the production system, planting more trees, ending reliance on fossil fuels, and reducing the pressure on the Earth’s natural resources. This must be a commitment from everyone, including governments, the private sector, and individual people.
Protected territories and respected rights are the solution. We cannot let ourselves be seduced by the idea of carbon markets, false solutions based only on nature and financing mechanisms that is not consistent with our reality. Rather, we offer alternatives based on our traditional knowledge, which can be associated with technological innovations. For example, agricultural practices must be linked to food security. Therefore, we call attention to the joint responsibility of all stakeholders involved. Corporations and governments are responsible for the destruction in the Brazilian Amazon; however, criticism alone is not enough. Now more than ever, much more is needed to adopt measures to safeguard ecological interests.
It is urgent and essential to strengthen Indigenous funds and financing mechanisms that correspond to our reality,as the Brazilian Amazon Indigenous Fund – Podaali. Such resources should promote the implementation of Indigenous Peoples’ life plans in addition to socio-environmental policies. Nonetheless, none of these efforts will have an effect until all Indigenous lands are demarcated, 80% of the Amazon biome is protected, and all stakeholders have committed to ambitious and achievable goals. In this way, it becomes clear that it is necessary to change the entire current political and economic system.
The time has come for the Indigenous Peoples of the Brazilian Amazon, through the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) – which is the largest Indigenous organization in Brazil, representing approximately 480,000 Indigenous Peoples from 178 different groups and covering 23% of the Amazon region – to mobilize the world to ally with Indigenous Peoples in defense of life on Earth as we know it.
The struggle of Indigenous Peoples is a global one!
Brazilian Amazon, October 15, 2021
29/Oct/2021
We are a Brazilian Indigenous delegation heading to Glasgow, Scotland, as representatives of the yearnings and bearers of urgent messages from more than 305 Indigenous Peoples of Brazil.
We are men and women, descendants of millennial generations of guardians of the biomes of South America, and we are united with the original peoples from every corner of our Mother Earth.
On all continents, native peoples fight to protect their lands and guarantee the right to live to all species. Our struggle is for our lives and our territories, for the defence of the last ancestral lands and to confront the climate crisis on our planet. Our struggle is for the healing of the Earth. Therefore, we reiterate the urgency of the demarcation and land tenure rights of our territories.
Indigenous Land is a guarantee of the future for all humanity. Our relationship with territory is not one of ownership, exploitation, expropriation or appropriation, but one of respect and management of a common good, which serves all humanity as barricades to the extractive dynamics that cause the climate crisis. Until today – based on reports from the UN and several research institutes with the highest reputation that western science can demand – it is we, Indigenous Peoples, who are the most responsible for the preservation of the biomes of the planet.
As we leave our villages and cross the Atlantic Ocean to the most important climate convention that global governance has instituted, we carry in our bags our traditional knowledge and the authority to affirm that our territories are oases of biodiversity and models of climate solution. Our culture and our knowledge are originally environmentalist, even before the term was invented.
Many of those who listen to us today are unaware of all the effort we put into this mission. We have shaped and protected our biomes at the price of the blood of millions of our relatives. The genocide of the native peoples, the persecution of the defenders of our territories and the illegal capture of our lands, is the greatest and most widespread crime that humanity has produced throughout its history. This is a continuing and present crime, which we denounce in all the instances we occupy.
It is fundamental that the world understands that there is no solution for the healing of Mother Earth that does not have its feet on the ground. Connecting with the earth, feeling its needs, understanding its cycles and its imbalances is fundamental to reverse the damage caused in recent centuries by the thirst for an irresponsible, unequal and ecocidal accumulation and disposal behavior.
What we feel in our villages, territories protected at such cost, are the devastating symptoms of the climate apocalypse. The indigenous genocide and the continuous expropriation of our territories by legislative onslaughts and predatory interests is a clear sign that our lands are the last Reserves of the Future. The massacre of indigenous peoples is an omen of the irreversible devastation that is claiming victims in forests, fields, savannahs, and all biomes throughout the world. If left unchecked, it will bring all living beings to a tragic, painful and unjust end.
To the authorities and experts meeting now in Glasgow, we ask them to take real action for the protection of our territories and to work tirelessly for a fairer and less polluting production system for all societies.
We are going to Glasgow to warn the world once again, and on this occasion with even more gravity: humanity is leading the destiny of us all to chaos and death! Our Mother Earth is exhausted.
