Mundurukuområdet Sawré Muybu, 2023 års Goldman-pristagare Alessandra Munduruku hem, är ett av de territorier som är på väg in i de sista stegen av gränsdragningsprocessen.
När vårt Amazon Watch-team nu åker hem från Brasiliens huvudstad firar vi en stor seger för urfolk! Brasiliens president Lula da Silva meddelade vid årets Free Land Camp, eller Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL), i Brasília att han formellt erkänner flera urfolksterritorier och följer sitt kampanjlöfte att "inte lämna ett enda urfolksterritorium oskyddat."
Vår ATL-delegation inkluderade vår sociala mediakoordinator Dalia McGill, digitala organisatören Cinthya Flores, juridiska rådgivaren för Brasilien Ana Carolina Alfinito, Brasilien kampanjrådgivare Gabriela Sarmet och Brasiliens programchef Ana Paula Vargas. Tillsammans bevittnade vi detta historiska ögonblick vid Brasiliens största samling av urfolk.
Temat för ATL i år var Demarcação Já, eller "Demarcation Now!" Demarkation är den brasilianska regeringens process för formellt erkännande och lagfart av urfolksmarker. Lulas tillkännagivande av sex urfolksterritorier markerar en historisk milstolpe i urfolkens motstånd för full respekt och erkännande av urfolks rättigheter, självbestämmande och autonoma regeringar.
Nu är ett av urfolksterritorierna som träder in i de sista stegen av avgränsningsprocessen Sawré Muybu, Mundurukus urfolksområde som 2023 års Goldman-pristagare Alessandra Munduruku och hennes samhälle har arbetat för att få formellt erkänt i decennier. Detta är en stor seger för urfolken, Amazonas och vårt klimat!
För att inspirera vår rörelse att fira och förbli energisk för en permanent skyddad Amazonas, delar vi foton och citat från urfolksledare på ATL som vi hade förmånen att få kontakt med.
““The commitment of Indigenous peoples is a commitment to life. There is no talk of the future if it is not an ‘ancestral’ future. In other words, our ancestry must be part of our future. Our wisdom and knowledge must be part of the future. We are the best protectors of the forest. I’m not the one saying this, the United Nations has been saying it. We, Indigenous peoples, make up 5 percent of the world’s population but we protect 82 percent of all biodiversity. So if the forest is still standing, it is thanks to the presence of Indigenous peoples. And today, this is the most important mission of our planet. Because it is a mission that not only guarantees our lives but guarantees the lives of all people. And there are no standing forests, there are no Indigenous peoples without our territories protected and demarcated. That’s why we’re here in this struggle asking and demanding demarcation now!””
““Lula promised here at last year’s ATL to resume land demarcation. We believe in him, and that’s why we agreed to take over the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI). But let’s not fool ourselves that now the fight will be easy. The Brazilian Congress is full of conservative and anti-Indigenous politicians. There are already seven measures presented in Congress to try to destroy the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and remove the demarcation of lands from the authority of the MPI and return it to the control of the Ministry of Justice. Land remains the main object of dispute for political power and economic power. But we remain attentive and organized. We will not solve 523 years of destruction in four years, but we will push on!””
““We, Indigenous leaders, have lost our liberty. We no longer have the liberty to walk in our territory because we are threatened. Today we are here [at ATL], but our struggle takes place everywhere: in our territories, in Brasília, and internationally. Alessandra Munduruku just received an award in the United States because she has fought against mining with us, she represents us. It is not easy being a mother, being a fighter, being the protector of our territories. This struggle will never be easy, but this struggle will always be like this, the resistance will always be like this, and the demarcation of our territories will always be like this. But this inspires us, because we know how to care for our territories, we know how to care for our children, and we know how to care for our communities.
We have been resisting for so long, against invasions, against mining, against Bolsonaro. We are here saying that we do not accept the invasion of our territory. We will continue monitoring our lands while they continue to attack us. We are against all these enterprises of death that are killing the Munduruku people… It doesn’t matter if the territory is demarcated or not, the territory is ours! We can’t keep waiting for the government, we need to take care of our lands. The territory does not belong to the government, it belongs to us. Even though now there are Indigenous peoples in the government, we must continue resisting. We must make it clear that we will not back down. Today we are here at the Free Land Camp with a large delegation of women and children, showing our resistance.””
““It is essential to decolonize the colonial view of who an Indigenous person is. We must go beyond the stereotype of the savage that should not be occupying these spaces, we also have to understand the pluralities that exist within our communities. We need to fight against racism and LGBTQ-phobia on a daily basis. It can be very difficult to talk about these two identities in the world today. If we don’t correspond to the stereotype of what an Indigenous person should be like, imagine what happens when we present ourselves as a member of the LGBTQ community as well. We experience double the prejudice, in a sense, which passes through our bodies and impacts us in a variety of ways.””
““The [Brazilian Supreme Court’s impending] judgment on the Marco Temporal will not only impact Indigenous peoples in Brazil. Above all, it is a judgment that will impact the global climate. Indigenous lands are responsible for the protection of our world’s biodiversity. When the Brazilian state demarcates fewer Indigenous lands, this protection is threatened. The impacts of this judgment will impact the lives of everyone on the planet, considering the fact that we are in a climate emergency. We, Indigenous peoples, are united here because we are the first climate activists before this movement was even called climate justice. We have always been responsible for the protection of these territories. Everyone who listens to this message must care about what is being discussed in this country. Global society must mobilize so that we can send a message to the Brazilian Supreme Court to reject the Marco Temporal.””
Vi hoppas att du vill fira denna viktiga milstolpe med oss och inse att vi är steg närmare det permanenta skyddet av Amazonas. Din solidaritet var avgörande i denna seger och kommer att fortsätta att vara avgörande när vi arbetar för att garantera ett formellt erkännande av alla urfolk över hela Amazonas mot policyer och hot som Marco Temporal, eller "tidsgränstricket" i Brasilien. Earth Defenders behöver oss för att upprätthålla trycket! Nu mot nästa seger.
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