The following is a general account of the status of indigenous lands in Brazil: Indigenous lands registered as part of national heritage: 37.21%; ratified demarcation of boundaries:  6.66%; lands declared by order of the Minister of Justice: 6.06%; lands identified as Indigenous by the FUNAI: 4.6%; “undesignated” lands: 20.6%; and lands “without provision”: 21.81%.  With respect to violence against Indigenous peoples, the National Secretariat of the Indigenous Missionary Council has registered the murder of 16 Indigenous people from January to October, 2004.

Indigenous peoples in Brazil

* Rosane Lacerda

 I. Introduction

 On June 21, at the launching of the "Educational Campaign on Human Rights and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples", which was carried out in Brasilia by the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (Instituto Interamericano de Direitos Humanos, or IIDH) together with the International Centre for the Protection of Human Rights (Centro de Proteção Internacional dos Direitos Humanos), the Bishop of São Félix do Araguaia (MT), D. Pedro Casaldáliga, caused astonishment in the auditorium when he said that “the Indigenous cause is simultaneously a lost cause and a subversive cause.”

The life of Dom Pedro is a testimony to the fact that he does not consider the cause of Indigenous peoples to be lost.  However, being the prophet that he is, Dom Pedro seeks less to comfort the conscience than to shock it into waking up.  This is precisely the feeling one gets upon seeing the annual status report on the human rights of Indigenous peoples.  The facts are extremely discomforting, giving the feeling that one is indeed sailing against the tide. 

 II.  Indigenous Policy

 In 2004, the policies regarding Indigenous issues presented several problems, such as:

 Negotiations with the government:  As in the previous year, the Lula administration avoided direct dialogue with the leaders of Indigenous organizations.  The only contact they had was a bureaucratic interaction with the lower levels of the government. Only after an April occupation of the House of Representatives, they met with President Lula. But the meeting did not produce concrete results.

 The CREDEN Working Group on Indigenous Policy: The day after the meeting with the President, the Cabinet Minister in charge of Institutional Security (Gabinete de Segurança Institucional, or GSI), General Armando Félix, signed Order 15 - CH/GSI (on 11 of May of 2004), which designated the creation of a Working Group whose task will be to propose a new policy regarding Indigenous peoples.  This Working Group was created under the auspices of the Council on Foreign Affairs and National Defense (Câmara de Relações Exteriores e Defesa Nacional, or CREDEN) of the Governing Council.[1]

 CREDEN is one of the ten Advisory Groups of the government, and was created to advise specifically on international cooperation, matters of security and defense, border integration; aboriginal populations and human rights, peace-keeping operations, drug trafficking and other elements of the international situation, including immigration and intelligence.  In 1999 its role was increased to include “the permanent monitoring and careful study of facts and issues with regard to any potential risk to institutional stability...” (3,203 of 08.10.99, art.1).

 The fact that CREDEN was given the responsibility to formulate Indigenous policy indicates how the old conception of aboriginal peoples as a risk to the security and sovereignty of the country still predominates in the current government.

 Convention 169 of the ILO:  After 13 years of waiting, Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (Organização Internacional do Trabalho, or OIT) was promulgated.  It focuses on issues “regarding aboriginal and tribal peoples in independent countries” (5051, of 19.04.2004). Revising Convention 107/57, Convention 169 declares the integration of respect for the ethno-cultural pluralism of Indigenous peoples, and has as its key principle the guarantee of participation of these peoples in decision-making. The orientation of Convention 169 is in perfect accord with the recognition of Indigenous rights in the Federal Constitution of 1988. However, little respect for the fulfillment of this Convention was observed in 2004.

 Indigenous identity: Emblematic of the disrespect manifested for Convention 169 occurs in the treatment of the Indigenous peoples once considered extinct and that are today demanding their rights from the National Indian Foundation (Fundação Nacional do Índio, or FUNAI).  According to Correio Brasiliense (September 1, 2004), the president of FUNAI in the early 1990’s, Cláudio Romero, said, “it is not possible for poor communities in the northeast to paint their faces and just imitate rituals in order to be considered by us as Indians. The article goes on to suggest that this position is endorsed by the current president of FUNAI, Márcio Pereira Gomes, who said that there have been “organizations that encourage communities in some areas of the country to demand land titles by alleging that they are Indians.”  This prejudiced vision violates Convention 169 (art. 1.º, 2), which says, “Consciousness of Indigenous or tribal identity must be taken to be the basic criterion to determine the groups to which the provisions of this Convention apply.”         

