The Indigenous World 2023: Brazil
According to data from the Demographic Census conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in 2010, the Indigenous population in the country stands at 896,900 individuals distributed across 305 ethnic groups. They speak 274 languages and the proportion of Indigenous people aged over five years who speak an Indigenous language at home is 37.4%. In turn, the census revealed that 17.5% of Indigenous people do not speak Portuguese as opposed to 76.9% who do.
The largest ethnic group is the Tikúna, accounting for 6.8% of the Indigenous population. Indigenous Peoples are present in all five regions of Brazil, with the northern region being home to the largest number (342,800), and the fewest living in the south with 78,800. Of the total number of Indigenous people in Brazil, 502,783 live in rural areas and 315,180 in towns and cities.[1]
2022 marked the end of Jair Bolsonaro's government and the pandemic control caused by COVID-19, both leaving a “scorched earth” scenario. Bolsonaro's government was marked by its denial of the pandemic and, as a result, the country suffered 697,762 deaths[2] and 36,953,492 infections; these included 44,743 cases of COVID-19 among 158 Indigenous Peoples and 1,590 deaths among 121 Indigenous Peoples.[3] Vaccine coverage among Indigenous Peoples did not even reach 50% due to the influence of the evangelical churches, which joined Bolsonaro in the belief that getting vaccinated would transform you into an alligator. This ended up putting the Indigenous Peoples at great risk.
From the start, Jair Bolsonaro's government made its purpose very clear through statements such as “no indigenous land will be demarcated in my government” or “not one more centimetre demarcated”. Later, Bolsonaro stated: “The Indian is our brother, he wants to be reintegrated into society.”[4] These messages, repeated ad nauseam, were coupled with a development project based on primary exports, backed by the rural and public security power groups, both pushing for the opening up of Indigenous territories and conservation units for the exploitation of minerals, pasture, soybean and corn crops, as well as beef production for China, the largest buyer.[5]
Indigenous Peoples formed one of the major obstacles to this strategy. Over the last four years, there has thus been no further demarcation of Indigenous lands and, moreover, there has been a significant increase in the number of deaths of Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists. People have been transferred away from agencies that were protecting both the Indigenous issue and the environment.
Bolsonaro actually “opened the door” to unbridled exploitation of the Amazon rainforest, resulting in laws that were protecting it being repealed or broken. Under his watch there was an increase in fires, mineral exploitation, high rates of Indigenous child malnutrition, and river contamination.
It was against this backdrop that, in October 2022, Luis Ignacio da Silva was elected president of Brazil and another five Indigenous people were voted into the Chamber of Deputies: Celia Xacriabá (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade Minas Gerais, PSOL-MG), Juliana Cardoso (Partido dos Trabalhadores São Paulo, PT-SP), Paulo Guedes (PT-MG), Silvia Waiãpi (Partido Liberal Amapá, PL-AP), Sônia Guajajara (PSOL-SP).
On the one hand, we are witnessing the extreme devastation of Indigenous lands and their peoples. On the other, however, we have the October parliamentary elections in which an unprecedented number of Indigenous people were successful as a result of the Indigenous Peoples’ united parliamentary bloc, the so-called Bloque del Cocar.
The Amazon and the Indigenous population
One of the first decrees passed by the Bolsonaro government was to transfer the Brazilian Forest Service from the Ministry of Environment to the Ministry of Agriculture. This was followed by the fragmentation of the Brazilian Institute for Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), replacing specialist technicians with people trusted by the government and linked to agribusiness, mining and logging interests in an attempt to relax laws and monitoring/protection services. Between January 2019 and March 2022, 98% of the deforestation alerts issued were not addressed by the federal government. In turn, in 2019, conciliation centres were created to further reduce and relax environmental fines.[6]
The Brazilian Amazon comprises nine states: Amazonas, Acre, Roraima, Rondônia, Pará, Maranhão, Amapá, Tocantins and Mato Grosso, and these are where most of the country's Indigenous population live, accounting for approximately 440,000 Indigenous individuals represented by 180 Indigenous Peoples, in addition to several groups living in isolation. At the same time, these are the states with the highest production of soybean, cattle, mineral extraction, timber extraction and fish. This paradigm results in a constant asymmetric struggle between the local population and the interests of a large number of national and international businessmen supported by the Bolsonaro government.
