Sônia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples, and Joenia Wapichana, president of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai), the two main representatives of the indigenous movement in the federal government, took advantage of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, celebrated today (19), to highlight the urgency for the Executive Power to recognize the right of communities to the exclusive use of traditional territories. “For us, the meaning of having a Ministry of Indigenous Peoples; that the presidency of Funai is occupied by an indigenous woman and that there is a Parliament with indigenous representatives is only one: the resumption of the demarcation of indigenous territories”, declared Minister Sonia Guajajara when participating in an event that brought together, in Brasília, civil servants and federal technicians to address the strengthening of indigenous policy in the country. Minister of Indigenous Peoples stresses the urgency of demarcating traditional territories- Antonio Cruz/ Agência Brasil The minister acknowledged that there was an expectation that the federal government would take advantage of the date to announce the approval of new indigenous lands. Also in January, shortly after taking charge of the new portfolio, becoming the first indigenous minister in the country, Sônia Guajajara said in interviews that at least 14 demarcation processes had already been completed and were ready to be approved by the Union. Today, however, Sonia commented that the initiative also faces resistance from actors with strong influence with the Planalto Palace. “When we assume the political position of resuming the policy of demarcating indigenous lands as a priority for Funai and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, we are under a lot of pressure. Opposition made by those who don’t like us and who don’t want indigenous territories to be demarcated,” said the minister. “There are businessmen, governors, who are knocking on President Lula’s door every day, speaking out against the demarcation of indigenous territories.” The first indigenous woman to be elected federal deputy (2018/2022) and to chair Funai, Joenia Wapichana also highlighted that the indigenous presence in the federal government heightens expectations regarding the recognition of new traditional areas. “[A homologação das áreas tradicionais] it is a claim of indigenous peoples. It is up to us, Funai and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, to have this look of urgency [para a questão]”, added Joenia Wapichana. “I wish a pen stroke would solve everything. I really wanted to have the power to recognize the indigenous lands and carry out the removal [retirada dos não índios] with a single stroke of the pen, but things have to be done according to our resources, our availabilities”, pointed out Joenia, citing what she classified as Funai’s historical “bottlenecks”. President of Funai, Joenia Wapichana, signs ordinances that create or recompose technical groups responsible for analyzing reconnaissance of territories. – Antonio Cruz/ Agência Brasil “These are years of bottlenecks and it won’t be overnight that we’ll respond to everything. We have political will and authorities, but some issues are missing that we need to resolve in order to move forward. [na garantia dos] rights of indigenous peoples. And I won’t be able to solve this alone. Let’s solve it together with our Minister of Indigenous Peoples [Sonia Guajajara], with all the movement and with the servers and technicians who actually make things happen.” GTs Also during the event in Brasilia, the president of Funai signed six ordinances that create or recompose technical groups responsible for analyzing requests for federal recognition of traditional indigenous territories, seeking to identify and delimit the territories. The six areas are in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Rio Grande do Sul and Rondônia. “The work groups have the objective of carrying out multidisciplinary studies, of an ethno-historical, anthropological, environmental and cartographic nature of the areas [reivindicadas]. Work that corresponds to one of the stages of the process of demarcating indigenous lands and land title regularization in these areas”, explained Joenia, promising speed. “These processes will go ahead. I hope we can move forward as quickly as possible”, said Joenia when stating that, upon assuming the presidency of Funai, he found demarcation processes that had been stalled for almost a decade. Minister Sônia Guajajara is also committed to advancing the studies necessary for the recognition of new indigenous areas. “Let’s do our part. Funai will set up working groups and present the reports. And we, from the ministry, will sign the declaratory ordinances. In the ministry, nothing will stop for a single day. Whatever arrives from Funai will proceed as quickly as possible. We are going to fulfill what is our responsibility and then move on to the next stage: hoping that President Lula can fulfill what he promised us during the campaign and that he continued to promise, now as president sworn in, that is, that our territories will be recognized” , said the minister.
Agência Brasil
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