This June 5th, at Unicamp's Arena Theater, the sound of indigenous rattles mixed with the noise of clapping during the event in memory of journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous man Bruno Araújo Pereira, murdered a year ago in Indigenous Land (TI) of Javari Valley, west of the State of Amazon. The University campus in Barão Geraldo, in Campinas, was one of seven places in Brazil where there were demonstrations in honor of the two defenders of indigenous peoples, not counting the acts carried out in Washington (United States) and London (United Kingdom), all coordinated by the widows of Dom, Alessandra Sampaio, and Bruno, Beatriz Matos.
Between the first speech of the event, which started at 13:10 pm and delivered by journalist Liana Coll – “So that we don't let the subject die” –, and the last statement, at 14:40 pm, by Unicamp Anthropology professor Artionka Capiberibe – “What is at stake is the future ” -, seven indigenous students narrated stories of their people's struggle in their territories, where violence and danger still persist. The event ended with the presentation of a toré – indigenous ritual dance. The event at Unicamp was promoted by the Executive Directorate of Human Rights (DeDH), with support from the Executive Secretariat for Communication (SEC) and the participation of indigenous students at Unicamp. The event was broadcast on the TV Unicamp channel on YouTube.
Reports of fear in Javari
Biology student Emily Metänä Ticuna recalled her contact with Bruno at the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai), in Atalaia do Norte (AM), where she worked as an intern in 2022. Her mother worked with the indigenous man and almost accompanied Bruno and Dom on the canoe trip on which they were ambushed and murdered. Ticuna remembers that, before the trip, she handed documents to Bruno and talks about the tension and trauma that all this caused her. “Interning at Funai was tense. I couldn’t go out wearing a Funai t-shirt because I was afraid of an attack”, recalls the student.
Daughter of indigenous leaders, Emily Ticuna says she was face to face with the suspects in the murder of Dom and Bruno, who arrived at Funai armed trying to open the doors of the place. “I thought I was going to die. It was just me and a colleague. After that, I lost trust in people.” According to the student, Funai remains in disrepair and the police force is insufficient to guarantee security in the region. “It was all very sad and remarkable. It hurts to see Funai scrapped due to previous misgovernment. And now, with the vote on the PL [Bill 490/07 on the time frame], how are we left?”, she asks.
Indigenous student Wellison Reis Batalha Marubo is also from the Vale do Javari region. “Until now, security actions in the region have not been implemented,” he protested. “There is organized crime. Before there were only fishermen and hunters, but now they are enticed by drug trafficking”, denounces the student. Wellison Marubo spoke of the importance of the act in honor of Dom and Bruno and recalled the murder of indigenous man Maxciel Pereira dos Santos, in 2019, in Tabatinga (AM), in Vale do Javari, where on average 170 indigenous people are murdered per year. According to Wellison, this is the second largest indigenous land in the country, home to seven different ethnic groups (Mayuruna/Matsés, Matis, Marubo, Kulina-Pano, Kanamari, Korubo and Tsohom-Dyapá).
Student Main Matis, from the History course, shared an affectionate memory about his meeting with Bruno in Vale do Javari, when he was just 10 years old. “I remember him very well.” Main's father was a chief and invited Bruno to hunt in the woods. On the way back, Bruno lost his glasses. The indigenous people began to call this hunting path the “path where Bruno lost his glasses”.
Violence in other regions
Doctoral student Kellen Vilharva Guarani-Kaiowá, from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp, has lived in Campinas for a year. She celebrated the initiative of the act in memory of the indigenist and the journalist. “The University has to play this role. It is important that we also talk about our very different realities of urban life.” Kellen Kaiowá completed her undergraduate and master's degree in Dourados, close to her village, Jaguapiru, in Mato Grosso do Sul, where cases of violence against indigenous people are repeated.
Her grandfather, chief Marcos Verón, was brutally murdered 22 years ago in the fight to regain his people's ancestral land. “It is important that we talk about the murder of Dom and Bruno and the struggle of indigenous peoples so that this does not happen again in the future and so that new generations do not go through this.” The student says that today there are 11 indigenous leaders imprisoned in Mato Grosso do Sul, where the production of soy, sugar cane and corn by large producers predominates. “They rule everything and manage to arrest indigenous leaders.” According to Kellen Kaiowá, the vote on PL 490/07 could cause a tragedy because “the Guarani prefer to die where our ancestors are buried”. She thanked Unicamp for its support and said that the spirit and memory of Dom and Bruno are alive in the forest.
