Sydney Ferreira Possuelo (born 19 April 1940, in Santos Dumont), is a Brazilian

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

and ethnographer who is considered the leading authority on Brazil's remaining isolated Indigenous Peoples.

Life and career

Sydney Possuelo started his career assisting the famous Villas Boas brothers with their work among

indigenous peoples 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 ...

of the

Xingu River The Xingu River ( ; pt, Rio Xingu, ; Mẽbêngôkre: ''Byti'', ) is a river in north Brazil. It is a southeast tributary of the Amazon River and one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon basin, accounting for about 5% of its water. ...

area. Later he became the Director of the Department of Indigenous in Isolation (Departamento de Indios Isolados) at the

FUNAI is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. Apart from producing its own branded electronic products, it is also an OEM providing assembled televisions and video players/recorders to major corporations such as S ...

(National Indian Foundation of Brazil), doubling the surface size of officially designated Indigenous land in Brazil in only two years. Working in the most isolated areas in the

Amazon region The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

, Possuelo has led many expeditions, getting in contact with isolated tribes in Brazil, with the aim to protect them from outsiders. He was responsible, among others, for the restoration of peaceful contact with the Korubo Indians, who had previously killed some FUNAI officials. Until January 24, 2006 he was head of the

Department of Unknown Tribes, a governmental bureau responsible for protecting the land and lifestyle of isolated tribes from encroaching settlers. Days earlier, he had criticized FUNAI director Mercio Pereira Gomes for suggesting that Brazilian Indians held too much land, comparing Gomes to "ranchers, land-grabbers, miners, and loggers." Soon afterwards, Possuelo was dismissed from his position. Possuelo is still continuing his efforts at defending isolated tribes through the non-governmential ''Instituto Indigenista Interamericano''.

Activism

In a 2022 interview, Possuelo criticized then-president Jair Bolsonaro's approach to indigenous conservation, blaming his administration for an increase in illegal invasions of indigenous lands. In the interview, Possuelo stated that "Indigenous people have never faced a worst moment in Brazilian history than the one they are now facing" under Bolsonaro, who he accused of "giv ngcover to criminals and trespassers". In the run-up to the

2022 Brazilian general election General elections were held on 2 October 2022 in Brazil to elect the president, vice president, the National Congress, the governors, vice governors, and legislative assemblies of all federative units, and the district council of Fernando de ...

, Possuelo stated that he had issues with aspects of

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist, and former metalworker who is the president-elect of Brazil. A member of the Workers' Party ...

's past, but expected him to improve the conditions of indigenous Brazilians if elected.

Recognition

For his many efforts Sydney has received many prizes, including honors from the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...

, Bartolomeu de las Casas in 1998, a gold medal from the Royal Geographical Society, the title of "Hero of the Planet" by

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

Kids Magazine, as well as "Hero of the year" 2001 by United Nations.http://www.droppingknowledge.org/bin/user/profile/6448.page droppingknowledge.org: Profile of Sydney Possuelo Possuelo is the main protagonist in the book ''The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes'' (2011) by National Geographic writer Scott Wallace. It details a 76-day expedition in 2002 led by Possuelo to find the status of the " Arrow People", an uncontacted tribe in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land.

References

External links

National Geographic Article about PossueloBBC News: Brazilian lost tribe discoveredBrazil's Indians: Land wars - Feb 2, 2006 (The Economist)
* ttp://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0126/p04s01-woam.html Champion for Brazil's indigenous gets fired {{DEFAULTSORT:Possuelo, Sydney 1940 births Living people Brazilian explorers People from São Paulo Indigenous rights activists