Photos: Threat to Brazil’s indigenous tribal lands from farmers, miners

Apr 12, 2019 16:28 IST

Indigenous Macuxi children play at the community of Maturuca on the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation, Roraima state, Brazil. A decade after the Macuxi people won a bloody legal battle to expel rice planters from their reservation in a remote part of Brazil, their hold over ancestral lands has come under threat again from new right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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Indigenous Macuxi children play at the community of Maturuca on the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation, Roraima state, Brazil. A decade after the Macuxi people won a bloody legal battle to expel rice planters from their reservation in a remote part of Brazil, their hold over ancestral lands has come under threat again from new right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

An indigenous Macuxi cowboy ropes cattle. The sprawling 1.7 million hectares of savannah on the border with Venezuela — a reservation called Raposa Serra do Sol — is home to 25,000 native people whose main livelihood is raising cattle. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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An indigenous Macuxi cowboy ropes cattle. The sprawling 1.7 million hectares of savannah on the border with Venezuela — a reservation called Raposa Serra do Sol — is home to 25,000 native people whose main livelihood is raising cattle. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

Chief Aldenir Lima, the leader of the 70 communities on the reservation, by a monument made in honour of the tribes people and their struggle to secure land rights. “In the fight for our land rights, 21 of us died,” Lima said. “Since then we recovered what we had lost and today, the white farmers’ rice plantations have been replaced by our cattle herds.” (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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Chief Aldenir Lima, the leader of the 70 communities on the reservation, by a monument made in honour of the tribes people and their struggle to secure land rights. “In the fight for our land rights, 21 of us died,” Lima said. “Since then we recovered what we had lost and today, the white farmers’ rice plantations have been replaced by our cattle herds.” (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

The community of Maturuca is seen on the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation. The land remains coveted by commercial farmers and mining prospectors who believe the area is rich in minerals such as gold, diamonds, copper, molybdenum, bauxite and even niobium, a metal used to strengthen steel that Bolsonaro considers “strategic.” (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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The community of Maturuca is seen on the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation. The land remains coveted by commercial farmers and mining prospectors who believe the area is rich in minerals such as gold, diamonds, copper, molybdenum, bauxite and even niobium, a metal used to strengthen steel that Bolsonaro considers “strategic.” (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

Indigenous Macuxi harvest corn at the community of Morro on the reservation. The cattle herds stand endangered if Bolsonaro follows through on his promise to review the borders of the reservation — part of his push to repeal a ban on commercial farming and mining on indigenous lands. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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Indigenous Macuxi harvest corn at the community of Morro on the reservation. The cattle herds stand endangered if Bolsonaro follows through on his promise to review the borders of the reservation — part of his push to repeal a ban on commercial farming and mining on indigenous lands. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

Macuxi women walk at the community of Maturuca on the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation. Bolsonaro’s first move after his January inauguration was to put indigenous land decisions under the Ministry of Agriculture, which is controlled by farm sector representatives eager to open up new frontiers to large-scale farming. The president has already singled out Raposa Serra do Sol. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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Macuxi women walk at the community of Maturuca on the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation. Bolsonaro’s first move after his January inauguration was to put indigenous land decisions under the Ministry of Agriculture, which is controlled by farm sector representatives eager to open up new frontiers to large-scale farming. The president has already singled out Raposa Serra do Sol. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

Macuxi children dance a ceremony for indigenous leaders. The Macuxi fear the return of illegal gold miners and other poachers, emboldened by Bolsonaro’s rhetoric and his moves to weaken their rights. “It is the richest area in the world. There are ways to exploit it rationally. And for the Indians, to give them royalties and integrate them into society,” he said in December. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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Macuxi children dance a ceremony for indigenous leaders. The Macuxi fear the return of illegal gold miners and other poachers, emboldened by Bolsonaro’s rhetoric and his moves to weaken their rights. “It is the richest area in the world. There are ways to exploit it rationally. And for the Indians, to give them royalties and integrate them into society,” he said in December. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

“I want to ask the new president Jair Bolsonaro to respect indigenous people and our constitutional rights,” said community leader Tereza Pereira de Souza, her hair crowned with a headdress of yellow feathers. “It took us 30 years to get our land borders legally recognized and registered,” she said. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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“I want to ask the new president Jair Bolsonaro to respect indigenous people and our constitutional rights,” said community leader Tereza Pereira de Souza, her hair crowned with a headdress of yellow feathers. “It took us 30 years to get our land borders legally recognized and registered,” she said. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

A house stands at the community of Maturuca. Brazil’s 900,000 indigenous people make up less than 1% of the population and live on reservations that account for 13 percent of the territory. Bolsonaro says they live in abject poverty and hunger and should be assimilated instead of being confined to reservations like “zoo animals.” (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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A house stands at the community of Maturuca. Brazil’s 900,000 indigenous people make up less than 1% of the population and live on reservations that account for 13 percent of the territory. Bolsonaro says they live in abject poverty and hunger and should be assimilated instead of being confined to reservations like “zoo animals.” (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

Sideneia Francisco de Lima, 15, an indigenous Macuxi girl, looks out of her house at the community of Tamandua. In Raposa Serra do Sol, Daniel Andrade butchered a cow’s carcass and held up a cut of fresh beef. Nobody goes hungry on the reservation, he countered. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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Sideneia Francisco de Lima, 15, an indigenous Macuxi girl, looks out of her house at the community of Tamandua. In Raposa Serra do Sol, Daniel Andrade butchered a cow’s carcass and held up a cut of fresh beef. Nobody goes hungry on the reservation, he countered. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

An indigenous cultural centre is seen in ruins at the community of Surumu. Any attempt to change the reservation’s legal status would likely be opposed by the Supreme Court on grounds that Brazil’s 1988 Constitution protects indigenous land rights. Anthropologists warn removing protection would destroy the traditions and languages of the Macuxi and four other related tribes. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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An indigenous cultural centre is seen in ruins at the community of Surumu. Any attempt to change the reservation’s legal status would likely be opposed by the Supreme Court on grounds that Brazil’s 1988 Constitution protects indigenous land rights. Anthropologists warn removing protection would destroy the traditions and languages of the Macuxi and four other related tribes. (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

Macuxi children play in Uailan River at the community of Uailan. Younger tribe members say they would fight for the land, among them Tiago Nunes Pereira, 24, who bore scars on his leg from a gunshot wound in a clash with farmers when he was just 12 years old. “Blood was shed here. That hurt a lot. I’m not scared to die. We will never tire of fighting, to the last one of us.” (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

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Macuxi children play in Uailan River at the community of Uailan. Younger tribe members say they would fight for the land, among them Tiago Nunes Pereira, 24, who bore scars on his leg from a gunshot wound in a clash with farmers when he was just 12 years old. “Blood was shed here. That hurt a lot. I’m not scared to die. We will never tire of fighting, to the last one of us.” (Bruno Kelly / REUTERS)

about the gallery

A sprawling 1.7 million hectares of savannah on Brazil’s border with Venezuela — a reservation called Raposa Serra do Sol — is home to 25,000 native people whose main livelihood is raising cattle. But the land remains coveted by commercial farmers and mining prospectors who believe the area is rich in minerals such as gold, diamonds, copper, molybdenum, bauxite and even niobium, a metal used to strengthen steel that new right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro considers "strategic", risking native hold over ancestral lands.

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