Indigenous student Jeremias Akroá Gamela, from Maranhão, regretted having to talk about violence instead of sharing his knowledge about indigenous cultures and ways of life. Until 2013, his people had no recognition from their own state. “We survive on fishing, açaí and babassu coconuts, but the big producers wanted to prevent us from entering our territory (west of Maranhão). Our land was not ours, it belonged to agribusiness”, Akroá Gamela told the predominantly indigenous audience. He also recalled the murder, 23 years ago, of leader Cacique Chicão and the attack on his people, in April 2017, carried out by farmers and politicians. “These are the people who want to kill us.”
Visibility and demarcation
Professor Sônia Seixas, president of Unicamp's Advisory Committee on Ecological Change and Environmental Justice (Cameja), recalled in his speech that the violent crime against Bruno and Dom occurred on World Environment Day. “The impunity regarding what happens in these regions is almost like a project.” Former mayor of Campinas Izalene Tiene, elected by the Workers' Party (PT), also told about her meeting with Bruno when he was Funai coordinator in Atalaia do Norte. Tiene worked, between 2012 and 2016, as a missionary for the Catholic Church in Alto Solimões, in action against trafficking in women. “He was very zealous towards the indigenous people”, she remembers. “I want to testify how important this act of struggle at Unicamp is, because it is necessary to give visibility to indigenous people in the cities.”
Indigenous Marcela Torres Pankararu highlighted that there is an indigenous heritage and, at the same time, violence against indigenous peoples everywhere in Brazil. There are cities in the Campinas region with indigenous names, such as Mogi Mirim (which means small river of snakes, in the Tupi language), Mogi Guaçu (whose name means big river of snakes) and Jaguariúna (river of the black jaguar). The last indigenous people of Mogi Mirim were burned, said Marcela. “There were murders here too.” The indigenous woman invited everyone present to mobilize against PL 490/07, which will be voted on in the Senate this June 7th (Wednesday) and will have another number, PL 903. “Talking about demarcation generates a feeling of agony and uncertainty. This is a time for struggle, because we are at war.” Marcela Pankararu thanked her for the space to speak and read the letter produced by indigenous students at Unicamp against the time frame.
Memory and legacy
“The importance of the act is not just to pay tribute to them, but to expand it,” said professor Chantal Medaets, from the Faculty of Education (FE) and one of the organizers of the act. According to Medaets, there is a strong identification of many University professors with Dom and Bruno, who were non-indigenous allies in the struggle of – and for – indigenous peoples. “We have the PL voted by the Chamber [of Deputies], which has now passed to the Senate. We have to fight against it”, says the teacher, who invited students from different regions to talk about their struggles.
Journalist Liana Coll, who also participated in organizing the event, spoke about her visit to Vale do Javari to cover the disappearance of Dom and Bruno, whose bodies were found ten days after the crime. She arrived in the region on June 10th, with photographer Antonio Scarpinetti, also from SEC Unicamp. “What we witnessed was yet another violent story of a country that insists on deliberating the genocide of original populations,” said Coll.
For professor Josianne Cerasoli, from the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH) and organizer of the Academic Recognition Award in Human Rights Vladimir Herzog/Unicamp, the The act reminds us of the pain of loss, but it is important to update the regret for these repeated acts of violence, in addition to reinforcing the role of the University in these situations: “The importance of this act at Unicamp is that we are at a public university. If the public university is not committed to life on the planet, then it will close everything down. We have to talk about a dignified, fair life for all existing beings.” According to Cerasoli, the presence of indigenous people at Unicamp transforms the University. She says that the idea for the act came up during her contact with Alessandra Sampaio, Dom's widow, who did not know about the presence of indigenous students at Unicamp nor that there was an environmental agenda at the University. Upon learning of this, Sampaio invited Unicamp to be part of the events held in Brazil, the United States and the United Kingdom.
“Congratulations to everyone who was involved in organizing the event”, said an emotional anthropologist Artionka Capiberibe, who gave the last speech of the event, before the presentation of indigenous music and dance. She spoke of the urgent need to bring allies to the indigenous cause. “What is at stake is the future. The biome’s main conservation reserves are on indigenous lands.” Capiberibe also regretted having to talk about losses that should not have happened, such as the deaths of Dom, Bruno and “all those who fell”.
Check out more images from the event in memory of Dom and Bruno:
