Indigenous Land Defenders of Brazil: In Memoriam (2019-2022)

Cover Image: View of Flutuação Rio Sucuri in  Bonito, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil  by photographer Paulo Freita (Source:  Unsplash Photos ) published on November 28, 2022.

Content Note: The following includes disturbing information on violence against Indigenous Peoples and individuals. We have strived to provide information on each individual, in celebration of their lives and work, without gratuitous detail on their deaths. While we have worked to avoid linking to sources with graphic imagery, please note that the sources linked may contain further details and images may be changed by websites after we have reviewed them.

This report is a collaboration between  Cultural Survival , an organization that advocates for Indigenous Peoples' rights and supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures and political resilience, and the University of California (UC) Digital Investigations Network, comprising human rights digital investigation labs at the  Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley , the  Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas at UC Santa Cruz , and the  Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law. 

The first part of this report profiles thirteen Indigenous leaders and land defenders from seven regions in Brazil killed between 2019-2022, with some caught in the middle of intense environmental crises. Cultural Survival selected the defenders to be profiled in this report, and received permission from their families for their inclusion.

The thirteen lives and deaths portrayed in this report are unfortunately only a small glimpse into the larger crisis of hundreds of killings and murders of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil, and reflect a deeper systemic issue. Organizations such as Conselho Indigenista Missionário ( CIMI ) and Secretaria de Saúde Indígena ( SESAI )  report incredibly high numbers of deaths , including 795 killings during former president Bolsonaro's administration, with 180 killed in 2022 alone. The gaps these defenders leave in their communities and the world cannot be filled, as they keep alive critical knowledge for protecting our ecosystems and relating to one another. 

The second section includes additional information on the seven Brazilian states in which the defenders were killed: Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul. Taken together, the individual defender profiles and information about select regions starts to paint a picture of how and why these killings of Indigenous defenders have occurred. More importantly, it links each defender to their territory, acknowledging their inter-connection. This section also details an additional six states that Cultural Survival has identified as emerging sites of concern for possible threats and targeting of Indigenous land defenders: Acre, Pará, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, and Roraima. 

To document what happened to each individual, as well as the broader story of regional threats to Indigenous environmental defenders in Brazil, student researchers in the UC Network accessed online open source information, which is defined broadly as publicly available information on the internet, including social media and reports from the news sources, governments and civil society as well as satellite imagery to track the environmental erosion of Indigenous territories over time.

Scars on the Land

Indigenous defenders in Brazil today are engaged in the latest chapter of a centuries-long struggle to protect their ancestral lands from exploitation and abuse.

 Some of the extractive industries  currently affecting the livelihoods and quality of life of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil include logging, agribusiness, oil and gas, mineral mining, hydropower, commercial real estate development, and cattle ranching. Brazil is the  world’s leader in soybean production  and legumes are the country’s most profitable export, in addition to palm oil and cacao. Human rights violations resulting from the  impacts of these industries include , but are not limited to, polluted waterways and air, forced labor and eviction, loss of livelihoods, and physical harm, including death. Many involved in these industries portray Indigenous Peoples as  barriers against progress . This tension has resulted in violent land disputes between Indigenous Peoples and profiteers seeking to extract from Indigenous ancestral lands.

Indigenous Peoples have lived  in reciprocity with the land  since time immemorial, using and living in relationship with water, plants, animals, and other elements in balanced and sustainable ways. Industrial resource use, on the other hand, involves violent and unsustainable extraction practices, the mass commodification of resources, and the ongoing colonization of Indigenous lands,  evident through the land disputes and killings of Indigenous land defenders .

The process by which the government officially recognizes Indigenous territories in Brazil is called demarcation. As of May 2023, there were  496 demarcated Indigenous lands in Brazil , with around 237 more territories in varied stages of the demarcation process. Demarcation allows for the reoccupation of ancestral lands by Indigenous Peoples at the federal level, and it is meant to ensure the rights of the Indigenous communities within those boundaries, particularly by preventing invasions by non-Indigenous people seeking to exploit resources. For many Indigenous Peoples in Brazil,  demarcation is seen as the only solution  to ending the violence perpetrated against them.

In order to be considered by the federal government for demarcation, Indigenous Peoples must identify and determine the boundaries of their territories and attest to a history of Indigenous residency. During this process, the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI)—the government body responsible for representing Indigenous interests—appoints an anthropologist to conduct studies on the “ ethno-historical, sociological, juridical, cartographic and environmental natures, as well as a land survey. ” The report is then approved or rejected by the president of FUNAI. Once demarcated, Indigenous lands are known as terra indígena or TI. The  demarcation process  of Indigenous land is extensive and lengthy, and though officially the timeline should take less than a year, Indigenous Peoples are often  left without answers for years .

During the tenure of right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022)  all demarcation processes  for Indigenous lands were halted, resulting in no new demarcations.  Illegal extraction of resources and invasions of protected Indigenous lands tripled  during this period. Bolsonaro appointed  Marcelo Xavier  as the director of FUNAI, who was,  according to one FUNAI employee , “placed there in a very strategic way and implemented an anti-Indigenous policy within FUNAI.” 

 Elected  at the end of 2022 and  sworn in  on January 1, 2023, leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva  ran on a platform  of protecting Indigenous lands and the environment. He created Brazil’s first Ministry of Indigenous Affairs under the  leadership of Indigenous activist Sonia Guajajara . The president immediately  resumed the demarcation process , and on April 28, 2023, he  recognized the demarcation of six Indigenous lands .