The legal Amazon is considered one of the best preserved biomes in the world due to laws and regulations that have hindered environmental devastation and the invasion of Indigenous territories. However, over the last four years, the region has suffered deforestation at the hands of rural and development interests. To rid itself of the obstacles, the Bolsonaro government created new regulations and rolled back on all the rights that had previously been gained, resulting in a humanitarian and environmental disaster. The death of Brazilian indigenist Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips in the Javari Valley[7] while fighting for environmental protection and Indigenous rights, as well as the constant denunciations of environmental disasters on Yanomami and Munduruku lands, are just two examples.
According to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), illegal mining on Indigenous lands in the northern region of Brazil increased more than eightfold between 2016 and 2022. Illegal activities were detected on Yanomami Indigenous lands in Roraima and in six reserves in Pará: Sai-Cinza, Munduruku, Baú, Kayapó, Apyterewa and Trincheira/Bacajá.
It was against this backdrop that Bolsonaro ended his term in office, leaving behind a legacy of 45,586 km² of deforestation in the Amazon.[8] August saw the highest rate of deforestation in ten years, with 638 km² of forest destroyed. Compared to other states in the Amazon region, Pará suffered the highest deforestation rate, accounting for 40% of the total. The state is rich in minerals such as bauxite, iron, manganese, limestone, gold and tin, and has been the victim of a significant increase in illegal mining, logging and encroachment onto Indigenous lands.
According to the Instituto Socioambiental,[9] deforestation caused by illegal mining and land invasions in 2022 mainly affected Indigenous lands with a confirmed presence of isolated Indigenous Peoples. Monitoring identified that 1,192 hectares had been deforested and 594 alerts issued in territories with isolated peoples throughout the Brazilian Amazon.
In a written statement presented to the 21st session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII 21), leader Milena Mura warned that the consequences were devastating for Indigenous Peoples: “Mining on Indigenous lands is genocide for us because it affects us directly, generating environmental and social impacts, affecting our traditions, culture and customs.”
Bills and laws that threaten both Indigenous people and the environment
The bills listed below were not created exclusively under Bolsonaro's government but were submitted to parliament for a vote during his administration, in violation of the 1988 Constitution and international agreements to which Brazil is a signatory.
- In February 2022, Decree 10,966 created the category of “artisanal mining” to be “stimulated” in the Amazon region. The decree also created the Interministerial Commission for the Development of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining, which will not include any representation from Indigenous Peoples, traditional communities or the social movements. This decree legitimizes illegal mining in the Amazon and favours an important electoral support base for President Bolsonaro.
- Bill 191/2020, which authorizes mining and other extractive activities on Indigenous lands.
- Bill 490/2007 could also result in devastating losses for the native peoples of the region. It anticipates changes in the rules governing the Indian Statute for Indigenous land demarcations, opening up areas to water and energy exploitation.
- Bill 191/2020 seeks to authorize mining and other extractive activities on Indigenous lands. In addition, Draft Resolution No. 14/2022 is going through the Senate, aimed at creating a parliamentary bloc in support of mining in the Legal Amazon.
- Bills 191/2000, 2633/2020, 3729/2004 and 490/2007 formed a key part of the agenda of Jair Bolsonaro's presidential administration (2019-2022).
Indigenous movements
In response to this offensive, Indigenous movements have become the greatest expression of resistance and resilience. The Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) has played a leading role in this struggle, leading protests and marches at crucial moments of voting on laws that represent a threat to Indigenous Peoples, such as Bill 490/2007, Temporary Framework; Bill 191/2020, Mining on Indigenous Lands; Bill 6299/2002, known as the Poison Package; Bill 2633/2020 and Bill 510/2021, Grilhagem of Public Lands;[10] Bill 3729/2004 (now PL 2159/2021, under analysis by the Senate) on Environmental Licensing; and Bill 2699, on the Statute of Disarmament and Carrying of Weapons.
In 2022, the Campamento Tierra Libre, a traditional movement of Indigenous Peoples claiming their rights, declared:
We are more than 8,000 leaders from 200 Indigenous Peoples, coming from all regions of Brazil to gather at the 18th Acampamento Terra Livre. We are responding to the call from our highest national representative body, APIB, and its regional organizations. We come to Brasilia with the multiple colours of our feathers to show the country and the world that, as we learned from our ancestors, we continue and will continue together, resisting the different extermination projects that the elites, owners or representatives of capital and their successive rulers and allies in the Legislative Branch have articulated against us throughout these 522 years.[11]
It also set out an Indigenous platform for the reconstruction of Brazil based around four themes:
- Theme 1. Indigenous land rights - Demarcation and protection of Indigenous territories now!
- Theme 2. Recovery of spaces for Indigenous participation and social control.
- Theme 3. Reconstruction of indigenist policies and institutions.
- Theme 4. A halt to the anti-Indigenous agenda in the Federal Congress.
