Marches, cultural activities, a plenary attended by representatives from social, urban and rural movements to unify rights, and round table discussions about the international coalition for the struggles of indigenous peoples, all featured in the programme of the 2017 Free Land Encampment. Now in its 14th year and held in Brasilia between 24 and 28 April, the event was considered to be one of the largest in history, and was attended by approximately 4 thousand indigenous people from more than 200 peoples.
“This is very important for us because we have found many kin here. We came here to gain recognition from politicians and to claim our rights to health, education, the environment and all the things that are important to our communities” stated Guarani Vice-Chief Nhandeva Awa Nidwyjree from Paraná.
Social movements demonstrated support and commitment to the defence of the indigenous peoples of Brazil. In attendance was Guilherme Boulos from the Homeless Workers’ Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto: MTST) and representatives from the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores na Agricultura: CONTAG) and the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra: MST).
Rosemery, an indigenous woman (from the Arapaso people of Alto Rio Negro), is an activist in the Movement for Indigenous Women from the Amazon (Movimento de Mulheres Indígenas do Amazonas) and emphasized why the presence of indigenous women at the encampment is so important. “Most of these women are illiterate. But the greater question is territorial. Women suffer because their husbands and sons enter the fight and are killed, massacred. In the end, what is left is women holding young children. Today most of them are both mother and father of the family, working to support their children. So, today there are many women here from Mato Gross, the North and the Northeast!”
Delegations of indigenous peoples form Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Indonesia participated in the Encampment, demonstrating their support for the original peoples of Brazil. On 27 April, Sonia Guajajara, Chief Raoni (Caiapó from the Xingu region) and Marichoia Pascoal (Peru) sealed the international coalition for the Alliance of the Guardians of Mother Nature. “Three large global forests are at risk of extinction. To preserve indigenous life is to preserve the Amazon. We are a form of invisible shield for the Amazon” reflected the indigenous leader from Peru.
These activities resulted in the construction of a final document for the mobilization which strongly condemns attacks on and threats to the rights of original peoples. On the afternoon of the 27 April, during the week’s second indigenous march on Brasilia’s Ministerial Esplanade, the text approved at the Encampment plenary was filed at a number of ministries and at the president’s Planalto Palace.
Public acts
On 27 April, three thousand indigenous people went onto the streets of the Ministerial Esplanade, singing and chanting and calling on the Encantados, their ancestors, to secure their rights to land and good living. The indigenous peoples filed the meeting’s official document, containing the original peoples’ main claims, at the ministries of Health, Education and Justice.
On 25 April, another act was held on the Esplanade, which was violently received by the police force. “We were received with shots, rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray. What happened to us was really terrible. We didn’t need the police, these people are incompetent, they attacked us with bullets but we only had bows and arrows. What was it for?” asked the Guarani Nhandeva Awa Nidwyjree.
Join forces
Rosemery, an indigenous Araposa woman, thinks that it is increasingly important to strengthen mobilizations such as the Encampment. During the 2017 Free Land Encampment, she stated, “Greater participation by our kin at national level has only been possible thanks to the partners we have today. So we can be in Brasilia, say we are here, say what we feel. Things will only get better if we constantly organize these types of demonstrations. However long we, indigenous peoples, live on our demarcated lands, we do not have sufficient financial security, because at any time a bomb could go off here in Brasilia to approve laws that are not favourable to our rights. So we need partners. And we have partners who we can rely on. CESE, for example, has always supported the Amazon movement and the national movement, especially the activities of indigenous women”.