A million indigenous Brazilians struggle to survive

In Brazil, approximately one million indigenous people of over 250 ethnic groups live in nearly fourteen percent of the national territory. Amid violence threats and the risk of being stripped of their rights by the pressure of landowners, mining firms and plants, the indigenous are forced to fight for autonomy. They attempt to use trade and tourism as alternate ways to become less dependent on the ever-dwindling funds from Funai, the country’s National Indian Foundation.

These are among the main challenges to be remembered on April 19—Indian Day in Brazil—said the specialists heard by Agência Brasil.

To be successful in their attempt to sell their own manufactured goods and in the use of natural resources in their territories, indigenous people in Brazil have worked to have more representation in Congress, as it is the duty of the nation’s legislative branch to provide legal security and ensure the financial development of which indigenous Brazilians have always been deprived.

Representation

In Brazil, says Stephen Baines, anthropologist and professor at the University of Brasília, the indigenous are left aside when ties are forged in Congress between executives and landowners. “There is an absurd disproportion in the Brazilian legislative favoring those who rejoice whenever indigenous rights—as outlined in the 1988 constitution and in international law—are threatened,” he told Agência Brasil.

“Ours is an extremely conservative Congress, which poses—through lawmakers linked to landowning leaders, agribusiness, mining companies and consortiums, and hydroelectric plants—the biggest threat to the rights on the indigenous peoples,” Baines argued.

Indigenous are underrepresented in Brazilian Congress, antrophologist says - Antonio Cruz/Agência Brasil

A member of the Parliamentary Front for Agriculture and the leader of the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) in the lower house, Federal Deputy Nilson Leitão said that “no project” approved by Congress is harmful to the interests of the indigenous. “It may go against the interests of intermediaries, mediators, or social organizations who claim they work for the Indian. No congress member I know who seeks to protect the productive sector works against the Indian,” he said.

Leitão went on to say that “the true partners of the Indian are the producers.” “[The indigenous and the producers] are neighbors, they live in the same location, have the same special characteristics, and contribute with one another. There are no conflicts between them except for those sparked by social organizations,” he declared.

Funai adviser in Congress Sebastião Terena noted that indigenous leaders have worked to boost the participation of the indigenous in the 2018 elections, particularly in Congress. Difficulties, however, abound. In the history of the Brazilian Parliament, the only indigenous individual ever elected was Mário Juruna, who became a member of the lower house in 1982.

According to Terena, a mere 117 indigenous city councilors are serving in 25 states, in addition to four mayors and a vice-mayor. “Despite the lack of funding and infrastructure, we’re having indigenous people announcing their candidacy for the first time in at least ten states and the Federal District,” Terena reported. Candidacies are to be officially announced in July.

Sustainability

It is hard for indigenous Brazilians to envisage major enterprises before land demarcation issues are addressed, which would also include the guarantee of legal security, said Baines.

“It is crucial that respect is showed for Indians and their way of living and producing. In order for this to happen, the rights established by the Constitution and by international conventions must be enforced,” Baines stressed, instancing conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations (UN) on the rights of indigenous people.

It is hard for indigenous Brazilians to envisage major enterprises before land demarcation issues are addressed - José Cruz/Agência Brasil

Indigenous groups that have had their territories demarcated have achieved good results trading their goods. A survey brought to Agência Brasil by the Socio-environmental Institute—ISA, in the original Portuguese acronym—found that, in the 2017–2018 crop alone, the Kaiapó ethnic group, in the northern state of Pará, raised $300 thousand with the sale of 200 tons of Brazil nut. Another $11.5 thousand came from the sale of cumaru seeds—a plant used to produce medicines and scents, also used in the wood industry.

Brazil nut brought to the Xipaya and Kuruaya, also in Pará, some $133 thousand. Furthermore, approximately 6 thousand arts and crafts articles from the Indigenous Territories on High and Medium Negro River yielded $73.8 thousand to local indigenous. Other groups derive their income from the trade of mushrooms, pepper, and honey.

The president of Funai, General Franklimberg Ribeiro Freitas, said that it is up for the indigenous to decide on the development model to be adopted. “Funai must support them to help them meet their goals,” he told Agência Brasil. “In several regions, Indians’ production has been directed at the trade of their products and services, like ecological tourism. These experiences have proved that sustainable mining, trade, and tourism can help expand the development of indigenous territories,” he said.

*Additional reporting by Andréa Quintiere and Paulo Victor Chagas