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The Guajajara are an
indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
in the Brazilian state of
Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...
. They are one of the most numerous indigenous groups in Brazil, with an estimated 13,100 individuals living on indigenous land.


History

In 1901, the Guajajara fought
Capuchin missionaries Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...
in what is regarded as the last Brazilian "war against the Indians." Chief Cauiré Imana had succeeded in uniting many villages to destroy the Capuchin mission and expel all whites from the region between the cities of
Barra do Corda Barra do Corda () is a municipality in the state of Maranhão in the Northeast region of Brazil. Climate Higher Education * Logos Institute of Theology (''Instituto Logos de Teologia'') See also *List of municipalities in Maranhão Th ...
and Grajaú. The Guajajara were defeated by a militia made up of army contingents, military police, and Canelas warriors.


Guardians of the forest

The "guardians of the forest" are a forest protection group primarily composed of Guajajara tribal members living on Arariboia Indigenous Land, a territory in the north-eastern edge of the
Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...
in
Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. They operate with the intent of protecting the rainforest from invasion by loggers,
land grabbers Land grabbing is the contentious issue of large-scale land acquisitions: the buying or leasing of large pieces of land by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals. While used broadly throughout history, land grabbing as ...
, and drug traffickers. Although the group was officially founded in 2013, the Arariboia Guajajara argue that their mission of guarding the rainforest has been in action for more than five centuries.


Origin and mission

On October 15, 2007, tribal leader Tome Guajajara was killed during an armed invasion by woodcutters in his village, after which talks of formalizing the group began. Village leaders in nearby communities encouraged young people to mobilize to defend their land. In 2013, the Guardians of the Forest was established. They are politically independent, volunteer-run, and there is no official record of their existence to protect their members from being targeted. The Guardians track illegal loggers, miners, and their camps in groups of five or more, by foot or using motorized vehicles to disrupt and deter deforestation. The Guardians consist of approximately 120 volunteers who collectively protect 413,000 hectares of land in Arariboia. The territory is inhabited by 13,100 members of the Guajajara, Awa-Guaja, and Awá Indigenous tribes. A large portion of the Awá tribe are
uncontacted Uncontacted peoples are groups of indigenous peoples living without sustained contact with neighbouring communities and the world community. Groups who decide to remain uncontacted are referred to as indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. L ...
and are dependent on the rainforest for subsistence and survival. Loggers and extraction teams negatively impact the ecological longevity and spiritual value of the land, undermining Indigenous peoples' safety and way of life. The Guajajara adopt an Indigenous approach to
environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justic ...
, in which they emphasize a reciprocal relationship between humans and the environment. From their perspective, humans have a responsibility to give back to the environment what they take. The Guardians consider themselves stewards of the forest, emphasizing
kinship In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...
and their ancestral obligation to protect their land.


Response


Political response

The Brazilian government has been a prominent adversary to the Guardians, particularly under the presidency of
Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 1 January 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the Social Liberal Party, which he turn ...
. Bolsonaro has publicly dismissed the Indigenous people’s claim to the Arariboia land throughout his political career. The conflict is furthered by the interests of multinational corporations that aim to maximize profits from cheap commodities retrieved through forest extraction. Bolsonaro, who was elected on a platform heavily supported by the agricultural business sector, sided with the multinational corporations. The Guardians have accused Bolsonaro of weakening their constitutional rights through his support for deforestation over the needs of Indigenous communities. Although the
1988 Brazilian Constitution The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil) is the supreme law of Brazil. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of Brazil and the feder ...
grants land rights to Indigenous groups, they have been consistently excluded from the procedural process of environmental discussions. The capabilities of Indigenous people to achieve cultural, spiritual, and physical wellbeing is ignored through the generalization of human environmental needs. According to the Guardians, the lack of recognition of their injustice was a motivating factor for the creation of their group.


International response

The Guardians have attracted growing international attention due to their opposition to the government and the high-profile murders of several members. In November 2019,
Sônia Guajajara Sônia Bone de Souza Silva Santos (born 6 March 1974), usually known as Sônia Guajajara, is a Brazilian indigenous activist, environmentalist, and politician. A member of the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), she was initially a candidate for ...
, a prominent Indigenous activist and former presidential candidate who ran against Bolsonaro in 2018, urged the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
to place global pressure on Brazil for their repression of Indigenous environmental rights. Organizations including Greenpeace, Democracy Now!, and major news outlets, including The Atlantic, Vox Media, and the BBC have raised awareness of the group's activities, with Indigenous activists increasingly advocating for sanctions against the Brazilian government and the need for Indigenous visibility in environmental justice forums.


Conflict

Between 2000 and 2020, 47 Guardians were killed during confrontations with illegal loggers, miners, and extractions teams. Violence escalated following Bolsonaro’s election in 2018, leading to the
death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
of multiple members, including Paulo Paulino Guajajara and schoolteacher Zezico Guajajara. Guardians are eligible to enrol in a federally implemented Human Rights Defenders Protection Program, which claims to provide physical and financial security to vulnerable community members. However, it has been criticized by Guajajara members for its criminalization of protestors and its failure to punish and hold illegal loggers and miners accountable.


Notes


External links


Guajajara artworks
National Museum of the American Indian {{DEFAULTSORT:Guajajara Indigenous peoples in Brazil Indigenous peoples of the Amazon