In a ceremony marked by emotion and strong speeches, federal deputy Joenia Wapichana was sworn in as president of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai). In her inauguration speech, she promised to rebuild the body and praised the fact that Funai was for the first time under the command of indigenous people. “This is the first step we have to take. Reorganize Funai. Strengthen Funai. Seeking a budget for Funai”, highlighted Joenia when taking office. In addition to budget constraints, she cited the lack of civil servants and the backlog of lawsuits accumulated in recent years as challenges for the agency. “All this path we have taken to get here until today has been long and very painful. Many lives were lost along the way and are still being lost. We went through years of dismantling, scrapping, devaluing public servants”, declared the new president. President of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples, Joenia Wapichana, with the indigenous leader Raoní – Joedson Alves/Agência Brasil With regard to public servants, she promised to hold a contest, draw up a career plan and said she will work to grant power of police for Funai employees. “The servers [da Funai] they are unable to work, do not have a decent salary, do not have police power. They are sent to an area like Vale do Javari, where the tragedy of the [indigenista] Bruno Pereira and the [jornalista] Dom Phillips,” he declared. Joenia also said that she will seek guidance from the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office to deal with the backlog of omission and negligence lawsuits accumulated at Funai. “Now we are going to reverse that role. Instead of persecuting public servants, of closing the door to indigenous peoples, Funai has to be on the side of indigenous peoples. You have to go to the process not to accuse, but to protect. And these are the new times necessary for the country”, he highlighted Soon after signing the term of office, the new president of Funai signed nine acts. Of this total, seven constitute working groups for the identification and delimitation of indigenous lands in six states: Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rondônia, Pará, São Paulo and Minas Gerais. She also signed two restrictions on the use of indigenous lands (prohibitions on non-indigenous activities), in Mato Grosso do Sul and Amazonas, and an ordinance that creates a working group to support federal government actions in the Yanomami Indigenous Land. Guests With almost two hours duration, the inauguration ceremony, which took place at the Memorial of the Indigenous Peoples, had several guests. The ministers of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, and of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva; the deputy governor of the Federal District, Celina Leão; several deputies and indigenous leaders. The indigenist Sydney Possuelo, former president of Funai, also attended. In her speech, Sonia Guajajara highlighted the increase in political participation of the indigenous population, which is increasingly assuming spaces of power. “The headdress bench is spread across the National Congress and the Executive bodies. This marks, in fact, the new moment of struggle. Because today we see the result of all those years of mobilization, struggle, resistance by our peoples”, she said. Sonia Guajajara classified as historic the inauguration of the first indigenous woman in charge of Funai. “We are building a new history, where we marked the beginning of indigenous policy in Brazil. Until then, it was an indigenous policy, where other people, non-indigenous, discussed, built, represented. Today it is indigenous policy, where we are occupying the place of thinking, building and executing”, she highlighted. Minister Marina Silva said that the Ministry of the Environment will work in cooperation with Funai. “Thanks to God, to the Brazilian people, to the responsibility with democracy, with human rights, with indigenous peoples, with the fight against inequality, with the protection of the Amazon, social justice, a world of struggle and peace, I and President Lula we are united to work in peace for the Brazil that we want. From men who respect each other, even in the difference. Count on me and my team ”, she spoke. Indigenous leaders One of the most prestigious indigenous leaders internationally, Chief Raoni Metyktire, distributed a Funai vest to the new president and defended reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous people, claiming to work for peace and coexistence. “I want to ask that we speak a single language and be united for the good of all of us. I repudiate violence, hatred and enmity. We Brazilians need to live in peace and harmony in this territory”, he declared. Raoni also asked that young indigenous people take up positions at Funai to continue the struggle of their ancestors. “Our indigenous people, especially the younger ones, have to take over this body and work for our indigenous peoples”, he stressed. General coordinator of the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), Enock Taurepang gave a tough speech, in which he asked for the alignment of indigenous movements to avoid humanitarian crises, such as that of the Yanomami people. “We do not bow down to the State. We don’t become corrupt and sold like many. We are in a favorable situation for us, but that worries me. Because it’s at ease that it’s easier for enmity to enter. It is in ease that it is easier for envy to enter, ”he said. Taurepang criticized indigenous digital influencers who aligned themselves with the past government. “We need to speak the truth to each other because only then will we really defend those who need it. I speak on behalf of the Yanomami relatives who are dying. We are in a technological world where the relative [indígena] cares more about like than the truth. I don’t need a like. I need partners and friends who go to fight together with indigenous peoples”, she concluded. Rituals Ceremony began with a smoking ritual performed by the shaman Mariana Macuxi,- Joedson Alves/Agência Brasil The ceremony began with a smoking ritual performed by the shaman Mariana Macuxi, who also made indigenous paintings on the face of the new president of Funai. Then there was the performance of the National Anthem, sung in the Macuxi language, an ethnic group from the north of Roraima. Two children, from the Kayapó and Xavante ethnic groups, handed a Brazilian flag and a Funai flag to Joenia. Before starting to speak, Joenia received a banner that symbolizes the union of all indigenous peoples in Brazil. It was delivered by the indigenous leader Jacir Macuxi, one of the greatest defenders of the recognition of the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land, in Roraima. The ceremony ended with the presentation of the parixara dance by indigenous people from Roraima.
Agência Brasil
Folha Nobre - Desde 2013 - ©