It is a time-consuming process, but we are going to make sure that as many Indigenous reserves as possible are legalised… If we want to achieve zero deforestation by 2030, we need registered Indigenous reserves.”

— President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, April 28, 2023 

However, Lula faces fierce opposition to his policies from the conservative Congress. In late May 2023, a congressional committee  moved to dilute the powers  of the Environment Ministry, approving draft legislation that would “strip the environment ministry of control of the rural environmental registry, a key tool in the fight against illegal deforestation and land-grabbing, and water resources.” Based on the  disputed legal theory  of marco temporal,  the legislation states  that only Indigenous land occupied by Indigenous Peoples as of the enactment of the Brazilian Constitution on October 5, 1998 will be considered for legal occupation by Indigenous groups. 

As of September 2023, nine of 11 justices in the Brazil Supreme Court  voted against marco temporal , ruling in favor of the Indigenous Peoples right to reclaim their ancestral lands. This court decision will  weigh heavily on an upcoming Senate ruling  for  Bill 490 , which seeks to limit future recognition of Indigenous lands. 

Content Note: This section of the report contains information about the often violent deaths of Indigenous defenders, which may be upsetting or triggering.

In this section, we briefly detail the lives of thirteen Indigenous land defenders identified by Cultural Survival and describe the circumstances surrounding their deaths based on information obtained online. Whenever possible, we provide information about their lives and who they were to their loved ones and their communities; however, this information was not always available. Where available, we provide information about the current legal proceedings connected to their killings, if any. This research is limited as it is based only on online open source content; we did not conduct any in-person research. This project was done with the consent of the family members of those killed. 

This section provides an overview of 13 states in Brazil that Cultural Survival has identified as emerging sites of concern for possible threats and targeting of Indigenous land defenders. Seven of these states were home to the thirteen Indigenous defenders identified in the first part of this report. This overview is not meant to comprehensively represent the conditions in Brazil. The goal is to amplify attention on parts of Brazil, including and beyond the Amazon, that are emerging regions of risk for Indigenous Peoples. 

Coupled with the adjoining map that highlights the specific region of focus, each state has an overview of population demographics, including the various Indigenous Peoples with lands in that region, and features the ongoing threats to Indigenous communities, many of them connected to extractive practices by the government or corporations. 

We also include  maps generated by FUNAI , using available data from October 2022, to note the status of demarcation in these respective states. The map legend distinguishes the following status levels of Indigenous territories: Declared, Approved, Regularized, Bounded, Indigenous Reserve, and Restricted Use. For more information, see  FUNAI's overview of the phases of demarcation .

This report memorializes and honors thirteen Indigenous community members whose lives were tragically cut short between 2019 and 2022. Many were active in their pursuit of defending their land and communities, illustrating the deep physical, spiritual, and historical links between Indigenous land defenders and their territories. All had the right to live their lives in peace and dignity.

Indigenous land is subject to severe exploitation across Brazil from various political and economic interests, including but not limited to the government, and the logging, mining, and farming industries. Logging in Brazil has led to  significant deforestation  of Indigenous lands,  though government data  points to a drop in Amazon deforestation rates under President Lula.

Under former  President Jair Bolsonaro's administration , there was  no new demarcation of Indigenous land  between 2019 and 2022. Physical violence against Indigenous Peoples, including  sexual assaults, beatings, poisonings, and murder , became all too familiar but were left largely unaddressed by the legal system.

In contrast, President Lula da Silva has created Brazil’s first Ministry of Indigenous Affairs,  appointing Indigenous activist Sonia Guajajara  as the Minister. He has also put veteran environmentalist Marina Silva  in charge of environmental affairs  and  resumed the demarcation  process for granting protection to Indigenous land. As of May 2023,  he demarcated six Indigenous territories  and two more in  early September . 

However, Lula’s proposed  Green Plan  signals continued struggles for the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil trying to protect their land from exploitation. The President’s plan to install solar panels in underserved areas relies on mineral mining that takes place on Indigenous land for the construction of such solar panels. Additionally, the plan incentivizes potassium mining for nitrogen-based fertilizers, which impacts Indigenous land, such as the Mura in Amazonas, whose land is  overtaken by mining companies . Thus, Lula’s Green Plan, while attempting to move away from fossil fuels, may result in the  expansion of mineral mining , which would severely impact Indigenous lands. 

The digital research that informed the content of this report underscores that the threats to the livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil are quite dire. Mining has increased rights violations against Indigenous Peoples and has endangered their health through  mercury poisoning ,  zoonotic diseases , and more. Indigenous activist leaders who defend the environment and territory are devastatingly silenced—through threats, imprisonment, and murder. Conducting this digital research is a form of bearing witness to their lost lives and acknowledging that their legacy and community struggles continue. 

This report has been co-published with Cultural Survival and the University of California Digital Investigations Network.

The University of California Digital Investigations Network trains University of California students to research, investigate, and document human rights violations and provide critical support to partner organizations dedicated to independent journalism, legal accountability, and human rights fact-finding throughout the U.S. and across the world. Our Investigations Labs are based at the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley, the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas at UC Santa Cruz, and The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law.