Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has given new license to the of Indigenous people in Brazil. Before he came to power in 2019, it wasn鈥檛 clear what he wanted to build, but he knew exactly who and what he wanted to destroy: the Indigenous people and the Amazon rainforest respectively.
鈥淏olsonaro attacked a woman first, the land, our mother鈥, the Indigenous leader C茅lia Xakriab谩 told me. 鈥淲e have no choice but to fight back.鈥
Since becoming president, the former Army captain, who served under the country鈥檚 last military dictator, has led an unprecedented war against the environment and the people protecting it. A slew of , violence against and assassinations of Indigenous land defenders, and the have threatened the existence of Brazil鈥檚 original people, the Amazon rainforest and the future of the planet.
Under Bolsanaro鈥檚 oversight, about 7700 square miles () of the Amazon has been deforested, mostly by caused by the cattle and logging industries. The destruction of the Amazon rainforest is pushing the biome toward an irreversible tipping point, where it won鈥檛 be able to renew itself, and making the Amazon uninhabitable for Indigenous people.
Meanwhile, in 2021 scientists that for the first time the Amazon has been emitting more carbon dioxide than it has been absorbing. The Amazon 鈥 often touted as the 鈥溾 for the oxygen it creates 鈥 seems to be dying faster than it is growing.
But Indigenous people, who call this forest their home, refuse to disappear.
'Struggle for Life' movement
At the end of August, red dust rose like smoke from the pounding feet of some 6000 Indigenous people on the main surrounded by Brazil鈥檚 Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace in the country鈥檚 capital city of Brasilia.
One hundred and seventy-six different Indigenous groups from every region of the country arrived at the encampment of (the Struggle for Life movement) to protest against their own erasure. This Indigenous mobilisation, which is the largest in history, broke a spell of inviolability surrounding the institutions of power that have for centuries excluded Indigenous people or sought their demise.
鈥淲e need a union of Indigenous people鈥, Alessandra Munduruku from the 聽(APIB)聽told me. 鈥淥ur lives matter.鈥
They have a champion in Jo锚nia Wapichana, the first Indigenous female lawyer and member of Congress. She is calling for a 鈥溾 of Brazilian and Indigenous rights. And she has helped spearhead the Indigenous movement at a national and international level with APIB.
APIB is a powerful unifying tool for the Indigenous peoples of the country. Indigenous Brazilians comprise a small fraction of Brazil鈥檚 population 鈥 about Indigenous people survive today in a country of 211 million 鈥 yet they possess a profound human diversity in language and culture not seen in most modern countries. And they are now united in a common cause against Bolsonaro鈥檚 belligerence and the powerful forces that brought him into power.
APIB a lawsuit in the International Criminal Court (ICC) on August 9 charging Bolsonaro with genocide. This is the first time in the history of the ICC that the Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere have defended themselves, with the help of Indigenous lawyers, against crimes against humanity in The Hague.
鈥淲e have been fighting every day for hundreds of years to ensure our existence and today our fight for rights is global鈥, APIB鈥檚 executive director Sonia Guajajara said .
A coalition of right-wing forces ranging from agribusinesses, the gun lobby and evangelicals 鈥 collectively known as the 鈥渂ull, bullet, and bible鈥 bloc in parliament 鈥 is backing Bolsonaro鈥檚 project of destruction of the Amazon and its people.
Soy fields (mostly for animal feed) and cattle herds have replaced lush forest lands and traditional rural communities. Most of Brazil鈥檚 food is exported, largely feeding United States and European markets. And many Indigenous people blame multinational corporations like Cargill, the US鈥檚 largest privately held company, for their role in environmental destruction to produce soy.
Rural landowners, loggers and miners terrorise and evict Indigenous and traditional communities from their lands at the barrel of a gun. Relaxed firearm and ammunition laws have led to a sharp rise in gun ownership, especially among rural landowners, which has led to a subsequent rise in gun violence. Bolsonaro鈥檚 signature finger-gun gestures support for arming his base.
US influence
Much of this influence, including ties to evangelical churches, comes from the US, a country Bolsonaro and his supporters look to for inspiration.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a shame that the Brazilian cavalry wasn鈥檛 as efficient as the Americans, who exterminated the Indians鈥, Bolsonaro lamented.
鈥淚ndigenous extermination has already happened in your country [the US]鈥, Munduruku told me. She sees a similar process unfolding in Brazil. But the connection doesn鈥檛 end there.
鈥淎t the rate [at which] your country [the US] consumes soy, it contributes to the destruction of my land鈥, she added.
The final front of this onslaught is the very legal and political framework protecting Indigenous territories, the 1988 Brazilian constitution. The Brazilian congress has been on a series of bills that would undo hard-won rights, such as protecting Indigenous territories, granting immunity to illegal land-grabbing, and sacrificing Indigenous lands for infrastructure, mining and energy projects. One of the bills would the president to leave the International Labor Organization Convention鈥檚 1989 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169, a major international treaty protecting Indigenous and tribal peoples.
At a minimum, APIB and Luta pela Vida are asking the government to respect its own laws and constitution. That鈥檚 why a group of 150 Indigenous people an effigy of a large black coffin at the steps of Brazil鈥檚 Congress on August 27. Scrawled on its sides were the names of the bills aimed at their destruction. The message was clear: Indigenous people refuse to be burned.
The Supreme Court began arguments on September 1 in a case that could lead to either enabling or preventing the usurping of ancestral lands from Indigenous people who were removed from their territories after the ratification of the 1988 constitution. The court the case on September 15 without setting a date to revisit it. APIB a positive ruling for Indigenous people would immediately resolve hundreds of land conflicts in the country and warns a negative ruling could accelerate violence.
2022 election
What is important to consider is that Brazilian democracy is fragile. As Bolsonaro鈥檚 chances for re-election in 2022 dwindle, his supporters for street mobilisations on September 7 to 鈥渂egin a general cleansing process in Brazil鈥. The targets of the rally were the congress, the Supreme Court and the Chinese embassy, and Bolsonaro supporters seemed to take their cues from their US counterparts who stormed the US Capitol on January 6.
Bolsonaro鈥檚 son Eduardo Bolsonaro a stage with former US president Donald Trump鈥檚 supporters in my rural home state of South Dakota on August 10, hoping to cast doubt on the 2022 elections and draw international right-wing support. He was joined by Steve Bannon, who Brazil鈥檚 former leftist leader Luiz In谩cio (Lula) da Silva 鈥渢he most dangerous leftist in the world鈥 because his presidential candidacy a great threat of undoing what Bolsonaro has done during his presidential term over the past four years.
The following week, in an Indigenous ceremony, Sonia Guajajara Lula the 鈥済uardian of territories鈥, a reminder of his obligations to Indigenous people and the Amazon should he become president.
The Indigenous movement goes beyond Brazil and its constitution. 鈥淥ur [Indigenous] history doesn鈥檛 begin in 1988鈥, was one popular at the Luta pela Vida camp. And the Indigenous struggle is more than recuperating imagined halcyon days that never entirely existed for Indigenous people.
鈥淭he future is ancestral鈥, Guajajara told me. And she鈥檚 calling on the entire world to take leadership from Indigenous movements in this time of terrible danger.
[This article was produced by . Nick Estes is a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. He is a journalist, historian and co-host of聽the .]