The future of the planet and the species that inhabit it depend on our global capacity to cooperate to defend and strengthen indigenous peoples and local communities, to ensure the security of traditional territories in the face of predatory economic interests, and to create and promote effective climate solutions based on nature and the communities that protect it.
Therefore, we stand against false solutions based on technological innovations designed from the same developmental and productivist logic that causes climate change. We criticize solutions that do not recognize indigenous peoples and local communities as central to the defence of forests, the reduction of deforestation and fires, and as essential to ensure that we reach the stated goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
We hope that this message will reach global leaders, businessmen and civil society organizations present at COP26, vibrate in their hearts, and reforest their minds!
LAND BACK!
09/Sep/2021
A ancestralidade das guerreiras indígenas de todos os países latino americana é o elo que conecta a luta por suas vidas e por seus territórios
Brasília, 09 de setembro de 2021 – Um grupo de 7 mulheres, originárias de 7 povos da Amazônia Equatoriana vieram a Brasília se somar à Segunda Marcha das Mulheres Indígenas, em uma demonstração de solidariedade e apoio à luta de suas irmãs indígenas do Brasil.
“Viajamos milhares de quilômetros solidárias com nossas irmãs e companheiras brasileiras, pois suas lutas são similares às nossas, pois os Estados republicanos violam sistematicamente nossos direitos como mulheres, com indígenas, como seres humanos”, afirma Lineth Calapucha, vice-presidenta do Povo Kichwa, de Pastaza.
O grupo foi recebido pelas lideranças da Articulação Nacional de Mulheres Indígenas Guerreiras da Ancestralidade, com muita alegria e respeito. “Nós entendemos que nossa irmandade nasce de uma ancestralidade compartilhada, dos tempos em que não havia fronteiras que nos separassem artificialmente, nem projetos genocidas de Estado que roubassem nossas terras e matassem nossos povos”, reforça Braulina Baniwa, da ANMIGA.
Elas participarão das atividades da Segunda Marcha das Mulheres Indígenas, que acontece até sábado, nos campos da FUNARTE, e tem como tema “Reflorestar mentes para a cura da terra”.
Sônia Guajajara, coordenadora executiva da APIB e dirigente da ANMIGA reforça o laço entre as mulheres indígenas do Brasil e da Amazônia: “A Amazônia é nossa casa comum e temos de unir nossas forças para impedir o avanço da ambição, do fogo, dos pastos e das motosserras. A situação é urgente, e por isso estamos aqui e sempre estaremos, juntas e fortes”.
Esta potente articulação de mulheres vem da percepção de que o inimigo que enfrentam é violento e destruidor, mas a força das mulheres indígenas é maior, pois são guerreiras ancestrais que oferecem ao mundo a possibilidade de impedir que a crise climática e ambiental que vivemos se agrave.
O papel das terras indígenas na preservação das florestas na América Latina é reconhecida pela ONU, conforme afirma a FAO no relatório Os povos indígenas e a governança das florestas, publicado em 2021. O relatório afirma que as terras indígenas são os territórios mais bem preservados da região – e as mulheres são agentes fundamentais para este resultado, pois são elas que cuidam mais diretamente e cotidianamente dos territórios.
“Somos mulheres, somos indígenas. Somos mulheres indígenas, mulheres da terra, mulheres curadoras que defendem a vida”, afirma Nina Gualinga, da Organização Mulheres Amazônicas, em uma declaração que resume a força e a diversidade cultural que se reúnem em Brasília.
09/Sep/2021
Organização da II Marcha Nacional das Mulheres Indígenas convoca imprensa para pronunciamento oficial da mobilização, em Brasília, hoje (9) às 17h
Por Assessoria de Comunicação da Anmiga
A organização da II Marcha Nacional das Mulheres Indígenas definiu acompanhar o julgamento do marco temporal e realizar, nesta sexta-feira (10), a Marcha que estava prevista para a manhã de hoje, 9 de setembro, na programação do acampamento montado no espaço da Funarte, em Brasília.
As mulheres indígenas estão na linha de frente para enterrar a tese do marco temporal e apoiar as ministras e ministros do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) na votação que está em curso desde o dia 26 de agosto e irá definir o futuro de todas as demarcações de terras indígenas no Brasil.
Pela garantia dos territórios, com a força das que as antecederam e na luta para as presentes e futuras gerações, as mais de 5 mil guerreiras da ancestralidade, de 172 povos, seguem acompanhando o julgamento de um telão montado na tenda principal do acampamento da Marcha.
