“We’ll continue to exist,” says demographer on indigenous future

The number of Brazilians who identify as indigenous has grown almost sixfold in the last 30 years. In 1991, they numbered just over 294 thousand, according to the Demographic Census at the time. By 2022, they had reached 1.694 million, statistics bureau IBGE reported.

The surge is largely attributed to changes in the way the survey is carried out every ten years—innovations implemented since 1991, when “indigenous” became an option under race and skin color. A milestone for many experts and authorities, this is the year when indigenous people began to be included as such in the Brazilian census, rather than under other categories, like “brown.” The IBGE, however, also points out that “some indigenous peoples have shown a significant [population] increase due to high fertility rates.”

“The main conclusion is that we will continue to exist,” said demographer Rosa Colman. With a degree in geography and a doctorate in demography, the professor at the Intercultural Indigenous College at the University of Grande Dourados (UFGD) is the first and possibly only specialist in population studies to identify as indigenous in Brazil, a hypothesis confirmed by the Brazilian Association of Population Studies, or ABEP.

“I believe there will soon be others out there,” said Professor Colman, who believes that dedicating seats for marginalized groups has “encouraged people to declare themselves indigenous,” contributing to self-affirmation strategies.

Born in Sanga Puitã, a district of Ponta Porã, in Mato Grosso do Sul state, on the border with Paraguay, Professor Colman, of the Aché ethnic group (often pejoratively dubbed Guayaki), was once the target of the same discrimination that leads many of her kind to deny their identities today. “Prejudice was rife. As a child, I was often called ‘bugrinha’ and ridiculed for speaking broken Portuguese,” she recalled. In the early years of her life, she only communicated with her parents and those close to her in Guarani.

Today, she feels optimistic. “Despite everything, things are getting better […] and people want to reaffirm themselves as a people, as an ethnic group.”

Below are excerpts from Rosa Colman’s interview for the special series on the future of indigenous peoples Agência Brasil is publishing starting Tuesday (Apr. 16), to mark Indigenous Peoples’ Day, April 19. In the coming days, Agência Brasil will publish interviews with writer Eliane Potiguara, philosopher Daniel Munduruku, and Minister Sonia Guajajara.

Agência Brasil: Since the 1991 Demographic Census, the number of people declaring themselves indigenous has been on the rise. What do you think explains this increase?

Professor Colman: In addition to the natural growth of the indigenous population, there’s been an improvement in the methodology for collecting sociodemographic data. This is quite evident.

Agência Brasil: And what does this increase suggest about the future of indigenous peoples?

Professor Colman: I predict that the indigenous presence in urban centers—already quite noticeable as it is—should continue to increase. [These are people] mainly in search of study and work. It’s the same with the issue of mobility—or rather multiple localities, people living between the city and the village. Self-affirmation should also continue to gain ground as the context improves. I believe the main conclusion is that we’ll continue to exist.

Agência Brasil: For what reasons have more people started to declare themselves indigenous in the last three decades, and why do you believe that self-affirmation will continue to expand?

Professor Colman: Despite everything, the indigenous situation has been improving compared to a few decades ago. This can be seen in the data. It’s become stronger since the 2000s. In general, there’s been some improvement in health care and food conditions. Affirmative-action policies, for example, have motivated people, encouraging them to declare themselves indigenous. Right here at UFGD, just considering Kaiowá and Guarani individuals, we have identified around 50 people in graduate school. This is already a thing, even though fear and prejudice still abound, especially when it comes to land disputes, where many prefer to hide.

Agência Brasil: In your 2015 doctoral dissertation, you point out that the high population growth rate recorded among the Guarani over the previous 70 years is the result of an “ethnic population policy aimed at guaranteeing physical and cultural survival.” What is—or was—this strategy?

Professor Colman: These are more internal policies, of physical and cultural growth. People want to reaffirm themselves as a people, as an ethnic group. So they say it’s also important to have children to continue existing and resisting.

Agência Brasil: Has this perception that the Guarani, and possibly other peoples, understand that having children is crucial for the cultural survival of their people been the subject of academic studies?

Professor Colman: I’m not sure about academic research, but that’s what we realize from our experience being in contact with the Guarani, who complain when someone—or even the state—suggests they shouldn’t have so many children since they’re poor. We hear a lot of stories of this kind, even from young indigenous students who feel uncomfortable. In academic terms, this perception is reinforced by the indigenous fertility rate, which is higher than among the non-indigenous. In the 2010 Census, while the fertility rate among the non-indigenous population was 1.5 children per woman, among indigenous people it stood at 3.8. This helps explain the population growth.

Agência Brasil: In your dissertation, you also stated that Brazil was not prepared to respond adequately to this population increase. Has this changed since then?

Professor Colman: We still have a lot of needs to address in terms of better education and health care for indigenous people. In addition, the lack of a basic infrastructure still motivates many complaints, and many of these stem from prejudice and discrimination across public services.

Agência Brasil: Since the IBGE is responsible for carrying out the Demographic Census, we contacted the institute to find out if there are any indigenous geographers or demographers among the staff. There aren’t any. ABEP also told us it doesn’t know of any other self-declared indigenous professionals apart from you. Do you know of any other indigenous people working in this field?

Professor Colman: No. Only one indigenous person, but she’s from Mexico. She went to Unicamp [State University of Campinas, in São Paulo state], but works in Mexico. And there’s a colleague, a Guarani, who works a lot in this field, but with statistics. He has a different educational background.

Agência Brasil: As you said, there are more and more indigenous students in undergraduate and graduate programs, and your field is so dear to indigenous communities, always a hot topic in debates about the problems faced by indigenous people. Why did you choose geography, and why did you decide to specialize in demography?

Professor Colman: I liked geography. I think it was because I had really charismatic teachers who encouraged me to do it. Some of my classmates even suggested that I take literature, since I speak Guarani, but at the time there were only daytime classes and I ended up choosing geography because there was the option of studying in the evening. For my master’s degree, I met professor [and former president of Brazil’s national indigenous authority FUNAI] Marta [Maria do Amaral] Azevedo, my adviser, and at her invitation I went to study demography at Campinas. I think there are few indigenous people working in this area because until recently demography programs were only available in big urban centers, like São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais. But I think we have indigenous students in undergraduate programs, some in graduate school. In the future, other indigenous professionals should appear.

Agência Brasil: Finally, taking into account the ethnic and cultural diversity of the more than 300 ethnic groups living in Brazil, what do you think the future of indigenous communities will look like?

Professor Colman: I think we’ll be even more diverse and consolidated. Many will be living in cities, but a large number of them are likely to continue living on indigenous lands. I believe we’ll be able to demarcate more territories, thus providing land security for these communities. And I think that, whatever the context may be, we’ll have much greater access to, and mastery of, technological innovations. We can already see a number of young indigenous people who have mastered them.