There are stories of invaders smashing pottery and coffins. “We can no longer withstand the persecution and aggression,” reads an excerpt from a document published by the Kambeba Organization in Upper Solimões (OKAS). In June, Omágua Kambeba leaders reported another invasion in the region and new threats against those who confront loggers and garimpeiros. Both Funai and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office have the lawful means to ensure this project and other infrastructure works will be suspended, adds Terena. It is clearly an incentive for third parties, and will create conflict and bring pressure to bear on the indigenous community,” says Eloy Terena, a legal advisor to Coordination of Indigenous People in Brazil (APIB). “To the extent the municipal government does that, individuals are encouraged to take possession of the land. When an area is under studies for demarcation, all the parties involved are notified the land is under dispute. “This is the second time they destroyed what we care about. The plan was to open a road and divide up plots to construct non-indigenous housing on land claimed by the Omágua Kambeba. Eronilde says they came in without a court order. Omágua call this indigenous territory Castanhal de Ajaratuba. It plowed across agriculture fields and the jungle area under study for demarcation by the National Indian Foundation (Funai). During her latest battle with unequal forces, in the second week of September 2020, Eronilde, a linguist and master’s student at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, faced off a tractor.Īccording to Eronilde, a team from the São Paulo de Olivença Department of Public Works arrived with heavy equipment. It also explains why there are no photographs of her without a mask in this article because she fears reprisals. It is a destiny Eronilde has been avoiding for more than a decade in her capacity as head of the fifteen Omágua Kambeba communities.

In the lawless Amazon region, a person who demands their rights has but one fate: death. Kambeba Eronilde Fermin Omágua is the chief of the Omágua, but in the eyes of municipal authorities and the invaders – loggers, garimpeiros (miners), and illegal fishers – she is a nuisance.

The community’s heart is the village of Wakariazal (head of many heads), which the municipal government calls the Santa Terezinha neighborhood, a name reminiscent of the Catholic heritage imposed on the native people of Brazil. According to white people (non-indigenous), they live in the town of São Paulo de Olivença, a thousand kilometers from the capital city of Manaus. More than two thousand families live on land inhabited by their ancestors, a community the European colonizers called the Kambeba (flat-headed people). She tested positive for Covid-19.Âīehind the invisibility that shrouds the Omágua, a people born of rainwater in upper Solimões, in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, there is a history of horror and humiliation. To ensure medical care for the community, Eronilde was not able to self isolate.

People deserve to die