The last day of activities at the Free Land Camp (ATL) 2024 in Brasilia was marked by the release of a joint declaration signed by the organizations behind the event, which marked its 20th edition this year.
Entitled Land, Time and Struggle, the document identified as the “Urgent Declaration of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil”, published on April 26, reaffirms the struggle of the Indigenous peoples: “OUR MARK IS ANCESTRAL! WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN HERE!”
“The deliberate decision by the powers of the state to suspend the demarcation of Indigenous lands and to apply Law 14.701 (the Indigenous Genocide Law) amounts to a DECLARATION OF WAR against our peoples and territories. This represents a breach in the pact established between the Brazilian state and our peoples since the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, which exclusively recognized our original rights, which predate the very formation of the Brazilian state,” highlights an excerpt from the text.
The Declaration highlights the presence of around 9,000 people, representing more than 200 peoples, who traveled from all regions of Brazil to the federal capital for a week of intense activities. The volume of participants shows the growth and increasing importance of the ATL, which in its initial edition in 2004 had 240 indigenous people.
“We will never accept the legalization of the ongoing genocide of our peoples. Likewise, we vehemently repudiate the opening up of our territories to developments that run counter to the urgency of the climate crisis and global warming. Such developments represent a direct threat to Mother Nature, the forests, our rivers, biodiversity, fauna and flora, as well as all the riches and forms of life that we have preserved over millennia,” the statement highlights.
Read the full document below:
Land, Time and Struggle
Urgent Declaration of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil
We Indigenous peoples are time itself. We are enchanters of this time that is like a snake, with many curves, a history that cannot be simplified as a straight line. Who would have thought that, after more than five centuries of colonization and extermination, we would still be here, standing firm like our forests, chanting our songs and playing our maracas, in resistance for life and for the good living of society as a whole. 20 years of Camp Terra Livre! The first one, held in 2004, brought together 240 Indigenous people. Today, in Brasilia, we are here with around 9,000 people, representing more than 200 peoples, who have come from all regions and biomes of this Brazilian territory to say: “OUR MARK IS ANCESTRAL! WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN HERE!”
Between April 22 and 26, we were in the federal capital mobilizing to demand our rights! We from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), together with all our regional grassroots organizations, Apoinme, Arpinsul, Arpinsudeste, Aty Guasu, the Guarani Yvyrupa Commission, Coiab and the Terena People’s Council, are seeking effective measures to ensure the protection and strengthening of Indigenous rights, in line with the dignity and justice demanded by our peoples.
We began our historic mobilization by demanding 25 points, which are included in the ‘Letter from the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil to the Three Powers of the State,’ with demands for urgent measures. And we end our mobilization by reaffirming these urgent demands! OUR TIME IS NOW! We can’t wait any longer and we need concrete answers!
The deliberate decision by the powers of the state to suspend the demarcation of Indigenous lands and to apply Law 14.701 (the Indigenous Genocide Law) amounts to a DECLARATION OF WAR against our peoples and territories. This represents a break in the pact established between the Brazilian state and our peoples since the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, which exclusively recognized our original rights, which predate the very formation of the Brazilian state.
We warn that this intentional rupture will result in an increase in the violence and genocidal policies and practices historically promoted by both society and the state itself against Indigenous peoples. From the earliest periods of history to the present day, including the dark legacy of the military dictatorship, the consequences of which still echo in our lives.
We also emphasize that, just as our ancestors did, we will resist to the end, even if it means putting our own lives on the line, to protect what is most sacred to us: our Mother Earth. We are committed to the right to live in dignity and freedom, seeking the good life of current and future generations of our peoples and humanity.
What concerns us is not death. We know this intimately. Death and life are part of this serpent of time that moves over the earth, in the waters and in the tops of the tallest trees. What concerns us is the cowardice of those who try to dominate indomitable time and seek to profit from our deaths. In this statement we say: NO MORE TIME FOR YOU!