The same meeting launched the so-called Bancada del Cocar: “This bloc is intended to replace the rural landowners’ bloc. To replace the bullet bloc. We want the National Congress to be representative of Brazil and, to be representative of Brazil, there must be more Indigenous women”.[12] It was the first time that a majority of Indigenous Peoples had united around two agendas: against environmental degradation and against violations of Indigenous and human rights. This resulted in a record 183 Indigenous nominations.
Because of its explicit policy of genocide of the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples, whether through the denial of COVID-19 and the total lack of assistance to Indigenous Peoples or the constant violations of Indigenous and human rights, the Bolsonaro government faces a serious complaint at the Hague Tribunal for the genocide of Indigenous Peoples.
Maria de Lourdes Beldi de Alcântara is a medical anthropologist from the School of Medicine of the University of São Paulo. She is also the coordinator of Indigenous Youth Action (AJI/GAPK).
This article is part of the 37th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous person in Tanzania. This photo was taken by Geneviève Rose, and is the cover of the Indigenous World 2023 where this article is featured. Find the Indigenous World 2023 in full here.
Notes and references
[1] Government of Brazil. Available at: http://www.brasil.gov.br/governo/2015/04/populacao-indigena-no-brasil-e-de-896-9-mil
[2] “Number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Brazil”. Available at: https://covid19br.wcota.me
[3] Fabio Pontes. “Vacinação no Vale do Javari está atrasada e indígenas denunciam que anciões estão morrendo por Covid-19”. Amazonia Real, 23 February 2022. Available at: https://amazoniareal.com.br/vacinacao-no-vale-do-javari-esta-atrasada-e-indigenas-denunciam-que-ancioes-estao-morrendo-por-covid-19/
[4] “Relembre 7 vezes em que Bolsonaro atacou direitos dos indígenas”. Yahoo Noticias, 13 June 2022. Available at: https://br.noticias.yahoo.com/relembre-7-vezes-em-que-bolsonaro-atacou-direitos-dos-indigenas-162258426.html
[5] Victor Hugo Biongiolo. “Produtos mais Exportados pelo Brasil e seus destinos em 2021”. UNESC, 28 May 2022. Available at: https://www.unesc.net/portal/blog/ver/656/51031
[6] Iza Lourença. "Inimigo da natureza: Um balanço do legado de destruição ambiental de Bolsonaro”. Sindicato dos Bancarios, 26 September 2022. Available at: https://santosbancarios.com.br/artigo/inimigo-da-natureza-um-balanco-do-legado-de-destruicao-ambiental-de-bolsonaro/
[7] Cristiane Prizibisczki. “Amazônia em guerra: morte de Dom e Bruno escancara situação de abandono de Terras Indígenas do país”. OECS, 15 June 2022. Available at: https://oeco.org.br/reportagens/amazonia-em-guerra-morte-de-dom-e-bruno-escancara-situacao-de-abandono-de-terras-indigenas-do-pais/
[8] Greenpeace Brazil. “Legado de destruição: Amazônia perde 45.586 km² somente no governo de Jair Bolsonaro”. Brazil: Greenpeace, 30 November 2022. Available at: https://www.greenpeace.org/brasil/imprensa/legado-de-destruicao-amazonia-perde-45-586-km²-somente-no-governo-de-jair-bolsonaro/
[9] Giovanna Costanti. “Terras Indígenas com povos isolados estão entre as mais ameaçadas de 2022”. Brazil: Instituto Socioambiental, 10 February 2023. Available at: https://www.socioambiental.org/noticias-socioambientais/terras-indigenas-com-povos-isolados-estao-entre-mais-ameacadas-de-2022
[10] In Portuguese, the term grilhagem refers to the illegal appropriation of public or private land by means of false documents, such as land titles, with the objective of legalizing the occupation and exploitation of the land.
[11] Edgar Kanaykõ. “ATL 2022: Povos Indígenas unidos, movimento e luta fortalecidos”. Brazil: APIB, 14 April 2022. Available at: https://apiboficial.org/2022/04/14/atl-2022-povos-indigenas-unidos-movimento-e-luta-fortalecidos/
[12] Scarlett Rocha. “Mulheres indígenas lançam Bancada do Cocar para derrotar o lobby da mineração e a bancada ruralista”. Brazil: Observatório da Mineração, 9 April 2022. Available at: https://observatoriodamineracao.com.br/mulheres-indigenas-lancam-bancada-do-cocar-para-derrotar-o-lobby-da-mineracao-e-a-bancada-ruralista/
Tags: Global governance, Human rights
