2023-05-18 18:36:43
Along with the announcement of the ratification of six Indigenous Lands by the government of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), at the end of April, the president of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai), Joenia Wapichana, signed the approval of the studies of identification and delimitation of Indigenous Lands Krenak of Seven Hallsdo Krenak peoplein Minas Gerais, and Sawre Ba’pimdo Munduruku peopleno stop.
The decision comes based on a long process of studies and analyses, after almost 10 years of the first moves, and intense appeals of the two peoples and the decision of the Federal Court which established, in 2016, a one-year deadline for Funai to delimit the TI Krenak from Sete Salões. Despite being announced on April 28th, at the end of the Terra Livre Camp, the publication of the decision-making orders only took place on May 4th.
Learn more: Federal government announces homologation of six Indigenous Lands; in one case, the waiting time reached 24 years
The two Indigenous Lands are now moving on to the next stages of demarcation, in order to ensure the protection of the Krenak and Munduruku indigenous peoples, determine the demarcated limits, prevent occupation and exploitation by third parties and indemnify the good faith improvements of non-indigenous occupants. indigenous.
Krenak Territory and the memory of a people
With an area of approximately 16,500 hectares, the Krenak Indigenous Land of Sete Salões is located in the Rio Doce Valley, between the Minas Gerais municipalities of Conselheiro Pena, Itueta, Resplendor and Santa Rita do Itueto.
The Krenak Indigenous Land of Sete Salões is separated by the Rio Doce from the TI Krenakterritory of the Krenak who still experience the harsh environmental impacts of the Fundão dam rupture, in Mariana, Minas Gerais.
The territory still has more than 80% overlap with the Seven Halls State Park. Both the Indigenous Land and the State Park were named after the set of seven interconnected caves, a sacred space for the Krenak people, located at the top of Serra da Onça.
According to Funai, the TI is home to 433 indigenous people from the Krenak people, known for their history of struggle and resilience against the military dictatorship, which established, in 1967, a forced labor camp, subjecting it to extreme violence, in addition to the expulsion of its territory.
Currently, the Krenak are awaiting demarcation so that they can have the guarantee of their territory, which is essential for the collective memory of their people, for the maintenance of their productive activities and the preservation of natural resources that are indispensable for their physical well-being and protection of their culture. .
The Munduruku resistance in the Tapajós
The Sawre Ba’pim Indigenous Land is part of the traditional territory of the Munduruku people. The first mentions of the people in historical documents date back over 240 years.
For centuries, the Munduruku inhabited the Tapajós Valley, in the state of Pará, but gradually lost their territory to the invasions of non-indigenous colonization fronts, and their population declined due to deaths caused by epidemics brought by the invaders.
The history of the Sawre Ba’pim TI, in the municipality of Itaituba, dates back to the resumption of former areas of occupation by this people with the founding of two villages between the 1950s and 1960s.
Years later, the construction of the Transamazônica federal highway, in 1972, brought devastating social and environmental impacts, with the arrival of settlers, loggers and farmers in the region.
With an approximate area of around 150,000 hectares, the Munduruku have already been restricted to a small area of 100 hectares, surrounded by farms.
Today, most of this recognized territory overlaps with the Amazon National Park (about 80%), which has more than 30 archaeological sites documented and recognized by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan).
The archaeological sites narrate the history of the occupation of the Munduruku in the region. The first management plan for the Park, published in 1978, already mentioned the indigenous presence.
The territory is currently experiencing great pressure and threats against local populations, with its surroundings undermined by mining requests and illegal prospecting. Although the overlap with the Park guarantees extra protection, the approximately 20% of the territory outside the Conservation Unit, which includes some islands and an area on the opposite bank of the Tapajós River, has several mining research authorizations and prospecting requests.
A similar drama is also faced by the TI Sawre Muybuanother area delimited by Funai for the Munduruku on the opposite bank of the river that awaits the finalization of its demarcation process.
The region is still under pressure for the construction of large projects, such as the Tapajós Complex, a set of five large hydroelectric plants planned for the Tapajós and Jamanxim river basins. In 2012, the Conservation Units in the region, including Parna da Amazônia, even suffered reductions in order to decommission the area impacted by the river dams. One of the main impacts would be caused by the São Luiz do Tapajós Power Plant, which would have 6.1 gigawatts and would be around the Sawre Ba’pim TI.
The licensing of the project ended up being suspended in 2016 by Ibama, after studies by Funai indicated that the undertaking would be unfeasible from the point of view of the impacts on the indigenous peoples. In addition to the two ILs, there are two records of isolated indigenous peoples in the region, Isolados do Parauari, in Flona do Amanãand Isolados do Abacaxis, the TI Sawre Muybu.
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