Despite the celebrations, a lower-than-expected number of approvals frustrates the indigenous movement
Report updated at 14:47 pm
This Thursday (18/04), the Lula government continued the processes of demarcation of Indigenous Lands (TIs) with the approval of two areas by the Presidency. The approved TIs are: Old Village, of the people Pataxo, in Porto Seguro (BA); It is Chief Fontoura, of the people Iny Karajá, in Lagoa da Confusao (TO), Luciara (MT) and São Félix do Araguaia (MT). Together, the areas represent 34.070 hectares.
With the acts, which were published this Friday (19/04) in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU), Brazil now has 528 approved and reserved Indigenous Lands, reaching a total of 108.075.186 hectares.
See the decrees: Old Village e Chief Fontoura
Find out more about the IT demarcation process here.
The demarcations were made official by President Lula during the closing of the Ordinary Meeting of the National Council for Indigenous Policy (CNPI), a collegial and consultative body whose objective is to articulate, provide support and propose the official indigenous policy.
The event in Brasília marked the resumption of the Council, made up of 64 full councilors, 30 representatives of the Executive Branch, 30 members of indigenous peoples and organizations and four representatives of indigenous entities. The Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) was one of the organizations nominated to form the body.
In 2015, the CNPI was established via decree (nº 8.593) by former president Dilma Rousseff. However, the Council was abolished in 2019, during the first year of the last administration.
Map of the location of the two Indigenous Lands (click on the highlighted points):
According to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the decision to ratify only two Indigenous Lands, of the six that were being publicized, came to avoid future problems, such as the judicialization of processes, and a request from governors to delay the signature, with the aim of carrying out the eviction of the areas without conflicts. “We don’t want to fight, or harm indigenous people, and we also don’t want to harm a rural worker,” he explained.
The other four Indigenous Lands that were listed for approval were: Xukuru-Kariri, of the people Xukuru-Kariri, in Palmeira dos Índios (AL); Horse Hill, of the people Guarani Mbya e Guarani Nhandeva, in Palhoça (SC); Imbu Awning, of the people kaingang, in Abelardo Luz (SC); It is Potiguara de Monte-Mor , of the people Potiguara, in Marcação (PB) and Rio Tinto (PB). In addition to these, another 247 areas are in different stages of demarcation, awaiting completion, totaling 251 Indigenous Lands with processes still pending.
Find out more about the demarcation situation of Indigenous Lands in Brazil here.
“I want you to know that these Lands are ready. What we don't want is to promise you something today and tomorrow you read in the newspaper that the Court took a contrary decision. The frustration would be greater”, added Lula.
“We will talk to the people who are on these Lands and I promise you that we will sign these Lands, so that we can take an even more important step”, he promised.
Also present on the occasion were Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples; Cida Gonçalves, Minister of Women; Dinaman Tuxá, from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib); Marina Silva, Minister of Environment and Climate Change; Jorge Messias, Minister of the Attorney General's Office (AGU); Rui Costa, Minister of the Civil House; Paulo Teixeira, Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Farming of Brazil; and Braulina Baniwa, from the National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestry (Anmiga).
At 20:30 pm Brasília, minister Sonia Guajajara made the first statement on national television on the occasion of Indigenous Peoples' Day, this April 19th.
Demarcations are celebrated, but there is still much to be done
This Thursday's acts come seven months after the last approvals and after President Lula signaled, in his “Message to the National Congress”, that he would move forward with land demarcations. However, in the assessment of indigenous and indigenous organizations, there is still much to be done.
During the ceremony, Sonia Guajajara highlighted the importance of the announcements, but considered: “We still have a very large liability as a Brazilian State to ensure that the constitutional right of traditional territory for indigenous peoples is fulfilled”.
"For us, it is an immense victory. It is a victory for us, as the Pataxó people, but it is also a victory for all indigenous peoples, who have been fighting for the demarcation of their lands. Our land was [approved], [but] Now we also have to be together so that the fight for the demarcation of [the lands of] other relatives can take place", celebrated Angelo Pataxó, leader of the Aldeia Velha Indigenous Land, in Bahia.
