We Want a New Normal

( Matipu Indigenous Peoples village, at the Xingu Indigenous Territory. Taken by Paulo Junqueira / ISA)

‘We Want a New Normal’ is a fundraiser created to support the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon, as they continue to fight against the destruction of their homes; the natural habitats and ecosystems which literally sustain the air we breathe. 

The Indigenous peoples of the Amazon have for centuries suffered the destruction of their home and culture, all in the name of profits and the commodification of the Natural World. The fires which rage through the Amazon in 2019 were the ‘winning’ combination of climate change and deforestation. It is quite telling that the fires literally stopped on the borders of Indigenous land, where ecosystems remained intact.

The Amazon produces a huge 20% of the oxygen we breathe, it creates weather patterns which water our crops. The Amazon sustains life far beyond its borders, but the current government, under President Bolsonaro, is cutting the life out of those forests and risking the health of the entire globe, all in pursuit of money. During his time in power, many Indigenous people have been murdered in the protection of the forests and very little is being done about it. We have forgotten these people who protect the air and the water, in much the same way that we forgot the essential work of nurses and cleaners and refuse collectors, but we need to remember now. We need to repay the huge debt we owe to the Indigenous peoples who are constantly trying to halt this devastation, but they are David facing so many Goliaths, and now Coronavirus threatens their lives further.


This embroidery will be raffled in aid of  the Instituto Socioambiental  (ISA) who support Indigenous groups in the Amazon. Every £5 donated will support ISA and their work with the tribes and = 1 entry into the prize draw to win the ‘We Want a New Normal’ hand embroidery, created by Becky Mackay @artsforanimals . If you can’t donate, please share and spread the word about this very important cause.

I have chosen to raise money specifically for ISA as they work with some of the smaller tribes who have no direct links to specific NGOs;  tribes who are in dire need of financial help right now. As well as supporting Indigenous peoples at a grassroots level, ISA also spends its time and energy fighting legal battles on behalf of the tribes; fighting against corrupt governments and vested interests, who are trying to repeal the protections, and break into the tribes' homelands, opening the Amazon up to the destructive effects of mining, logging and agribusiness. 

Jyoti Fernandes, campaigns co-ordinator of the Landworkers Alliance  recently attended the indigenous summit and is working to connect their needs to UK government policy. Here is a description of some of the things your donation could be used for, followed by the tribes' incredible declaration from the summit.

"We will transfer the money directly to the ISA who are in direct contact with the tribes in the heart of the Amazon and will give money to the tribes to be distributed through their traditional collective decision making structures. The Landworkers Alliance has direct connections to the tribal level organisations and will be able to facilitate the safe transfer of funds through ISA to the tribal organisations. The funds are specifically designated to help support tribal food security during the lockdown and assist in spreading the knowledge to the tribes that it is so terribly important that they understand and abide by. The Amazonian tribes have been decimated by disease outbreak before, so once informed will be aware of the need to isolate.


Many tribes protect and live in a huge territory and are unlikely to go hungry, but these days they rely on certain tools for food, so there is a need for supplies like fish hooks and line, machetes, files (to sharpen machetes). They also need support to be able to maintain their defenses on the perimeter of their territories- they need the gasoline for the high speed boats they use to get from outpost to outpost to communicate when they see loggers and miners enter the territory.


The above is the essential list that would help the tribes stay in their villages and maintain security.


Some tribes have other funding to apply to the coronavirus emergency; however, others do not, so the #WeWantANewNormal funds will go to villages who do not have funds who ISA support. 


The Declaration from the Indigenous Summit: 

"We, representatives of 45 indigenous peoples of Brazil, totaling more than 600 participants, were called by Chief Raoni to meet between January 14 and 18, 2020 in Piaraçu village (Capoto Jarina Indigenous Land), with the aim of joining our forces and denounce that a political strategy of the Brazilian government of genocide, ethnocide and ecocide is underway.

The Brazilian state has a historical debt to indigenous peoples. We are the first inhabitants of our country. we defend the environment because we are the environment, we are nature. If you kill the environment, you're killing us. We want the forest to stand forever, not because the forest is beautiful, but because all the beings that inhabit the forest are part of us and run in our blood.

We were part of the creation of Articles 231 and 232 of the Federal Constitution of 1988 in which the Brazilian state recognized indigenous rights and as well as other national and international legal norms, such as ILO Convention 169, We demand that our right to free, prior and informed consultation whenever projects and decisions may impact us and threaten our territories and ways of life be respected.

Our territory is very rich, it is rich in diversity. We don't have to destroy it to produce. Money does not give us wealth. What matters to us is our land. That's worth more than life.

This whole forest depends on our culture to stand. We sustain nature, we, who never destroy land or pollute our rivers. We take care of it, we know the real value it has. We need to protect what our ancestors left for us.

The threats and hate speech of the current government is promoting violence against indigenous peoples and the murders of our leaders. Today we have to prepare to face not only the government, but also react to the violence manifest in some sectors of society, which clearly expresses racism, simply because we are indigenous.

The indigenous women present at the gathering, leaders and warriors, generators and protectors of life, reaffirm their fight against the abuses that their bodies, spirits and territories are facing. It is women who guarantee our ways of life and our language. They guarantee our existence in our collective home. We indigenous women and men fight side by side for the right to the land that feeds and heals us.

The indigenous youth present at this meeting reaffirms the commitment to continue the struggle of our leaders, to defend of our lives, our territories and our right to exist. The knowledge and traditions our grandparents have taught us are the great solution to threats to our people and territories, and to the climate crisis we are facing. We, the new generation is ready to bring the solutions that have been taught to us.