 The case of the Krahô-Kanela Community in Tocantin is a good example of this situation.  Since they do not fit the pre-determined "model of Indian", their rights are not guaranteed.  On the other hand, when people are formally considered Indigenous and are thus recognized as such by the local population they are frequently the object of persecution and acts of expulsion.

 III.  Boundaries

 From January to October, 2004, Lula has signed nine decrees of “Ratification of Indigenous Land Boundaries” (Decretos de Homologação de Demarcação de Terras Indígenas[2]), almost all situated in the Amazon:

  In the same period the Minister of Justice also signed the  following Declared Orders of Traditional Indigenous Land:

   Only a minority of these lands were characterized by conflicts and invasions.  Moreover, the land demarcations in the Amazon and Pará states are traditionally covered financially by resources from international cooperation, and not by the government’s budget. 

 The following Indigenous lands were the object of FUNAI’s procedures of identification and approval:

   There are still innumerable obstacles to the demarcation of these lands.  These obstacles include, for example, legal petitions by third parties interested in these lands, legal actions against the finalization process, and a myriad of political pressures on FUNAI, on the Minister of Justice, and on President Lula.

 The following is a general account of the status of Indigenous lands in Brazil: Indigenous lands registered as part of national heritage: 37.21%; ratified demarcation of boundaries: 6.66%; lands declared by order of the Minister of Justice: 6.06%; lands identified as Indigenous by the FUNAI: 4.6%; “undesignated” lands: 20.6%; and lands “without provision”: 21.81%.

 T.I. Raposa/Serra of Sol (RR) – This demarcation has been ready to receive ratification since 1998, but in the first months of 2004 the demarcation was the object of enormous pressures by the economic interests of regional politicians and military people who see an Indigenous presence along the border as a potential risk to national sovereignty.  Under such pressure, the government remained inert.  With the decision of the Federal Appeals Court with respect to a public interest action moved in the Federal Court in Roraima by landowners and politicians, the government suspended the demarcation. At the end of September, the Attorney-General filed Claim RCL 2833 in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) against the Judge in Roraima, which is still being evaluated. 

  T.I. Cachoeira Seca (PA) - The T.I., located in the municipalities of Uruará, Altamira and Rurópolis, received its Declaration Order from the Minister of Justice in 1993.  Until today, however, it has not been demarcated.  In 1996 it was the target of five Mandates before the STJ, petitioning against the Ministry of Justice Order that had earlier determined that the pleas of non-Indigenous people in the area were unfounded.  Six years later, inexplicably, the provision demanded by the STJ was not adopted by the FUNAI. During this time, loggers had invaded the T.I., devastating the forest and coming dangerously close to the Indigenous village. The Ugorogmo people run the risk of extinction if their territory and natural resources are not immediately protected. The T.I. Cachoeira Seca is also among the areas accused of slave labour and predatory lumber exploitation by large farmers.

  T.I. Cantagalo (RS):  It was discovered that the demarcation was being carried out on a land surface 35% smaller than that which was determined by Decree 1,958/2003 (286 ha) by the Minister of Justice, and that the new boundaries represented "adjustments" determined by the FUNAI.  In the face of several protests, the demarcations was determined, according to the boundaries declared in the Order of the Minister.

  The Santa Catarina Special Comission - Another worrisome measure in 2004 was the creation of a Special Commission “to study and offer suggestions for a solution to the Indigenous issues in the State of Santa Catarina.” The Commission is composed of 4 representatives of the Federal Government, 5 of the State Government and 1 of the State Federation of Agriculture (Federação de Agricultura do Estado or FAESC) and only one Indigenous person.  The commission has pressured the government to oppose the territorial rights of Indigenous peoples in the region in a variety of cases.

IV. Cases of Violence

 Raposa/Serra de Sol (RR) - On January 6, in a movement orchestrated and financed by large landowners and politicians in Roraima, a wave of violence began to intimidate the Indigenous population and to pressure the government against the ratification of the T.I.  The aggression started before dawn with the invasion of the Surumu Mission, the destruction of a health clinic and a school, and the kidnapping of three missionaries who supported the demarcation of the T.I. - the priests Ronildo Pinto França (Brazilian) and Cézar Avellaneda (Spanish) and the Colombian brother Juan Carlos Martinez.  In the afternoon, the headquarters of FUNAI, and the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) were invaded. Simultaneously dozens of tractors, carts and trucks belonging to big farmers blocked the main access routes to the state capital, Boa Vista. At the same time they held demonstrations in front of the Cathedral, and shouted slogans like “Out with the Church and out with Indians.” On the following day, a small group of Indians contrary to the ratification tried to invade the Cathedral, though they were prevented by the Police. By the afternoon, businesses and gas stations had closed their doors, while the local press revealed that any missionary identified in the streets may be imprisoned or attacked.  The missionaries were freed only on the 8^th  of January. Until today the aggressions still have not been properly investigated.