According to the Pataxó leadership, a challenging stage now begins, which is the disintrusion and subsequent management of the territory. "But we have a lot to thank our people, every person in the community, who has been fighting since the recovery began. The fight continues", he concluded.
In an interview with ISA, Vanessa Fe Ha, communications coordinator for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Southern Region (ArpinSul), highlighted that the decision is important, as there is no future for indigenous peoples without demarcation. Congratulating the people of the approved TIs, she highlights that the expectation was to see the same outcome for the lands in the South region.
“We know what a struggle it is for us, indigenous peoples, to have our territory demarcated, but we also ask for the demarcation of the Indigenous Lands that are in our region, as is the case of the Morro dos Cavalos Indigenous Land, which is only waiting for President Lula’s signature”, he stated.
The Morro dos Cavalos TI was one of the lands included in the #DemarcaYvyrupa campaign, relaunched this week by the leaders of the Guarani people to demand the approval of four TIs and the declaration of another eight lands with no pending issues which, according to the Guarani Yvyrupa Commission (CGY), would only need a signature to move forward in the demarcation process.
Vera Rodrigo Mariano, CGY's legal advisor, sees the announcement with great frustration, since leaders from these lands were invited to the announcement ceremony. “We always have good expectations of seeing the regularization of our territories moving forward. And when it comes close to materializing, it doesn’t go as expected,” she pointed out.
“We realize that President Lula often gives in to political pressure from Congress and the Judiciary itself”, he added. “The rights of indigenous peoples, the fundamental right to territory are put in check, as a currency for negotiations and a political agenda to measure forces in the national political scenario”, criticized the advisor.
Apib, on your social networks, also demanded compliance with the commitments made by President Lula during his campaign for Planalto.
For Tiago Moreira dos Santos, an anthropologist at ISA, the measures should be celebrated, but remember that there are still 251 demarcation processes that have not been completed, in various stages. “The Lula government's approvals are at the average of the last two decades, however, due to the great liability that exists in the recognition of TIs, especially outside the Legal Amazon, at this rate it would take around 30 years to have satisfactory progress”, he assessed.
Despite the blatant history of conflicts involving demarcations, no IT belonging to the Guarani Kaiowá people in Mato Grosso do Sul was included on the list. In a recent speech, the head of the Executive, visiting the State last Friday (12/4), proposed to Governor Eduardo Riedel (PSDB) the purchase of land to “save” the Guarani Kaiowá – a statement that generated protests by indigenous organizations e indigenists.
Learn more about the demarcated Indigenous Lands:
Aldeia Velha Indigenous Land, in Porto Seguro (BA)
Traditionally occupied by the people Pataxo, Aldeia Velha Indigenous Land is located in Porto Seguro, south of the State of Bahia, with part of the area contiguous to the urban core of the district of Arraial d'Ajuda. Currently, 1465 people live on Indigenous Land, according to the 2022 Census.
In 2008, identification studies were approved, delimiting an area of around 2000 hectares, overlapping with the Open Museum of Discovery (Made). The declaration of Indigenous Land by the MJ came in 2010. For more than two decades, the Pataxó people have been waiting for the outcome of the approval process.
In addition to the continuous embezzlement suffered by the Pataxó people, as point records, currently the region continues to be the target of land disputes.
Cacique Fontoura Indigenous Land, in Lagoa da Confusao (TO), Luciara (MT) and São Félix do Araguaia (MT)
A Cacique Fontoura Indigenous Land is located between the municipalities of Luciara and São Félix do Araguaia (MT), Cerrado biome, in the Legal Amazon. Declared as 32 thousand hectares, the area is occupied by the people Iny Karajá, with a population of 489 inhabitants.
The Iny Karajá in Cacique Fontoura have the Araguaia River as an axis of mythological and social reference. The territory is marked by an extensive strip of the Araguaia River Valley, Bananal Island, which is the largest river island in the world, with around two million hectares.
TI was one of those whose process was paralyzed during the Bolsonaro Government, when his declaration process was returned to Funai by former minister Sérgio Moro, in 2019.