Kayapo

Xingu Forever Alive

Monday, May 26, 2008
We, representatives of indigenous peoples, river bank dwellers, gatherers of forest products, family farmers, urban dwellers, social movements, and non-governmental organizations of the Xingu basin met in the Xingu Forever Alive encounter, in the city of Altamira, Pará state, Brazilian Amazon, between May 19 and 23, 2008 to discuss, recognize, and repudiate the threats to the river which is ours, and of which we are part, in order to reaffirm the type of development that we want for our region. We who are the ancestral inhabitants of the Xingu Basin, whose course and whose tributaries we nav

In Defense of the Xingu

Kayapó leader Tuira receives Tenotã-Mõ book from women activists
Kayapó leader Tuira receives Tenotã-Mõ book from women activists The attack on the Eletrobrás official set off a series of recriminations, aimed at discrediting the movement. But, the Kayapó re-oriented their actions towards moving forward in their defense of the Xingu. Calling the regional Federal Attorney to the table, the Kayapó brought all their chiefs to address him, saying "we are authorities of our people, too. We want to make it very clear how we stand regarding the dams planned for the Xingu." One chief brought his daughter with him. Embracing her, he said "What I am saying is

Tensions Boil Over at Altamira

Kayapó dance at the Belo Monte protest
Kayapó dance at the Belo Monte protest Shock. Despair. I was on the panel discussing the impacts of Belo Monte Dam, when about eight Kayapó Indians incensed at the defense of the project by state company Eletrobrás' project manager, Paulo Fernando Rezende who had been invited to the encounter, suddenly rushed him. They threw him to the ground about ten feet from me. Chanting and waving machetes, the Kayapó pushed NGO leaders raising their hands and calling for calm out of the way, and in the scuffle, Rezende emerged with a cut on his shoulder. He was treated at the Transamazon Hospital

Xingu Encounter - Altamira, Brazil

Kayapó women paint their faces in preparation
Monday, May 19, 2008
Kayapó women paint their faces in preparation Glenn Switkes May 19-23, 2008 The Xingu Encounter 2008 was a 5-day gathering of over 1,000 Brazilian Amazon Indians and their allies to protest multiple government-supported hydroelectric dam projects on the Xingu River. Much discussion and emphasis was placed on protesting the Belo Monte Dam, whose construction would result in the displacement of 500 indigenous people and 16,000 other Brazilians. The dam would also require the construction of four additional dams on the Xingu River in order to store water during the dry season, and would destroy

Xingu River

The Xingu River flows from the tropical savanna of central Mato Grosso, Brazil northward to the Amazon for 1,979 km (1,230 miles). Some 25,000 indigenous people from 18 distinct ethnic groups live along the Xingu. In 1989, an international mobilization led by the Kayapó Indians stopped state-owned electric company Eletronorte´s plans to construct a six-dam complex on the Xingu and its tributary, the Iriri. Map of the Rivers of the Amazon Wikipedia Commons In 2016, Brazil completed construction of a huge dam on the Xingu River, called Belo Monte. Belo Monte will be the third-largest hydroel

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