News-Letter Nr. 480

Krahô and Kanela Indigenous Peoples Can be Expelled from Reoccupied Area

The judge of Cristalândia, Agenor Alexandre da Silva, issued a preliminary order for repossession against the Krahô and Kanela indigenous people of the Bel Warí village, who on Saturday, September 22, decided to reoccupy part of their traditional territory that was encroached upon by a farm called Brahma, in the municipality of Lagoa da Confusão, mid-west region of the state of the Tocantins, 400 km from the capital, Palmas. The climate is tense in the area. The judicial decision gave rise to fear and outrage in the community. About 200 indigenous people, including men, women and children, promised to resist any action to evict them from the area. The group asked Funai to help them, but the official agency does not recognize them as an indigenous people. Funai's campaign against the Krahô and Kanela community can have very serious consequences.

The decision of the group to reoccupy the area was taken after a meeting held in Brasília on September 13, when they asked Funai to begin to demarcate the area, but were disappointed with the lack of commitment and willingness of the agency officially in charge of indigenous affairs to support them. The indigenous commission left the meeting with the sure feeling that if no decision was made they would continue to suffer for many years to come.

The Krahô and Kanela have been trying to return to their traditional area since the 1980s, when employees of the Brahma corporation expelled them from it. This community has been fighting for its rights for 80 years. Their predicament began in 1924, when the group tried to settle in different places but was violently expelled from all of them. In 1963 the group was near the Bananal island when they were found and received by the Javaé people. When they became aware of the suffering of this community, the Javaé decided to let the Krahô and Kanela stay in their territory. They stayed there until 1984, when once again they were expelled from it by representatives of the Brahma corporation (with the support and participation of Funai), which claimed to be the "legitimate" owner of the land after buying it from the state government, which divided it into lots and sold it to private citizens and corporations.

The group was removed to Tarumã, an area managed by the National Colonization and Land Reform Institute (Incra) located in the municipality of Araguacema, 630 kilometers from where they had been removed before. The Krahô and Kanela found it difficult to live in this area because of the very bad quality of the land and of the living conditions they faced in it, where they were permanently exposed to many diseases. They then decided to go back to the territory from which they had been evicted.

The indigenous people asked Cimi to support them and the Federal Public Prosecution Service to intervene in order to prevent a conflict with tragic results. In Cimi's opinion, the posture of the agency officially in charge of indigenous issues reveals the indigenous policy of the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration, which refuses to recognize reemerged indigenous peoples and communities that are claiming the right to have their lands demarcated. The entity blames the Brazilian government for any acts of violence against the Krahô and Kanela as a result of its neglect.

Brasília, 26 September 2001.
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi

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