A sessão está prevista para esta quinta-feira, 9, às 14h, com a leitura do voto dos ministros e ministras da Suprema Corte. Iniciando com o voto do ministro Fachin, que agora deve apresentar a parte mais central de sua posição sobre o tema das demarcações de terras indígenas.
Na sequência, votam os outros ministros, do mais novo na casa, ministro Kassio Nunes, até o mais velho, o decano do STF, ministro Gilmar Mendes. Também há a possibilidade de um pedido de vistas por parte de algum ministro, o que resultaria na interrupção e no adiamento da votação.
Julgamento sobre marco temporal
Na pauta de discussões há três semanas, o julgamento tem como um dos principais pontos a discussão sobre a inconstitucionalidade da tese do marco temporal. Na prática, a Corte analisa a reintegração de posse movida pelo governo de Santa Catarina contra o povo Xokleng, referente à Terra Indígena Ibirama-Laklãnõ, onde também vivem os povos Guarani e Kaingang. O caso recebeu, em 2019, status de “repercussão geral”, o que significa que a decisão servirá de diretriz para a gestão federal e todas as instâncias da Justiça no que diz respeito aos procedimentos demarcatórios.
Para as mulheres indígenas guerreiras da ancestralidade, a demarcação dos territórios é uma garantia, também, de segurança para os corpos das mulheres, como sustentou Samara Pataxó, assessora jurídica da Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (Apib).
“Esse julgamento, com repercussão geral, que, para além de definir uma tese que irá definir o futuro das demarcações de nossas terras, também decidirá sobre o futuro de nossas vidas e da nossa continuidade existencial enquanto povos originários desse país. Pois não há como falar de terras, construir uma tese sobre terras indígenas, sem considerar a vida dos povos indígenas, e não há como falar de vida, sem a proteção dos nossos territórios.”
Pela garantia de seus direitos originários e contra o marco temporal, defendido por ruralistas e outros setores interessados na exploração das terras indígenas, os povos originários têm se mantido em mobilização permanente para acompanhar o julgamento do STF.
A expectativa é que a Corte rejeite a tese do marco temporal e reafirme o caráter originário dos direitos territoriais dos povos indígenas e a tradicionalidade da ocupação como único critério para as demarcações, conforme previsto na Constituição Federal de 1988. Segundo a tese do indigenato, consagrada na Constituição de 1988 e oposta ao marco temporal, o direito dos povos indígenas à demarcação de suas terras é originário, ou seja, anterior à própria formação do Estado brasileiro, e independe de qualquer marco temporal.
Serviços
O quê: Pronunciamento da II Marcha Nacional das Mulheres Indígenas
Quem: Mulheres indígenas de todos os biomas brasileiros
Organização: Anmiga – Articulação Nacional das Mulheres Indígenas Guerreiras da Ancestralidade
Quando: 9 de setembro, 2021
Horário: 17h, horário de Brasília
Onde: Em Brasília, no acampamento instalado no espaço da Funarte
Programação: https://anmiga.org/marcha-das-mulheres/
09/Sep/2021
Foto: Juliana Pesqueira
A II Marcha das Mulheres Indígenas será realizada nesta sexta-feira (10) e não mais na manhã de hoje, 9 de setembro, como estava prevista na programação da mobilização, em Brasília.
A decisão tem como objetivo garantir a vida das mulheres, anciãs, jovens e crianças presentes, na mobilização que acontece desde o dia 7 de setembro, na capital federal, com a participação de mais de 5 mil pessoas de 172 povos, de todas as regiões do país.
Grupos extremistas, fascistas, armados, muitos identificados com camisetas escrito Agro seguem invadindo a Esplanada dos Ministérios, com olhares coniventes do governo do GDF (Governo do Distrito Federal) e em apoio a Jair Bolsonaro. Em virtude disso, a Esplanada está bloqueada.
A nós interessa saber quem é o agro que financia esses criminosos? Quem são os golpistas que querem a todo custo impedir o Supremo Tribunal Federal de julgar o processo da Terra Indígena Ibirama-Laklãnõ do povo Xokleng, que marcará definitivamente a política de demarcação de terras no Brasil?
Viemos de todo o país realizar nosso encontro de mulheres, em um diálogo sobre as nossas pautas e acompanhar o que pode ser o julgamento mais importante para os direitos indígenas no país em décadas. O Marco temporal é uma aberração jurídica, elaborada por aqueles que financiam essas manifestações antidemocráticas, e que a todo custo, historicamente, tentam calar nossa voz, subjugar nossos corpos, assim como já fizeram no passado.
