Free Land Camp 2019 (24-27 april) is a historical gathering of 3,000 indigenous from all over Brasil coming together in the capital of Brasilia to demand their (land) rights. Indigenous have been exposed to invasion of their lands to make way for large scale depletion of their reserves for monetary gain for many centuries, but authorities still haven’t learnt anything from past events. With the inauguration of Jair Bolsonaro in january 2019, the government is literally giving away big parts of the Amazon and indigenous reserves and/or killing those who resist leaving their centuries old habitats; whereas its their basic human right to stay on these grounds and protest for their freedom. During this protest, photographer and member of the Xakriabá tribe Edgar Corrêa Kanaykõ is keeping all of us updated about the events there.
One of the biggest challenges for Edgar and his people (and many alike) has been to gather 70 indigenous elders and youngsters from deep in the Amazon basin to the camp in political capital Brasilia, which demands a lot of logistics and the payment for transport. With the help of NGO’s such as ours, they have been able to arrange for buses there. Right now this is the most direct way, we feel, we can support the Brazilian environmental and indigenous movement until further actions have been specified, either from within the United Nations’ member states or through grassroots joint forces.
Yesterday was the second day of the ATL and the meeting of indigenous women took place, discussing the politics and strategies of struggles and demands aimed at indigenous women in and out of the villages, as well as defining the First March of Indigenous Women in Brazil, scheduled for August of 2019, with the theme: Território Nosso Corpo nosso espírito (Territory: our body our spirit).
Copyright:Edgar Corrêa Kanaykõ.Women from in and outside of indigenous villages from all over Brazil gather on the 2nd day of the Free Land Camp 2019 in Brasilia to discuss their future and sovereignty
Many thanks go out to photographer and member of Xakriabá tribe Edgar Corrêa Kanaykõ for keeping us all updated.
If you want to support or stay updated, please check out the website of APIB (Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil)