  Marãewatsedé (MT) - The Xavante Community was removed from its land in 1966 by the Brazilian Air Force. One week later, an outbreak of measles resulted in the death of 150 of the 320 Indians. Without ever having abandoned the T.I., the Xavante managed to obtain a land demarcation from FUNAI in 1993, and this was ratified in 1998.  In 1995 the Federal Public Prosecution Service (MPF) filed a suit in the Federal Court of Mato Grosso (Public Civil Action 950000679-0/MT) defending its return. Ruling in favor of the Indians, the 5^th District granted the injunction, but also decreed the permanence of non-Indians.  In 2001 the injunction was overturned by 5th Division of the TRF the First Region.  The Xavante had to move to a camp 1 km from the T.I., on the edges of the BR-158 highway.

 In 2004, their terrible living conditions resulted in the death of 3 children, and another 14 have been taken to the hospital.  In return for defending the Xavante, death threats against Dom Pedro Casaldáliga increased in 2004.  On August 10 the 2^nd Division of the STF approved an appeal to the Brazilian Supreme Court (416144) in favor of the maintenance of the injunction overturned by the TRF. The decision made possible the return of the Xavante, but without the removal of the non-Indians. The Indians returned, finding “the land demolished”, as certified by the National Reporter for Environmental Rights, Jean Philip Leroy. The land lacks piaçava for the construction of traditional houses, and the contamination of the soil makes it difficult to grow basic crops. 

 During a visit of a human rights delegation, landowners and politicians of the region raised a barricade closing highway BR-158, demanding the expulsion of the Indigenous people.  On October 3rd, on one of the farms located on the T.I., two young Xavante, Felisberto (18) and Guillermo (16) were wounded by gunshots. Dom Pedro Casaldáliga had already warned that there was great risk of conflict, due to the fact that the judiciary had kept the non-Indians on the T.I.

  Cinta Larga (RO) – At the beginning of April, many people were shocked by the massacre of garimpeiros[3] who were working illegally in the T.I. of the Cinta Larga People.  The tragedy victimized the garimpeiros as much as the Indians, who were already victims. Warlike people, the Cinta Larga had been systematically repressed, as in the so-called “Eleventh Parallel Massacre” in 1963. At the end of the 1990’s it was announced that the “biggest diamond mine in the world” was on these lands, and this brought the garimpeiros to the region. In 2004 the slaughter of the garimpeiros created a strong anti-Indigenous feeling in the local population.

 On April 10, around noon, Marcelo Cinta Larga, a teacher in the Indigenous Community, was surrounded by a large group of people.  His lynching was prevented by the police, but he was still tied to a tree in the public square where he remained until 7:00pm, when he was transferred to a gymnasium under the shouts of, “Kill the Indian—show him his place!”  On April 14, the house of Carlos Cinta Larga was set on fire, while other Indigenous peoples received death threats from garimpeiros.

 Deni (AM) - After several diseases in the 1990’s had reduced its population, the Deni nation, located in Itamarati, south of the Amazon, had recovered. But this year they suffered another attack. Between January and August, twelve deaths of Indigenous people were registered—people of all ages who had diarrhea, vomitting and fever.  In August, the Union of Indigenous Nations of Tefé (UNI-Tefé), the First Northern Region of the CIMI, the Indigenous Office of the FUNAI of Tefé, and the the Special Indigenous Health District of Médio Solimões (DSEI-MS) had denounced the situation to the police.  The main cause of the problem was the frequent delays in the transfer of funds from Funasa to the DSEI, including delays in the payment of employees and the resulting absence of health teams in the villages.  There were also problems in the acquisition of medicines, and a lack of food.

  Murders. With respect to violence against Indigenous peoples, the National Secretariat of the Indigenous Missionary Council has registered the murder of 16 Indigenous people from January to October, 2004. 

Murders of Indigenous People in  2004 – Partial Information

(Source: CIMI – Secretariat/Sector of Documentation)