Todos os olhos do mundo estão voltados hoje para o Brasil, perplexos. A imprensa nacional e internacional está acompanhando a nossa mobilização, repercutindo em todo o mundo a nossa luta e o que pode acontecer.
Jamais aceitaremos que nossas mulheres e povos sejam submetidos novamente a tamanha violência! Esses capítulos são páginas de um passado, que estamos reescrevendo com a nossa luta, a partir do chão dos nossos territórios.
A II Marcha das Mulheres Indígenas sairá amanhã do nosso acampamento, para as ruas, com nossos corpos e nossas vozes ecoantes na luta por justiça, por liberdade e pela demarcação de nossas terras sagradas ancestrais.
Jamais aceitaremos o arbítrio do governo genocida. Cadeia para Bolsonaro! Fora!
Marco Temporal Não
Demarcação Já
Articulação Nacional das Mulheres Indígenas Guerreiras da Ancestralidade – ANMIGA
Articulação Nacional das Mulheres Indígenas Guerreiras da Ancestralidade – ANMIGA
Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil – APIB
Organizações regionais de base da APIB:
APOINME – Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Nordeste, Minas Gerais e Espírito Santo
ARPIN SUDESTE – Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Sudeste
ARPINSUL – Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Sul
ATY GUASU – Grande Assembléia do povo Guarani
Comissão Guarani Yvyrupa
Conselho do Povo Terena
COIAB – Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira
03/Sep/2021
The event will gather about 4,000 women from 150 peoples, from all regions of the country and will continue the mobilizations of the indigenous movement in defense of their rights in the federal capital
Between the 7th and 11th of September, the National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestrality (Anmiga) holds the Second National March of Indigenous Women, in Brasília. With the theme “Original women: Reforesting minds for the healing of the Earth’, it is expected the participation of about 4,000 women, from more than 150 peoples, coming from all biomes of Brazil, during the 3 days of activities, which take place in the space of the National Arts Foundation (FUNARTE).
“We are seeking to guarantee our territories, those that preceded us, for present and future generations, defending the environment, this common good that guarantees our ways of life as humanity. In addition to being a mere physical resource, it is also home to the spirits of forests, animals and the waters of life as a whole, source of our ancestral knowledge”, reinforces Anmiga’s statement on the march.
The mobilization was carried out for the first time in 2019, and it took place virtually in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The sanitary protocols of the second march reinforce all existing and recommended norms for combating coronaviruses.
According to the organization of the march, the women’s delegations were guided to prioritize the participation of people who had completed their immunization cycle against Covid-19, with at least two doses of the vaccine, or with the unique dose. The use of mask during the activities is mandatory and testing will be carried out upon the arrival of people at the event.
The march health team includes indigenous health professionals in partnership with the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (Abrasco), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the Indigenous Health Clinic from the University of Brasília (Asi/UNB), the Health Department of the Federal District with the University Hospital of Brasília (HUB).
Permanent Mobilization
“We state that indigenous women will be on the front line to bury once and for all the ‘milestone thesis’, during the 2nd march of indigenous women”, emphasizes the Anmiga coordination.
Since August 22, more than six thousand indigenous people, from 176 peoples, from all regions of the country, were present in Brasília, gathered in the “Luta pela Vida” camp, which is currently the largest mobilization in the history of the indigenous movement. Headed by the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (Apib), in association with all its regional organizations, the indigenous people are following the judgment by the Supreme Court (STF) that will define the future of the demarcation of Indigenous Lands and also protest against the anti-indigenous agenda of Bolsonaro government and within the National Congress.
After the beginning of the trial, on August 26, and the announcement that it would be resumed this Wednesday (1/09), the indigenous people decided to keep the mobilization in Brasília and in the territories. Around 1,200 indigenous leaders, representing their peoples, remained in Brasília, and the “Luta pela Vida” camp was transferred to a new location, Funarte.
The group will continue to follow the trial and join forces with the 2nd March of Indigenous Women in a proposal for permanent mobilization.
Schedule
September 7th will be dedicated to welcoming the delegations in Brasilia, with orientation and testing activities for Covid-19. The National Forum of Indigenous Women starts on Wednesday, the 8th, and the entire mobilization will follow the return of the judgment in the Supreme Court at 2 pm (GMT-3).
