April 19, 2022

15:04

Diovana Rodrigues – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – On the Indigenous Peoples’ Day, celebrated on April 19, the theme is a reason for debate for the main stakeholders on the subject: the indigenous themselves. Using their social networks they report the daily fight for respect and how much they need to resist to continue existing and have a voice.

It is also important to remember that the Bill 5466/2019, authored by Federal Representative Joênia Wapichana (REDE-RR), instituted the change of the nomenclature “Indian Day” to “Indigenous Peoples’ Day”, having been approved by the Commission of Constitution and Justice and Citizenship (CCJC) of the House of Representatives, in December 2021.

The resistance of indigenous peoples reflects the importance of combating the formation of stereotypes and the allusion to diminishing rights. The use of the term “Indian” causes a reduction of the plurality of cultures, passing on the information that they function as a unit, without showing and validating the differentiated customs of each people and their wealth of values, both territorial and environmental.

The country has 726 Indigenous Lands scattered throughout the territory, according to the Socio-environmental Institute (ISA), of which 122 are under identification; 43 are identified; 74 declared; 487 homologated and reserved.

As can be seen in the positions selected by CENARIUM, there is dissatisfaction and discontent with the negligence in guaranteeing rights and with the use of a utopian vision with regard to how these issues are dealt with in the classroom.

In an emblematic video published on social networks, leaders explain didactically why they claim that there is no longer an “Indian Day” and remind us that the date is not for celebration, but for resistance:

See some highlights of tweets below:

Indigenous Samuel Luz comments on debating the issue in schools in order to educate children and adolescents about the importance of the history of indigenous peoples.

Indigenous journalist Juliana Lourenço comments on the history of the day, since its creation, and then highlights in the thread the situation of extreme poverty and social vulnerability in which about 15% of the world’s indigenous population live, based on data from the International Labor Organization (OIT).

The activist and communicator Alice Pataxó, as well as being an ambassador for the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF-Brazil), comments on the violence that permeates the lies told to this day about the facts surrounding the history of indigenous peoples.

First indigenous woman to hold the office of federal deputy, Joênia Wapichana, from the Truaru da Cabeceira indigenous community, Murupu region, municipality of Boa Vista, comments on PL 5466/2019.

Indigenous people in national spotlight

This Tuesday, 19, the indigenous influencer ‘Cunhaporanga’ was national highlight in a report carried out by Estadão. Success on TikTok, with 6.5 million followers and the most viral video with more than 32 million views, where he presents the mochiva larva and says he usually eats it with flour.

“We have our culture, our customs and we ask people to value this more. We are native peoples and we are here to survive,” emphasizes the indigenous woman who made a success on the social network by sharing the daily life of the Tatuyo indigenous community in Amazonas.