Indigenous Media at Free Land Camp in Brazil

Mídia Indígena, the largest Indigenous media collective in Brazil, requests our solidarity to support Indigenous communication and storytelling at the largest Indigenous mobilization in Brazil, the Free Land Camp (Acampamento Terra Livre) in Brasilia from April 24-28, 2023.

Mídia Indígena is a communications network and collective of young Brazilian Indigenous people created in 2017 to strengthen the Indigenous struggle for their rights and amplify the voices and demands of the movement in the media.

Today, Mídia Indígena is the largest Indigenous media collective platform in Brazil with over 185,000 followers, and over 10 million views, who have trained over 800 Indigenous people, primarily youth, in audiovisual production and territorial monitoring in different communities across Brazil. Their collective work with Indigenous communities across Brazil reaches audiences far beyond their territories by raising awareness and amplifying the struggle to protect lands, cultures and rights.

Indigenous Free Land Camp (Acampamento Terra Livre) in Brasilia, April 24-28, 2023

In Brazil, Indigenous peoples will mobilize to organize and celebrate “Indigenous April” at their 19th annual Free Land Camp (ATL), held in Brasília from April 24-28, 2023.

The most important annual event organized by APIB (Association of Brazil’s Indigenous People) and Brazil’s Indigenous movement, the ATL is a five-day gathering of Indigenous representatives, leaders, women, children and Indigenous youth meeting in Brasilia to share the struggles, knowledge and ancestral strength for their future.

Last year, in the largest ATL gathering ever, over 8,000 Indigenous peoples from 200 different communities, from the Amazon and all regions from the country mobilized to create a space for organizing and dialogue to guide the permanent organization of Indigenous peoples around their rights. This is the time to define strategies for empowerment and respect for a more indigenous Brazil.

For this year's ATL, Mídia Indígena wants to organize and conduct workshops to expand their communicator's network, training new youth representatives in storytelling, film production for social media and the web, cinematography courses, event coverage, press office, editing, and audio production. They are seeking $30,000 to organize workshops, and fund air and ground travel, lodging, meals and logistics for 20 Indigenous communicators, as well as rent large tents and equipment for five days in Brasilia. They will be documenting the marches and events at this next historic ATL.

Join us in this movement to amplify Indigenous voices and support the protection of their cultures and territories!

About Amazon Watch: Since 1996, Amazon Watch has partnered with indigenous peoples and environmental organizations in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability, and the preservation of Amazon's ecological systems. Our theory of change centers on advancing indigenous peoples' rights to manage their ancestral territories as the most effective way to protect the Amazon, as studies confirm that, here, community-based protected areas are more effective in conserving biodiversity than 'western' conservation strategies.