On Thursday (9), the March of Indigenous Women will head to the Três Poderes Square, and on the 10th the end of the mobilization activities will count on the launch of the mobilization “Reflorestarmentes”. All activities can be followed on the website: anmiga.org
30/Aug/2021
In memory of our ancestors, who gave us their lives so we can exist. In memory of the ‘encantados’ (enchanted spirits) who brought us here to continue their struggle in defense of our bodies, lands and territories, our identity and differentiated cultures, we communicate Brazilian and international societies that we will remain permanently mobilized in defense of LIFE and DEMOCRACY.
Our fight is not just to preserve the lives of our peoples but of the entire humanity, today seriously threatened by the policy of extermination and devastation of Mother Nature promoted by economic elites – who inherited the greed of colonial, mercantile and feudal expansionist power – and by governors like the genocidal Jair Bolsonaro.
The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib) started the Struggle for Life camp in Brasília on August 22nd and reinforces in this letter that we will remain mobilized until September 2nd, 2021 to fight for our rights. Today, this is the greatest mobilization in the history of the original peoples, in the Federal Capital, and it reinforces our statement: our history does not begin in 1988!
Even putting our lives at risk, in the still seriously dangerous context of Covid19, we are here to tell the invaders of our territories that they will not pass, despite the intense attacks on our fundamental rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution of 1988.
We occupied the media, the streets, the villages and Brasília to fight for democracy, against the racist and anti-indigenous agenda that is being implemented by the Federal Government and the National Congress and to monitor the judgment in the Supreme Court (STF), which will define the future of our peoples.
During the month of June 2021, we carried out the Rise for the Earth, inaugurating our first on-site activities (after the pandemic), in Brasília, to face the worsening of violence against indigenous lives. From then on, we started a new cycle of struggles, considering that, since March 2020, we only gathered virtually and within our territories, due to the pandemic.
As we face many viruses, including Bolsonaro’s genocidal policy, we started our ‘Indigenous Spring’ that intends to occupy Brasília constantly, in 2021, in addition to continuing on social networks and in mobilized territories.
From the 7th to the 11th of September, indigenous women will be on the front line to bury once and for all the Milestone thesis, during the Second March of Indigenous Women: the original women reforesting minds for the healing of the Earth.
On the 26th, the STF began the judgment that will define the demarcation of Indigenous Lands (TIs). With no end in sight, the indigenous peoples are still mobilized to monitor the outcome of the votes of the Justices of the Supreme Court.
We will fight to the end to maintain our original right to the lands that we traditionally occupy and protect. Being part of this country, maintaining our condition as culturally differentiated peoples, even if public authorities and private corporations consider us obstacles to development. This development, which since the beginnings of the European invasion has been devastating, ethnocidal, genocidal and ecocidal, and which in current times has found, and not by chance, in this misgovernment, a prototype to perpetuate its project of domination.
We are children of the Earth! And the Earth is not ours, we are the ones who are part of it. It is the uterus that generates us and the arms that welcomes us. That’s why we give her our life! In our tradition there has never been this issue of regulating who owns the land or not, as our relationship with it was never of possession. Our possession is collective as it is the usufruct. This is the basic foundation of our existence, which is not yet understood by the ignorance of the so-called Western civilization culture, even after 521 years.
This contradiction is at the base of the disputes that the invaders’ heirs or descendants insist on keeping against us. They relentlessly dispute our territories without truce, during the different phases of the formation and configuration of the Brazilian National State and nowadays!
Neocolonial elites, also promoters and beneficiaries of the military dictatorship, took over most of the current National Congress and continue to defend the continuity of their hegemonic control, domination over bodies, lands and territories and not just indigenous peoples. They intend to make us believe that they are going to bring development to Brazil, when, in fact, they are promoting a Project for the Death of Mother Nature – of forests, rivers, biodiversity – and for the peoples and cultures holding millenary accumulated wisdom, outside the scientific institutions. According to the most recent data from the UN Panel on Climate Change, there is an undeniable increase in the planet’s temperature, floods, among other environmental disasters, obviously caused by this development model.
Considering all this factors, we say NO to any and all initiatives that ignore our historic and strategic protection of life, humanity and the planet. We also say NO to all those who propose to violate our rights through hundreds of administrative, legal, legislative and legal actions.
