Key events and landmark moments

Capítulo 6.

Key events and landmark moments

Acampamento Terra Livre [Free Land Camp, or ATL, in the Portuguese acronym] and the occupation of iconic spaces in the Federal Capital Brazil were the most cited events by the engaged audiences. ATL is a mobilisation movement for the strengthening of Indigenous peoples rights held annually in Brasília.

The ATL was described as a paradigmatic case due to its marches, protests, and acts of resistance, and as an event of enormous importance for the internal conjunction of the Indigenous movement. The beauty and diversity of the songs, dances, and spontaneous cultural manifestations of the ATLs were also highlighted. “They manage to consolidate common agendas. This is something very important and very difficult for civil society and for social movements, and Indigenous peoples have done it brilliantly."

The March of Indigenous Women was the second most cited event, especially when they joined the March of Margaridas [Daisies, how are also called the rural women workers]. In 2019, the event brought together 2,500 women representing more than 113 Indigenous peoples from all regions of Brazil.

The reach of the ATLs was questioned by some of the interviewees, who still see it as very focused on activists and supporters of the Indigenous movement. Some of the interviewees did not mention it spontaneously, or said they did not know it.

Indigenous people's participation in political party life, in particular Joênia Wapichana's election as a Member of Congress and Sônia Guajajara's running for the co-presidency in 2018, were identified as two of the most important events of the past ten years. “I believe that the participation of an Indigenous woman in the presidential election was a rupture in Brazil's collective imagination”, a journalist highlighted.

Photo credits: Apib Comunicação
Photo credits: Apib Comunicação
Photo credits: Apib Comunicação
Photo credits: Apib Comunicação
Photo credits: Apib Comunicação
Photo credits: Apib Comunicação
Photo credits: Apib Comunicação
Photo credits: Apib Comunicação

The 1988 Constitution was recurrently remembered as the great landmark and foundation of the current mobilisation of the Indigenous movement. “The big change came with the 1988 Constitution, which promotes the redefinition of the rights of these populations, which were previously protected by the State.”

Past and ongoing opposition to the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant, as well as the self-demarcation of the Munduruku people's Sawré Muybu Indigenous Land were also among the most remembered events. “We now have clarity about the absurd extent of the damage caused by Belo Monte, which represents a gigantic humanitarian catastrophe.” Several interviewees pointed out that Belo Monte generated innovative national and international communication campaigns and alliances for the protection of the forest, a greater intolerance to large infrastructure projects in the Amazon, at least among the country's cultural elite, and, in particular, an opposition to the hydrodam that still remains very much alive and active.

Photo credit: Atossa Soltani/Amazon Watch

Global events such as climate conferences were the main events/landmark moments remembered not by international people interviewed but also by agribusiness representatives and those interested in but not engaged on the agenda. “Narratives are slow to build, requiring accumulation and coordination over many years. But there are certainly events, catalytic moments, such as the COPs.”

Donors and international NGOs also highlighted the tour of a delegation of Indigenous leaders through 12 European countries in 2019 to denounce violations against Indigenous peoples and the environment, and the murder of environmental defenders, in particular Paulino Guajajara, also often cited by other segments in Brazil.

The Forest Code (2012) was mentioned by significantly fewer people, and more especially by agribusiness representatives, who described it as an important milestone. While from different perspectives, environmentalists and agribusiness representatives criticised the low and inadequate implementation of the law. “The understanding of the Amazon was reconfigured at this moment. It's as if people started abandonig the vision of the Amazon as the lungs of the Earth, and started to have a better understanding of land disputes there, including the ones on Indigenous peoples and traditional communities territories”, one of the Communicators interviewed highlighted.

Photo credit: BBC news

Non-engaged audiences did not mention specific events, with the exception of regional journalists, who cited the Indigenous games, and a few politicians, who mentioned Indigenous participation in events and public hearings in the National Congress. Events in which economists and business leaders participate, including environmental ones, still do not include Indigenous peoples, in most cases.

Although the question was about key events and key moments for Indigenous peoples in Brazil and the strengthening of their rights, mentions of the elections and Jair Bolsonaro ended up, understandably, being inevitable due to the blatantly anti-Indigenous agenda of the current Brazilian government. Even among opinion makers from non-engaged audiences, the impact of the current federal government being openly hostile to traditional peoples was recognised and cited.

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