Last Thursday, October 8, the Ministry of Justice (MJ) published the directive that declares the limits of the indigenous land Guyraroká, of the Guarani Kaiowá. The area is located in the municipality of Caarapó, in southern Mato Grosso do Sul. The MJ has not published a directive delimiting lands of Guarani Kaiowá in that state since 2006.

 

The Guyraroká community of approximately 130 persons has been struggling for the  demarcation of their traditional land for more than 10 years. The area is identified with 11,401 hectares. “Now the families can begin to laugh a little, because without land, we were unable to do anything. It is the base for everything”, solemnizes Cacique (chief) Ambrosio Vilalva (see photo), who also played the character of the cacique in the movie Birdwatchers.

 

The publication does not mean,

however, the indigenous will immediate receive heir land back. First, the Funai has to demarcate the area and withdraw the current occupants of the area. There is no deadline for president Lula to sign the ‘homologation’, which would make the demarcation definite. Generally the authorities do not respect the deadlines in de demarcatory process. Moreover, the current occupants of the land are not likely to leave without resistance, be it in court or in the area itself.

 

Ambrosio informs that some politicians of Mato Grosso do Sul have interests in the Guyraroká land, but remains confident. “But we are not going for confrontation. We are waiting within the justice system. We are confident that the land will be confirmed by the correct deadline.”

 

School and prejudice

In the middle of the 1990s, the families of Guyraroká retook part of their traditional land, but were dispossessed and remained encamped for 4 years at the side of the road. In 2003, they returned to the land and since then occupied a stretch of 58 hectares. “The families want to occupy our land, to plant more, raise more animals, construct a school for our children, live in peace”, plans the cacique.

 

At present, the group maintains some gardens that feed the people and generate excess for commercialization. In addition to this, they raise small animals and have some horses and milking cows. The children from the village regularly attend the school outside of the village, but are constantly victims of prejudice. “I don’t like to talk about it, but it is difficult for us to also see our children humiliated because they are indigenous”, explains Ambrosio. The community plans the construction of an indigenous school for 2010.

 

Construction of the Oga pysy and the movie Birdwatchers

The strengthening of the Guarani culture is a great concern of the Guyraroka community. They are in the process of building one of the largest Oga pysy – prayer house – in the region. The Ministry of Culture supports the construction, which should become a cultural and memory center of reference of the Guarani Kaiowá.

In fact, a continental meeting of the Guarani people was planned to happen in the Oga pysy. However, the political pressure of the landowners of the region against the demarcation of the Guarani lands creates a climate of tension and violence in the state, which caused the transference of the meeting to another state.

 

Some persons in the community participated in the film “Birdwatchers”, by director Marco Bechis, launched in 2008, which tells of the hard reality of the Guarani Kaiowá and their struggle for land. Ambrosio Vilalva was one of the protagonists in the Italian-Brazilian production. “What had been hidden was put on the table. We show how Brazil treats our people, how they are mistreated and trampled”, states Vilalva.

 

 

For more information see:

www.guarani-campaign.eu

www.birdwatchersfilm.com