Only we can talk about ourselves and for ourselves. We do not accept chiefs being disrespected, just as Bolsonaro did in 2019 in his speech during the UN meeting against chief Raoni. We affirm that Chief Raoni is YES our leader and he represents us! He will be our reference, for his firm and peaceful struggle, for his leadership: today and always. That is why we support his candidacy as a Nobel Peace Prize. We demand that Congress legally recognize indigenous authorities as the first rulers of this country. Our lands are governed by our chiefs, indigenous authorities who decide in favor of communities, based on collective claims and not individuals.

The current president of the republic is threatening our rights, our health, our territory. The current government has a plan to permit extraction of ore, and livestock, in our territories. We join our forces, reunited together and show our strength in this document to continue our struggles for our grandchildren. The current government is attacking us, wanting to take the land out of our hands. We do not accept gold digging, mining, agribusiness and leasing on our lands, we do not accept loggers, illegal fishermen, hydroelectric plants and other projects, such as Ferrogrão, that will impact us in a direct and irreversible way.

We are against everything that destroys our forests and our rivers. We don’t accept that Brasil is for sale for other countries who have the intention of exploiting our territory. We want above everything respect for our lives, our traditions, our customs and the Federal Constitution which protects our rights.

We write this document to raise an alarm, so that we indigenous peoples can be listened to by the three powers of the republic, by society and by the international community.

Consultation processes must guarantee our right to say NO to government and Congress initiatives. Consultations must respect our traditional forms of political representation and organization, as well as our autonomous protocols for consultation and consent.

We make clear that the indigenous people that now hold positions in the federal government, without our participation in their appointment, and who support in some manner Bolsonaro’s government, do not represent us.

We demand the compliance of our original right over our territories through the demarcation and homologation of the claimed indigenous lands. We repudiate the thesis of the timeframe and demand that stopped demarcation processes be resumed immediately, as Kapot Nhinore, the former claim of chief Raoni.

We are against the municipalization of indigenous health and against the political nomination for positions at SESAI. We demand the political, administrative and financial autonomy of the Special Indigenous Health Sanitary Districts - DSEI’s and the strengthening of social control through the recreation of the District Indigenous Health Councils Presidents Forum - CONDISI, extinguished by Decree 9.759 / 2019. We demand the guarantee of a qualified and adequate workforce for our service.

We demand compliance with the Conduct Adjustment Term - TAC signed between the Ministry of Health, FUNAI, SESAI, the Federal Public Defender's Office and the Federal Public Ministry, which guarantees the continuity of services related to indigenous health policy. And we demand the holding of the 6th National Conference on Indigenous Health.

We demand compliance with the indigenous policy under the responsibility of FUNAI and SESAI for all indigenous peoples and indigenous territories in Brazil, and not only for the approved indigenous territories.

We reject the persecution and attempt to criminalize our leaders, indigenous and indigenous organizations, collaborators and partners.

We demand guarantee of the physical and moral integrity of our communities and leaders and the punishment of those who are killing our relatives.

We demand that the Brazilian State fulfill its constitutional responsibility to protect indigenous territories and the environment, restraining illegal activities and punishing criminals. We also demand that the government take responsibility for the poisoning of the air, soil and rivers caused by the irresponsible and uncontrolled use of pesticides around our lands.

We demand compliance with public policies for the protection of isolated and recently contacted peoples.

We demand a differentiated and quality education for our young people, which allows them to complete their training, from basic education to high school, in our territories. We do not accept the closure of public universities and we ask for the guarantee of continuity of scholarships for indigenous youths who are going to study in the city at universities. University education for young people is important for the continuity of our struggle. It is a space that ensures that we are prepared for the changes that threaten us. For this reason, the youth holds the pen in their hands next to what has been taught by their grandparents. Together with the pen they will launch the arrow that was given to them, to continue fighting. Being at university only makes sense if we exercise our spirituality. In this sense, we ask Brazilian society to join us in the struggle for access to plural and democratic universities, for university education that values and recognizes the science and spirituality of the territory.

We want policies to strengthen sustainable economic alternatives for our territories, without the use of pesticides, and that promote the economy of the Standing Forest, with an emphasis on culture, traditional knowledge, no extractivisim and clean technologies.

We are human beings, we are the original people of Brazil. We are part of Brazil and Brazil is part of us. We do not accept them saying that our territories are too big, because that does not compare to the size and strength of our culture and to what we have contributed to maintain, not only our lives and ways of life, but the lives of everyone on the planet. Brazil was not born first,  indigenous people were here first, and we were massacred, but we continue to resist in order to exist.

We are not alone. At this great meeting, we declare the resumption of the Forest People's Alliance, which includes the Caatinga, Pantanal, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest and the Amazon. We will be together defending the protection of our territories. This struggle is not only for indigenous peoples, but for all of us, it is a struggle for the life of the planet.

We conclude certain that 2020 will be a year of struggle. We call on all relatives and partners of Indigenous Peoples, in Brazil and abroad, for a year of mobilizations. We must be present with the strength and energy of our ancestors in Brasilia and on the streets around the world. The fight continues until the last Indian!"
 

#WeWantANewNormal


Our current normal is at an end. We have the opportunity right now to change course, to find the path to the ‘new normal.’ And we must do it together, with the health and wellbeing of fellow humans, the planet and all its species at the forefront of our minds and actions.

It is the system that is broken. The people and the planet can find a way to be whole again. Demand it. Fight for it. Do it together.


Thank you for reading and for your support


Becky Mackay