Our history did not begin in 1988, and our struggles are millennial, in other words, they have persisted since the Portuguese and successive European invaders arrived in these lands to take over our territories and their wealths. That is why we will continue to resist, claiming respect for our way of seeing, being, thinking, feeling and acting in the world.
Under the aegis of the Constitutional text, we trust that the Supreme Court will reinforce our original right to land, which does not depend on a specific date of occupation proof, as defended by the invaders. Through the Milestone thesis, the current colonizers want to ignore that we were already here when their ascendants decimated many of our ancestors, raising the current national state over their corpses.
Supported by our ancestry and the power of our peoples, our spirituality and the strength of our enchanted spirits who cherish the Bem Viver (Good Living), ours and humanity’s, we say no to the Milestone thesis! We call the national and international societies, especially the different organizations and social movements that have always been with us, and above it all, our bases, peoples and indigenous organizations to remain vigilant and mobilized in defense of our rights.
Brasília – DF, August 27, 2021.
Struggle for Life Camp
Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil – APIB
National Indigenous Mobilization – MNI
23/Aug/2021
Fotos: @scotthill / Aty Guasu
More than 5,000 indigenous people from all regions of Brazil are gathered in Brasilia to claim their rights
The second day of the Struggle for Life Camp began with the presentation of the indigenous delegations gathered in the camp. At this moment, more than 4,000 indigenous people, from 117 peoples from all regions of Brazil, are present at the Esplanada dos Ministérios, in Brasília. This morning, in a presentation of indigenous cultures, the delegations had the opportunity to exhibit their traditional dances and songs, reinforcing the cultural ancestry shared between the peoples.
In the afternoon, the coordination of Apib and its regional organizations had a moment to present their considerations on the challenges facing Indigenous Peoples across the country. The regional organizations that make up Apib are: Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo (APOINME), Terena People’s Council, Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Southeast (ARPINSUDESTE), Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the South (ARPINSUL), Great Assembly of Guarani Kaiowá Peoples (Aty Guasu), Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) and Guarani Yvyrupa Commission.
“It is also important to highlight that our camp has developed a series of health protocols, dedicated to reinforcing existing WHO norms, as all indigenous people who are in the camp must be vaccinated, obligatorily, in order to be able to accompany our camp. We feel pushed to be present in Brasilia, in this very desolate scenario that is being promoted both by the National Congress, but mainly by the Federal Government regarding the rights of indigenous peoples. From the 22nd to the 28th of August, in Brasília, we will fight for the rights of indigenous peoples, mainly guaranteeing the well-being of our territories.” Dinamam Tuxá, Coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil.
Indigenous Peoples of Brazil Receive International Support
The camp was visited by a Progressive International delegation, an articulation that brings together human rights organizations, political parties, unions and other institutions from the progressive field from several countries. The delegation was welcomed by representatives of the Munduruku and Kayapó peoples, who took advantage of the meeting to denounce the impacts they are facing due to infrastructure projects close to their lands.
Apib’s representatives delivered copies of the International Dossier released last week to serve as an instrument of denunciation for the international community, the document brings a series of complaints about the threats and violence perpetrated by the Government of Bolsonaro against Indigenous Peoples.
Also today, a delegation from Apib was invited to visit the Norwegian Embassy, where they were able to deliver the International Dossier and demand support for their struggle from Ambassador Nils Martin Gunneng, and from the program officer, Mr. Kristian Bengston.
United Nations reaffirms the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil
Francisco Cali Tzay, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples today called on the Supreme Court (STF) to guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands and territories, and to reject a legal argument promoted by commercial agents with the aim of explore natural resources in traditional indigenous lands, referring to the Milestone thesis (tese do Marco Temporal).
“Accepting a timeframe doctrine would result in a significant denial of justice for many indigenous peoples who seek recognition of their traditional land rights. According to the Constitution, indigenous peoples have the right to permanent possession of the lands they traditionally occupy”, said Francisco. This statement reinforces the relevance and need to defend the right of Indigenous Peoples to their territories.
Plenary of the Five Powers
At 3 pm, the Plenary of the Five Powers will take place, which will be held to promote an analysis of the situation on the legislative, executive, judiciary, popular and spiritual powers. In the evening, the Indigenous Peoples will be gathered to celebrate a Pajelança: a religious ritual to reinforce the alliance of the Peoples. After the ceremony, Mídia Índia (@midiaindia) will exhibit the video screening: “Memory and Fight”.
