Demarcations are critical for future generations, says Chief Raoni

“Non-indigenous peoples are not aware of what they are destroying, so we, as indigenous peoples, within the territory, within the forest, know what can happen if we continue to destroy”said the kaiapó chief Raoni Metuktirewho visited this Friday (27) the exhibition “Mekukradjá Obikàrà: With feet in two worlds” . The exhibition is set up on the mezzanine of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC), in Niterói, metropolitan region of Rio.

For Raoni, the delimitation of the lands of the original peoples, in addition to preserving nature, is important for maintaining their cultures.

“Our territories are delimited in order to keep everything inside and preserve nature. Within a territory we have forests, animals, rivers and we have our own cultures and traditions. Therefore, we think and intend to continue with our lives as peoples natives inside the forest. That’s why we defend our land, the forest. Why do we defend the environment? We are seeing global warming, it’s getting hotter and hotter on Earth, the rivers are drying up more and more, this is very worrying for us “he has declared.

Raoni believes that demarcations are also crucial for future generations. “Our demarcated lands are for other generations. They need to have the territory to continue with their life, culture and customs. We need the territory to have animals, we need the rivers, the forest, the birds to continue to live in the forest .”

The exhibition, which opens this Saturday (28) and runs until November 26, features ornaments used in festivals and rituals, photos, videos, testimonies and a collection produced by the new generation through the Beture collective, which is a movement of filmmakers and communicators Mẽbêngôkre-Kayapó indigenous people.

According to the indigenous leader, the exhibition, which highlights the origins of his people, is also a way to maintain the memory of the Kayapó. “Yes, our culture must be shown, also shown to non-indigenous populations, that is you, so that they can see our culture alive, have respect for us, for the indigenous populations, for our land. And these photos show it [que é] for young people to continue with their culture, ancestral origin, therefore, it is important to show our culture so that we can show it to all non-indigenous people and for indigenous youth to continue with their culture”he has declared.

Raoni was satisfied with what he saw. “Because our culture is still strong and still lives among us, I see these photos and many of my memories here. They were taken a long time ago and today, at this moment, these photos are shown. I saw that it is very important to show our culture, our art and our tradition, to motivate our youth to continue with their culture. That’s why I’m seeing and really enjoying this work being done”he underlined.

Chief Kaiapó also highlighted the importance of the exhibition amid the many discussions in the country about the durability of indigenous lands. “When we do this, and we do it together, we show our lives so that they can respect us, respect us, so that nothing threatening happens against us”he concluded.

Sponsorship

The exhibition “Mekukradjá Obikàrà: With feet in two worlds”, is created by Petrobras, through the Tradition and Future in the Amazon (TFA) project, sponsored by the Petrobras Socio-Environmental Program, managed by the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund. According to the organizers, Conservation International Brazil and the representative organizations collaborating on the project, the Kabu and Raoni institutes and the Associação Floresta Protegida support the initiative.

The head of social responsibility and human rights planning at Petrobras, Sue Wolterhe stated that the company’s history in terms of socio-environmental investments is long, as part of its commitment to the country’s social development and the transformation of people.

Sue revealed that Tradition and Future of the Amazon is a public selection project in the forestry sector, one of four carried out by Petrobras. The others are the ocean, sustainable economic development and education. The company’s other commitment concerns projects related to respect for human rights and the promotion of human rights, she added.

“There is a transversal line in all the projects, which concern traditional peoples, indigenous peoples, fishermen and minority populations: LGBT, people with disabilities, black population. For us it is very important to look at this knowledge. One of the projects “The action of the project is to save and disseminate traditional knowledge. This is what we are doing here. Today is the culmination of this action within the project”said Sue Wolter in an interview with Agência Brasil.

He explained that the Tradition and Future in the Amazon project develops in five indigenous lands with environmental education work, agroforestry to generate income, carbon reserves in the region, traditional knowledge and rescue materialized in young people, who engage in a conversation with the traditional and the media and audiovisual, preserving and disseminating all this knowledge. This project is successful and will be renewed. “It will continue for another four years, because we have a very special view of traditional populations.”

Plan

The opening program of the exhibition, with free entry, begins at 10 am with the opening of the museum and the symbolic entry of the indigenous people into the exhibition.

At 10.30am the craft fair begins, including body painting, and a plenary session of traditional peoples in defense of their territories and the maretório takes place with the participation of representatives of the indigenous peoples, quilombolas and caiçaras of Pará, Mato Grosso and Rio. of January. In the afternoon, at 5pm, there will be a song and dance show, called Metoro, which are the holidays. At 5.30pm there will be a presentation by Chief Raoni and other Kayapó leaders on the history of this people.

There will be a “mapping” (projection) of Kayapó art on the facade of the building between 6pm and 8pm. The agenda ends with a musical performance by the Rapper Matsi.