ATTACK ON YOUNG INDIGENOUS PEOPLE CAUSES XAVANTE PEOPLE IN MATO GROSSO TO REACT

            

Two young indigenous members of the Xavante people suffered gunshot wounds in the Marãiwatsedé land last Sunday, October 3. On Monday, October 4, Xavante warriors set fire to installations on the ranch where the attack took place.

             Since the indigenous people were wounded, the local branch of the National Foundation for Indigenous People (Funai) has shown concern about the situation, stating, in a communication to the President of the Foundation, that the situation “was tending to get out of control, because a large number of the men from the village, including its leaders, were in the city of Serra Dourada/State of Mato Grosso.” Funai was worried that because of the warrior-like nature of the Xavante people, a conflict would start up when these men returned.

The story that has led up to such a highly tense situation is a long one: thrown off their lands by the expansion of the large estates encouraged by the military government during the 1960s, the Xavante had the Marãiwatsedé land ratified in 1998, but the intruder withdrawal process has never been concluded. This year, determined to return to their land, the people have spent 11 months camped out on the BR-158 highway. During this period, three children died as a result of malnutrition and pneumonia.

A Federal Supreme Court decision, taken in August, allowed them to return to the land, which in spite of legally belonging to the indigenous people is still occupied by squatters. Meanwhile, indigenous and white people continue to share the Marãiwatsedé indigenous land (also known as Suiá-Missu, the name of the ranch that has taken over the land) and this continues to generate conflicts. 

Cimi has already reported several times that conflicts are imminent. As well as the threats made to the Xavante people, supporters of the indigenous cause, such as the bishop of São Félix do Araguaia, Dom Pedro Casadáliga, have also received death threats because they have sided with these people in their struggle.

 

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS: MINAS GERAIS AND AMAZONAS

ELECT THEIR FIRST INDIGENOUS MAYORS

 

The first indigenous mayor in the history of the state of Minas Gerais was elected in São João das Missões. The city of Barreirinha, in Amazonas, has also elected the first indigenous mayor in the state, Mecias Batista, of the Sateré Mawé people.

Messias has participated in the struggles of the indigenous people since 1987. He was a member of the first Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab) administration and has led the General Council of the Sateré Mawé Tribe. He was elected councilor for the first time in 1992, and re-elected in the following elections. In 2000, he was deputy mayor on the slate of Gilvan Seixas, with whom he later fell out.

“Prejudice is no longer the number one problem for the indigenous populations. I suffered a lot of prejudice from my opponents, but not from voters. Proof of this lies in the fact that with no political structure and no money, I got 3,276 votes in the municipality of Barreirinha,” said the future mayor in an interview to Cimi in the North1 Region.

            In Minas Gerais, the indigenous person elected was José Nunes de Oliveira, from the Xakriabá people. José Nunes is the son of Rosalino Gomes de Oliveira, one of the main indigenous leaders in the struggle for the Xakriabá land who was assassinated during a massacre in 1987.

            According to a note issued by the Cimi team that works with the Xakriabá, “José Nunes was chosen by the community to be principal of the Xakriabá Indigenous School for a period of eight years and left his position to stand for mayor of São João das Missões. His candidacy was supported by the Xakriabá people and during this process they showed their autonomy and capabilities by also guaranteeing the election of four indigenous councilors, one of whom is only 20 years old, thus demonstrating the vigor of the people through its young, coupled to the guiding spirit of indigenous leaders.”

            There were moments of tension during the election process, with threats, political persecution and physical violence, as well as pressure from the media in the state of Minas Gerais.

            In both cases, the election was part of a process of developing awareness in society of the constant fight against ethnic and cultural prejudice. “Interestingly, almost 50% of the non-indigenous people also voted for José Nunes,” said the missionary Miguel Sergio Seixas Ferro, who works with the Xakriabá.  

            Also, according to the Cimi team, “there is the hope that this administration and the new path being followed by all the indigenous peoples in the country, as they gain political power, will be one more step along the road to true democracy and dignity for human beings of all races, creeds and colors.”

 

The national scenario

A preliminary analysis carried out by Cimi reveals that 48 indigenous councilors have been elected out of 182 candidates.

Eight indigenous candidates ran for deputy mayor in the municipal elections and nine ran for the position of mayor, of which four were elected – in the states of Minas Gerais, Amazonas, Paraíba (in the municipality of Marcação) and Roraima (in the municipality of Normandia).

 

 

 

Brasília, 7 October 2004