“This plenary talks about the five powers and is very important within the Struggle for Life camp, giving it a great meaning because it passes through the discussion of the legislature, the judiciary and the executive, and it also reminds us of the fourth power, which are the masses, which is the people, the Brazilian nation as a whole, not only the indigenous peoples, but the Brazilian people, which is the fourth power. And then we talk of the fifth power, being the spiritual one. The divinities rules our lives, rules the communities, gives strength in times of difficulty and in the face of invasion, miners, loggers, against bills and ordinances, against all human ailments and spiritual, also against the pandemic and the diseases” Marcos Sabaru, Assessor policy of Apib.
20/Aug/2021
Mobilization calls for indigenous people already vaccinated and counts with health protocols against Covid-19, in Brasilia
The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), associated with all its regional organizations, inaugurates this Sunday (22) the national mobilization ‘Struggle for Life’, in Brasília. The activities, which will last until the 28th of August, intend to defend the indigenous peoples rights and to promote activities against the anti-indigenous agenda that advances into the National Congress and the Federal Government. The mobilization will also focus on the trial about the Milestone Thesis (Marco Temporal) by the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), which is expected to be resumed on August 25th and may define the future for indigenous land demarcation.
The indigenous movement constantly denounces the increase of violence against indigenous peoples inside and outside their traditional territories. Apib and all its regional grassroot organizations disseminate this information to the press, on social media and formalized complaints in national and international legal instances. On the date that marks the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, August 9, Apib presented an unprecedented statement before the International Criminal Court (ICC) to denounce Bolsonaro’s government on the crimes of Genocide and Ecocide.
“We cannot remain silent while facing this violent scenario. It is not only Covid19 virus that is killing our people and that is why we decided once again to go to Brasília to continue fighting for the lives of indigenous peoples, for the Mother Earth and for the future of humanity”, emphasizes Sonia Guajajara, one of Apib’s executive coordinators.
The mobilisation previews seven days of activities in the federal capital, with an intense schedule of plenary sessions, political audiences within Federal Government bodies and embassies, marches and public demonstrations. During this period, indigenous people from all regions of Brazil will be camped at Praça da Cidadania.
The camp will have an intense program of political discussions and cultural events. All activities have a collaborative communication team formed mostly by indigenous people. “It is necessary to give visibility and amplify the voices of the indigenous movement as a whole. In this scenario of many threats, communication plays a key role and we will be joining forces in this camp”, emphasizes Erisvan Guajajara, Media India coordinator.
Health care
The Struggle for Life Camp has developed sanitary protocols dedicated to reinforcing all existing and recommended norms for combating Covid19. The camp’s health team includes indigenous professionals and count on the support of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (Abrasco), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, the Indigenous Health Clinic of the University of Brasília (Asi/UNB) and the University Hospital of Brasília (HUB).
“The health recommendations begin from the moment the delegations organize themselves to leave their territories. Apib proposes the invitation of people who already have their full vaccination coverage,” explains Dinamam Tuxá, one of Apib’s executive coordinators.
The first day of the camp (22) is dedicated to the arrival of the delegations and to carry out mass testing for Covid-19 as one of the sanitary protocols for the mobilization.
On Monday (23) the activities are dedicated to political updates with leaders across the country. ‘The Five Powers’ is the name of the plenary that will be held to promote an analysis of the current situation on the legislative, executive, judiciary, popular and spiritual powers. On this day, rituals and audiovisual exhibitions are also planned.
Future
The most central agenda of the Struggle for Life mobilisation is related to the trial by the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF), which is expected to be the most important process of the century for the lives of indigenous peoples. The Court will analyze the repossession action filed by the government of Santa Catarina against the Xokleng people, referring to the Ibirama-Laklãnõ Indigenous Land (TI), where the Guarani and Kaingang peoples also live.
Under the status of “general repercussion”, the final decision made by the trial will serve as a guideline for the federal government and all instances of Brazilian justice system, as well as a reference to all processes, administrative procedures and legislative projects regarding the indigenous land demarcation procedures.
“Indigenous peoples experience a deeply adverse political context under Bolsonaro’s administration, the first president elected with a declared position against the indigenous peoples. As soon as he started his government, he signed several acts that hurt the Constitution and International Treaties that protect indigenous communities and their territories. It is important to note that, in this context of pandemic, it is essential to reflect on the relevant role the traditional territories play to keep humanity’s equilibrium. So, the indigenous lands, besides protecting the indigenous peoples’s ways of life, are a national and public heritage, which contributes to keep the climatic balance”, emphasizes Eloy Terena, Apib’s juridic coordinator in his article on the Supreme Court judgment (read the full text here)
In this sense, the schedule for the Struggle for Life camp on August 24th and 25th is dedicated to discussions, acts and manifestations related to the trial, in support of the Supreme Court justices and against the Milestone Thesis (Marco Temporal).