We vehemently reject any attempt by the federal government to resume public policies without guaranteeing what is essential: the demarcation, protection and sustainability of Indigenous territories in the first place. Any initiative that does not prioritize these aspects will only be a palliative and insufficient measure. It is essential that land demarcation is respected and protected, without deviations or manipulations, including actions aimed at distorting this process, such as President Lula’s recent statements. The territorial rights of Indigenous peoples are NON-NEGOTIABLE and must be preserved at all costs.
On the first day of the ATL mobilization, a decision by Justice Gilmar Mendes, who is the rapporteur for the lawsuits on the Indigenous Genocide Law (14.701), once again showed his bias in favor of rural landowners and his historical anti-Indigenous stance. Despite recognizing that the law contradicts decisions made by the STF on indigenous lands, Mendes, instead of annulling the law, suspended all actions aimed at guaranteeing the maintenance of Indigenous rights. In addition, he submitted the issue of the fundamental rights of Indigenous peoples to the Court’s conciliation unit and once again we affirm:
OUR RIGHTS CANNOT BE NEGOTIATED! The minister wants to give the green light for those who want to invade our lands to ride roughshod over our lives. Faced with this anti-indigenous decision made by a single minister, it remains to be seen whether all the other ministers of the Supreme Court will stand by or will oppose this decision of death!
We will never accept the legalization of the ongoing genocide of our peoples. Likewise, we vehemently repudiate the opening up of our territories to developments that run counter to the urgency of the climate crisis and global warming. Such developments represent a direct threat to Mother Nature, the forests, our rivers, biodiversity, fauna and flora, as well as all the riches and forms of life that we have preserved for millennia. If there are resources available to compensate invaders, why not use them to demarcate Indigenous Lands? If there is a need to buy land, let it be to resettle the invaders, and not to displace our peoples from their original lands. PRESIDENT LULA, WE DON’T WANT TO LIVE ON FARMS! Rui Costa, the Chief of Staff, must be prevented from continuing to “call the shots” on the approval of Indigenous Lands.
We will never accept the legalization of the ongoing genocide of our peoples. Likewise, we vehemently repudiate the opening up of our territories to developments that run counter to the urgency of the climate crisis and global warming. Such developments represent a direct threat to Mother Nature, the forests, our rivers, biodiversity, fauna and flora, as well as all the riches and forms of life that we have preserved for millennia. If there are resources available to compensate invaders, why not use them to demarcate Indigenous Lands? If there is a need to buy land, let it be to resettle the invaders, and not to displace our peoples from their original lands. PRESIDENT LULA, WE DON’T WANT TO LIVE ON FARMS! Rui Costa, the Chief of Staff, must be prevented from continuing to “call the shots” on the approval of Indigenous lands.
We don’t accept this situation. We will be vigilant so that President Lula fulfills his commitment to set up, within 15 days, a Task Force, made up of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, the General Secretariat of the Presidency and the Attorney General’s Office, to talk to the Three Powers and demarcate all our lands once and for all. We also hope that this Task Force will have the effective participation of our peoples and organizations.
We fight for the land because it is there that we cultivate our cultures, our social organization, our languages, customs and traditions. Above all, our right to remain Indigenous lies in our lands and territories. We are citizens with rights, we are our own representatives, we village politics and we will continue to demarcate Brazil.
OUR LANDMARK IS ANCESTRAL. WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE. AND WE WILL ALWAYS BE HERE! WITHOUT DEMARCATION THERE IS NO DEMOCRACY!
Free Land Camp, Brasilia, April 26, 2024
Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB)
Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of the Northeast, Minas Gerais and
Espírito Santo (Apoinme)
Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Southern Region (Arpinsul)
Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Southeast (Arpinsudeste)
General Assembly of the Kaiowá and Guarani People (Aty Guasu)
Guarani Yvyrupa Commission
Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab)
Terena People’s Council
This article was translated from Portuguese from an article originally published in Brasil de Fato.
