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News-Letter Nr. 614 |
Potiguara indigenous people occupy Funai offices in João Pessoa
On Monday (17 May) around 200 Potiguara indigenous people occupied the offices of the National Foundation for Indigenous People (Funai), in João Pessoa, Paraíba, to demand publication of the report identifying and delimitation of the Monte-Mor indigenous land.
The Potiguara occupied this institution after the Sérgio Murilo Wanderley took the decision to grant an injunction returning rights to the land to the Japungu factory, which has a sugar cane plantation within the land.
According to José Ciriaco Potiguara, councilor for the municipality of Baía da Traição, known as The Captain, the president of Funai, Mércio Gomes has already signed the report, which has still not been published in the Official Gazette. We are only going to leave Funai after we have received a copy of the publication of the report, the councilor said.
The Captain believes that the report has not yet been published for political reasons, the political problem of acting in accordance with the interests of the sugar cane planters is the reason for the delay in publishing the report.
In a joint note signed by the Union of Higher Education Workers of the State of Paraíba, the Teachers Association and the Central Directorate of Students of the Federal University of Paraíba, students and educators have voiced their support for the Potiguara. We echo the voice of the Potiguara Nation with the aim of not only demanding the publication of the Funai report but also supporting the historic fight of the indigenous people in Paraíba in order to guarantee these families their rights to land, accommodation and agriculture, the representatives of these institutions declared in their note.
Last year, as part of the process for reclaiming their lands, 30 families occupied 100 hectares after an attempt by the factory owners to destroy the indigenous peoples plantations.
The Monte-Mor indigenous land covers 7,300 hectares. Of these only 450 are under the control of the indigenous people.
In memory of a great leader
On 20 May 1998, in the city of Pesqueira, in Pernambuco, at about 9 oclock in the morning, Xicão, father and chief of the Xukuru people, was brutally shot six times and assassinated. Today, exactly six years later, the Xukuru people will carry out a public action in memory of the warrior chief.
This happens every year after the Xukuru people have gathered together at the Pedra D água Settlement, in Serra do Ororubá, where the chief is buried, to hold a religious ceremony in the memory of Xicão and all who have died in the fight for their lands.
A procession through the streets of the city of Pesqueira is part of the program. As is usual, a public act will take place in front of the place where Xicão was assassinated with the presence of indigenous and religious leaders and representatives of organized civil society who support the cause.
The Assembly in the Xukuru peoples IV Assembly which began last Monday, 17 May, leaders of peoples from other states: Myky and Irantxe (Mato Grosso), Karajá, Xerente, Apinajé and Krahô-Kanela (Tocantins), Tumbalalá, Tuxá and Kambiwá (Bahia) also took part.
For four days, around 600 indigenous leaders talked about the project for the future of the Xukuru people and showed solidarity with all the indigenous people in Brazil, especially the Raposa Serra do Sol and the Cinta Larga people, who are today living in a situation where their lands are being strongly threatened by economic interests.
Brasília, May 20th 2004
Cimi - Indianist Missionary Council
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