Indigenous people make shamanistic ritual for arrest of Rio former governor

For them, the plague was broken out by the ancestors. Cabral was

Published on 17/11/2016 - 19:33 By Vladimir Platonow reports from Agência Brasil - Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro -Índios e bombeiros comemoram prisão de Sérgio Cabral, ex-governador do Rio em frente à sede da Polícia Federal (Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil)

The arrest of former governor Sérgio Cabral was celebrated this Thursday (Nov. 17) in Rio by indigenous people with a shamanistic ritual, known as "pajelança," performed in front of the Federal Police headquarters.Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil

The arrest of former governor Sérgio Cabral was celebrated this Thursday (Nov. 17) in Rio by indigenous people with a shamanistic ritual, known as pajelança, performed in front of the Federal Police headquarters. They round danced, played rattles, and pointed out that Cabral was responsible for their expulsion from the old Museu do Índio [Indigenous People Museum], a historic building they occupied beside the Maracanã Stadium, during the works for Rio 2016. Cabral was arrested this Thursday morning at a new phase of Operation Car Wash, which probes into federal money embezzled in works of Rio's government.

When the museum was emptied, in 2013, indigenous people were forcibly removed by the shock troops of the Military Police, which caused an uprising and left many people harmed. On the day they were expelled, indigenous people have warned the governor that he had disturbed their ancestors, which "was not a good sign."

"Of course he shouldn't have messed with our ancestors. He had not listened to us. Neither he, nor Dilma [Rousseff]. They have fallen one after the other. With much respect and great faith, we asked for our ancestors' help. Indigenous peoples do not separate spirituality from politics. If we are hit and humiliated, our ancestors are there to defend us. We made bonfires, performed our rituals so that we would be avenged by our ancestors," said Michael Oliveira, member of the Baré-Mawé people from Amazonas, who is currently professor and historian at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).

According to him, the building where the old museum worked has a great historical importance.

"There, in the palace, all the indigenous peoples' quarrels were settled. There are even reports of deaths that happened there. Several caciques and morubixabas [which are leaders of indigenous groups]  from all over Brazil went there to talk with Marshal Cândido Rondon [creator of Brazil's Indian Protection System] and Professor Darcy Ribeiro. It is a place of material and immaterial memory from several indigenous peoples," noted Oliveira.

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta


Fonte: Indigenous people make shamanistic ritual for arrest of Rio former governor

Edition: Maria Claudia / Olga Bardawil

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