REGION: AMAZONIA

Javari Delegation Joins ‘Struggle for Life’ Mobilization in Brazil
By John Reid

The Brazilian Indigenous movement launched its Struggle for Life mobilization in Brasília on August 22, 2021. Six thousand people from 176 tribes streamed into the capital from throughout the country. They came in a show of force to oppose a bill (PL 490) that would undercut Indigenous land rights, and to witness a crucial decision in Brazil’s Supreme Court.
 
Just ten of those six thousand people were from the Javari Valley. Compared to past Indigenous gatherings in Brasília, ten from the Javari—comprised of Kanamary, Matis, Marubo, and Matsés (Mayoruna) cultures—was a big group. Sometimes no one is able to go. That’s because their territory is separated from the federal seat of power by thousands of miles of jungle and savanna. The area is still ecologically intact and provides a safe home for a dozen groups of uncontacted people, in part because it’s so hard to get to, as there are no roads. For someone in a village in this territory, it takes a multi-day boat ride and a couple long, expensive flights from the nearest city to take part in an event such as the Struggle for Life.
 
The Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley (UNIVAJA) decided a substantial delegation needed to make this trip because of the gravity of the matter before the Supreme Court. It is the so-called “marco temporal,” which roughly translates as the “timeline.” It’s a reinterpretation of Brazil’s 1988 constitution, which restored civilian rule after 20 years of dictatorship. Article 231 says:

"Indians shall have their social organization, customs, languages, beliefs, and traditions recognized, as well as their original rights to the lands they traditionally occupy, it being incumbent upon the Union to demarcate them, protect and ensure respect for all of their property."

Struggle for Life participants listen to oral argument by Indigenous lawyer Ivo Macuxi outside the Supreme Court. Photo Credit: Gilberto Marubo.

The “timeline” theory says that to be covered by this article, traditionally occupied lands had to be occupied on the date of the Constitution’s approval, October 5, 1988. In the decades (and centuries) leading up to that date, tribes all over Brazil had been forcibly removed from their lands by government forces, farmers, and companies. Endorsement of the timeline theory would thwart hundreds of Indigenous territories still in the process of creation and open many already formalized to reversal.
 
UNIVAJA Coordinator Paulo Marubo, leading the delegation, declared, “The Struggle for Life should be everyone’s struggle…we have to think of the next generation. My uncontacted relatives in the forest, where our history lives, need every tree for their survival…On behalf of all forest peoples, we Indigenous Peoples cannot live without Mother Earth. That’s why we’re here, and we’ll fight for every last tree and river.”

Twenty-two-year-old Francisca Kanamary got her first taste of the national Indigenous movement, with its throngs marching, camping, and congregating around a stage and jumbotron in the center of the city. “The experience showed me what I really want to do, which is to be part of the Indigenous movement, to carry the name of my Javari to faraway places and defend my land with tooth and nail!” she said.
 
Bushe Matis noted that the Javari delegation brings a special perspective because they share territory with the world’s largest concentration of isolated peoples. “It’s important for us, young people from the Javari, to be here getting to know other peoples and learning from their struggles. And we’ll be going back to our villages, telling our elders and youth what we saw and heard so that our people can understand the big picture of the struggle of Indigenous peoples in Brazil.”
 
The Javari presence at the Struggle for Life mobilization was supported by world-renowned photographer and activist Sebastião Salgado and Nia Tero.

As we write, the Supreme Court verdict is still pending. To stay up-to-date, please visit our partners UNIVAJA, APIB, and COIAB.

REGION: PASIFIKA

Music Video Release: Rooted
By Anne Quidez

Meet Mia Kami, a 23-year-old singer/songwriter and activist from the island of Tonga, as well as a 2020 Nia Tero Storytelling Fellow. Mia is passionate about the importance of Indigenous knowledge, decolonizing the mind, and climate activism, and uses her music as a platform to advocate for issues she feels are relevant to her Pacific siblings. With her music, she hopes to bring light to the issues affecting the Pacific in a way only music can. 

This past month, Mia released the music video for her single, Rooted, which you may recognize from the Nia Tero Seedcast podcast. Mia shares more about the song and video in her own words:

"I initially wrote Rooted for an anti-logging campaign in the Oro province of Papua New Guinea in 2018. When I was writing it, I wanted the song to reflect how there is a deep connection between people of the Pacific, our land, sea, and the deep ties to our identity. I had the same vision for the music video. I wanted the video to portray that we are not these small dots in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We are strong, beautiful, and creative people with so many stories to tell. We are not our struggles and hardships; we are our ancestors, our culture, our art, our music, our dance. Current issues such as COVID-19, climate change, and Indigenous sovereignty remind us of the need to cling to these values of storytelling, creativity, culture, and togetherness that have sustained us as Pacific people."

"This song and this video is for all people with a yearning for home because we are rooted in our place, our cultures, our traditions, and our people. Because no matter where we are, we are here to stay." - Mia Kami

Photo Courtesy of Mia Kami