Story

The Great Battle of the Xingu Women (Portuguese)

May 31, 2019 | Deutsche Welle
By
Maria Fernanda Ribeiro and Nadia Pontes
Amairé Kaiabi-Suia: "The threats come mainly from the government, which tries to end our rights with our lands." Image by Nadia Pontes. Brazil, 2019.

Amairé Kaiabi-Suia: "The threats come mainly from the government, which tries to end our rights with our lands." Image by Nadia Pontes. Brazil, 2019.

Coming from villages scattered throughout the Xingu national park, Brazil's first Indigenous reserve, 190 women from 16 different ethnic groups met to decide how they can defend their forest. "This forest gives us health," said  Wisio Kaiabi. "It's important not just for Indigenous people. To stop climate change too." Diminishing and more irregular rainfall  is leading to smaller harvests of manioc, banana, and sweet potato.  And the main threat, they say, comes from the  government of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's  new president, as farmers around the Xingu replace forest with fields.

Continue reading this story in Portuguese on the DW Brasil website.