Brazilian tribe fights repression

Student groups gathered on Thursday to call for a greater international understanding of indigenous people's struggles for land and rights. The focus of the event was the Xukuru (Shoo-koo-roo) people's struggle for recognition and autonomous existence in eastern Brazil. Theresa Rerick, the president of the Partnership for Student Cultural Engagement (PSCE), drew a parallel between the current struggles of people in Brazil and the recent movement for recognition of indigenous people's rights in North Dakota.

In addition to the PSCE, several other student and university organizations helped organize the event. Representatives of the Anthropology Club and the UND chapter of Amnesty International spoke and acknowledged the involvement of the Center for Human Rights and Genocide Studies. Also, Marcia Mikulak, assistant professor in UND's Department of Anthropology, spoke via Skype from the state of Pernambuco in Brazil, joined by current chief, Marcos Xukuru.

Mikulak gave a brief view of the centuries of history needed to understand the current situation in Brazil. The colonial domination of Brazil by the Portuguese after 1500 and the subsequent policies of assimilation or extermination of indigenous people led the independent Brazilian state to believe erroneously that there were no indigenous people left in the nation. Until recently, native peoples in Brazil have been "invisible minorities." "When the Xukuru began to take back land, the Brazilian government was operating under the assumption that indigenous people did not exist … this made it very difficult," Mikulak said.

The 1960's and 70's brought international recognition of indigenous people, which led to an acceleration of the struggle for land reclamation. This more than anything has brought the Xukuru and others into conflict with the wealthy landowner class. Juan Pedraza described the nature of the struggle as "fighting against entrenched economic interests."

The Xukuru are the vanguard among indigenous groups in their attempts to regain the land of their ancestors. "The Xukuru are leaders in the indigenous movement" Mikulak described, "leaders in agriculture, in their education." The Xukuru are known among indigenous people as being at the forefront of reclaiming their cultural traditions for the education of their young people.

One reactionary result of the rebirth of an indigenous peoples movement is the use of violence as an attempt at repression. The previous Xukuru chief was assassinated in 1998. Today, his son is the chief and lives under constant death threats and the harsh reality of state oppression. In the aftermath of an attempt on Marcos' life, the Federal Prosecutor's Office charged him with instigating the attempt on his own life. Pending appeal, Chief Marcos faces a sentence of ten years and four months in prison.

Joseph Mandala, a law student at UND, thanked the large crowd that came to the event. "You've taken the effort to understand another's struggles," Mandala said, before encouraging those present to sign petitions and send letters to show the presence of international pressure in defense of indigenous human rights.

Twyla Baker-Demaray, the Director of the National Resource Center on Native American Aging (NRCNAA) at the Center for Rural Health, described some of the parallels between the struggles of the Xukuru people and indigenous people in the United States, saying that much of the impetus behind the movement is "the struggle to define ourselves the way we want to."

Gregory Gordon, an Assistant Professor at the School of Law and the Director of the UND Center for Human Rights and Genocide Studies, offered an international law perspective on the issues facing the Xukuru and other persecuted native people. "Obviously the Xukuru people have been persecuted," Gordon said. However, "It's very important to get a coherent legal strategy together."

Earlier in the evening, a video was shown that documented the Xukuru people's movement in their own voices. The film showed some of the popular actions taken by indigenous activists to rally support against state repression and vigilante violence. At one march, Chief Marcos Xukuru said, "We urge people everywhere to join this fight, which is one fight. Let the people go forward!"