The days following the trial will give space to debates related to the 2022 elections and the strengthening of the support networks for the struggles of indigenous peoples. The departure of all delegations is scheduled for the 28th of August.
Check out some schedule details here
19/Aug/2021
Bills being processed in the Brazilian Congress, with irreversible consequences to the Amazon forest and indigenous peoples, could bring serious risks to the operations of financial institutions. An alert from the Coalition and other partners adds to the agenda of denunciations by indigenous peoples.
Brasília, August 19, 2021 – In a letter sent today to 80 international and Brazilian financial institutions, Forest & Finance Coalition, together with the Association of Indigenous People of Brazil (APIB), the Climate Observatory, and 45 allied organizations, warn about the risks of investments in Brazil in light of a suite of legislative changes being currently pushed in the Brazilian Congress. If approved, these bills will result in irreversible consequences for the protection of critical ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest and the guarantee of the rights of Indigenous peoples, posing serious risks for many financial institutions operating in Brazil.
The coalition’s alert aims to pressure these financial institutions to publicly and forcefully position themselves against this regressive agenda, spur change within the industry and warn companies that operate in Brazil and rely on their financing.
“The Forests and Finance Coalition has been pressuring financial institutions for some time to take action in relation to their investments that threaten forests and the rights of Indigenous peoples in Brazil. These measures include clear criteria for excluding companies that commit these violations from its portfolio and the adoption of policies against deforestation and for the protection of the rights of Indigenous peoples,” says Merel Van der Merk, coordinator of the Coalition. “But faced with a threat of this magnitude to the legal protection of the environment, we need concrete action now, a very clear position that these institutions will not be accomplices in further destruction, deforestation and degradation of Brazilian ecosystems and the violation of rights of indigenous peoples,” she highlighted.
Among the legislative threats described in the letter are Bill 2633/2020, also known as the Land Grabbing Bill (PL da Grilagem); Bill 3729/2004, which loosens the rules for environmental licensing in Brazil – both approved by a great majority in the Chamber of Deputies, awaiting consideration in the Senate; Bill 191/2020 which frees up mining and other extractive activities within Indigenous lands and removes the veto power of these communities; Legislative Decree 177/2021, which allows Brazil’s withdrawal from Convention 169 of the ILO; and Bill 490/2007, which may revert constitutional protections to Indigenous Territories, making new demarcations unfeasible and threatening the ones already in place.
The letter reinforces the agenda of mobilizations by Indigenous peoples and organizations between the months of August and September in Brazil. On Monday, August 16t, the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) published an international dossier of complaints to draw attention to the offensive against Indigenous peoples and the environment led by the Bolsonaro government and its allies. APIB signed the letter led by the coalition, in addition to 45 other organizations.
“With this letter, we join hundreds of Indigenous leaders and environmental advocates that are now marching to Brasília to defend their territories and forests. If approved, these measures will have catastrophic results not only for Indigenous people but to the entire social and environmental protection apparatus in Brazil – which is already dismantled by the current administration – and because of the rainforest’s role in our climate, for the world,” said Rosana Miranda, campaign adviser at Amazon Watch, member of the coalition. “These changes threaten the financial sector itself, as it represents an increase in the social, legal, environmental, and climate risks involved in operating in Brazil. They need to act,” she concluded.
About the Forests and Finance Coalition
The Forests & Finance (F&F) is an initiative of a coalition of campaign and research organizations including Rainforest Action Network, TuK Indonesia, Profundo, Amazon Watch, Reporter Brasil, BankTrack, Sahabat Alam Malaysia, and Friends of the Earth US. The coalition seeks to prevent financial institutions from facilitating the common environmental and social abuses of forest risk commodities. They advocate greater transparency, specific financial sector policies, systems, and regulations.
The initiative’s database can uncover the links between major banks, investors, and companies at risk of deforestation, and present case studies involving deforestation and human rights violations linked to bank investments and financing. Financial institutions can access more than 300 companies directly involved in the supply chains of various commodities whose operations affect tropical forests in Southeast Asia, Central and West Africa, and Brazil.
