By Thiago Cardoso Images shared worldwide, but mostly ignored by main stream media: Tear gas bombs and rubber bullets, children and elderly people among the protesters. That was how the police in the federal capital received more than 800 indigenous people from 48 different ethnic groups who peacefully protested against a blitzkrieg of legislative changes proposed by politicians and lobbyists linked to agribusiness and mining companies. We are talking about Brazil, June 2021:

by João Paulo Tukano and Thiago Cardoso Indigenous peoples have been present in the lands of the Amazon for millennia, being responsible for the development of technologies in architecture, ceramics, forest management, land management, river management, and for the development of medicine and body care. In the wake of modern science and state policy, the peoples were forced to deny their own world, their knowledge, and memory. As a consequence, indigenous languages ​​and know

by Thiago Cardoso As I was writing this text, I received the terrible news of the death of the Kumu-Shaman Higino Tuyuka, one of the great teachers and indigenous intellectuals of the Rio Negro in the Amazon. I had the pleasure of meeting Higino and learn from his words and get inspiration to work in the field of indigenous education, where he was a specialist. We will miss this great man who through his words made us perceive other stories about the world. In terms of wisdom

Convened by the tireless Kayapó leader Raoni Metuktire, and organized by the youth of the Kayapó, the leaders gathered to discuss the role o

by Marilena Altenfelder and Thiago Cardoso A big threat to the Amazon and its peoples is gaining strength. At the same time as deforestation grows terribly under the complacent and irresponsible smiles of the politicians, mining activity gains strength and support. With the Bolsonaro administration, Brazil has become a sinister example of policies aimed at devastating the Amazon. Allied with prospectors and the mining sector, the Brazilian government encourages the expansion

The ongoing "development" of Brazilian Amazon for farming and mining continues to be a

"The indigenous territories are not unproductive areas, but they are those areas that guarantee that we have rain, wind and preservation of

Threats to indigenous peoples in Brazil Marielle Mendes The indigenous peoples in Brazil are living times of turbulence. Their bodies, culture and territories are threatened by the victory of the far-right candidate in the general elections. The inauguration of the former member of parliament and army captain, the conservative Jair Bolsonaro, poses a direct threat to the lives and to the advancement of rights of the more than 300 different ethnic groups that inhabit the diffe

Thiago Cardoso Who never admired the faces, bodies and objects drawn by the indigenous peoples of South America? Have you ever wondered what lead them to produce such beautiful, unique and symmetrical graphics? Of course, not all peoples are "drawing people," and it is also true that many draw diverse geometric shapes ranging from lines and points to living things in varied designs. There are drawings that, due to their cultural relevance, were registered as indigenous cultur

Thiago Cardoso and Marilena Altenfelder "I would like to ask you a simple question: what is a myth?” “It is not a simple question, it is the exact opposite, because one can answer it in different ways. If you question an American Indian, there would be many chances that the answer would be: a history of time when men and animals were not yet different.” (Levi-Strauss and Didier Eribon, 2009[1]) [1] LÉVI-STRAUSS, Claude; ERIBON, Didier. De près et de loin. Odile Jacob, 2009. T

Marilena Altenfelder It is always good to know more about the Amazon Rainforest and its inhabitants. And when we think about the plant biodiversity of the forest, one of the species that comes to mind is the well-known and appreciated Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) which refers to the name of both the nut and the tree. I would like to write some words about it. Since the arrival of the Europeans to South America, this tree is mentioned and described in reports of travelers

Thiago Cardoso All senses are sharpened: Multiple and vibrant colours, bewildering smells, flavours of local and traditional foods, lots of music, people from diverse ethnicities and countries circulating and interacting. A true intercultural and socio-bio-diverse encounter where indigenous peoples, quilombolas[1], local communities and researchers in the fields of anthropology, geography and biology intertwined to exchange knowledge about ecosystems, landscapes and biodivers

Marilena Altenfelder And Thiago Cardoso How much deforestation would be required to cause the cycle to degrade to the point of being unable to support rainforest ecosystems? How are the indigenous populations resisting deforestation? These are very important questions because experts have been pointing [1], for some time, that Amazon deforestation is about to reach a certain threshold from which regions of the rainforest can undergo irreversible changes, in which their landsc

Thiago Cardoso And Marilena Altenfelder In a previous text we offered the reader the argument that the indigenous peoples of the Amazon contribute to the production of biodiversity and its conservation. In another we argued about the role of these people for the climate and for agrobiodiversity. To that end, we have even identified a working group in the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to study these contributions. Something evident i

Thiago Cardoso I recommend a reading. The report Knowing our Lands and Resources: Indigenous and Local Knowledge of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in the Americas published by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)[1]. The report is the result of an intensive work of research and workshops carried out by the Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems Task Force of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)

This article by by Agência Pública, a non-profit investigative journalism agency based in Brazil. This is a translation of the original version, published in Portuguese was originally posted here. River Cateté has vital and essential role for Xikrin people, who have lived alongside this river in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil for centuries. They fish, swim and bathe here. But the River Cateté is dying, and with it the way of life of the Xikrin.  In 2010 Vale, one of

Thiago Cardoso Can you imagine the earth, an animal or plant, water or even a rock as a person? Would you be able to see them as holders of rights before the law or the constitution of a country? Until recently it would have been impossible. We would be told that we were crazy or that we would defend some kind of animistic primitivism. A scandal in front of a way of thinking that has been developed in the last three hundred years in the West under a ceaseless effort to separa

Thiago Cardoso And Marilena Altenfelder The planet's largest rainforest faces another terrible threat! A bill is discussed in the Brazilian national congress, proposing to liberate the expansion of sugarcane cultivation in the Amazon, project PLS 626/2011. It is well known that the Amazon rainforest provides ecological services of great importance not only to indigenous peoples and local communities, but also to the rest of the world, contributing to the balance of the planet

Thiago Cardoso It was two o'clock in the afternoon and the auditorium of the World Social Forum 2018 was already full. People settled into the chairs to watch the newly released Piripkura. A great film, tragic and poetic at the same time, produced by Zeza Films. It brings to the audience the story of three Kagwahiva Indians (Piripkura) who survived a series of massacres in northern Mato Grosso, Brazil, and who continue to resist. Two Piripkura survivors still live in the fore

This article by Jonathan Watts was originally posted here. At a high-level talking shop for the global water industry in Brazil, river defenders and community activists - who are often murdered or criminalised for trying to protect their resources - have set up an alternative forum to share their stories While presidents, royalty and corporate dignitaries gave speeches at a global conference in Brasil’s federal capital this week on the need to protect water sources, river def