“We are an administration that respects Indigenous peoples and recognizes their rights,” says Lula alongside Indigenous leaders in Xingu

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was at the Piaraçu Village this Friday, April 4, in the Capoto-Jarina Indigenous Land, Mato Grosso.

Welcomed with Indigenous dances and singing, Lula met with Chief Raoni Metuktire and other leaders from the Capoto-Jarina, Panará, Xingu Indigenous Park, and Wawi Indigenous Land, located in the Xingu River basin.

>> President Lula’s full speech (in Portuguese).

“We are an administration that respects the Indigenous peoples, recognizes their rights, and works day and night to protect them. Not only do we respect and recognize them, but we also admire and love their knowledge and their culture,” declared President Lula during his speech.

We are an administration that respects the Indigenous peoples, recognizes their rights, and works day and night to ensure them. Not only do we respect and recognize them, but we also admire and love their knowledge and their culture”
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,
President of the Republic of Brazil

RECOGNITION — During the visit, the President presented Chief Raoni Metuktire with the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (Grã-Cruz da Ordem Nacional do Mérito), in recognition of his outstanding service in defending the rights of Indigenous peoples, the Amazon Rainforest, and the environment. The decoration was made official in this Friday (April 4) edition of the Official Gazette of the Union (Diário Oficial da União/DOU), with the additional signatures of the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Ricardo Lewandowski.

President Lula praised the work carried out by the chief, which has led to Indigenous achievements in recent decades. He also acknowledged that Chief Raoni Metuktire embodies wisdom and knowledge, drawing both national and international attention.

“It is with great joy that we offer this recognition through awarding [Chief Raoni Metuktire] the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, the highest honor awarded by the Brazilian State. A tireless warrior in the defense of Indigenous peoples, the environment, and the Amazon, our dear Raoni remains active in his noble mission to share Indigenous culture and promote respect for Indigenous peoples and the forest," Lula emphasized.

TRAJECTORY — Speaking his native language, Chief Raoni Metuktire recalled his trajectory in the fight for the rights of Indigenous peoples. “Since I was young, I always fought for our people, for the rights of our people, for our lands, and for our people. This is the only thing I have done and now you see me with an advanced age, but I have been fighting for us, the Indigenous peoples, for a long time,” he stated.

Chief Raoni Metuktire expressed to President Lula his wish that they could be both seen as examples in the search for peace. “I want us to be examples for other people, so that, after us, when we leave, these people can continue defending other people, with this work of helping, protecting, upholding peace, so that everyone has peace.”

At the ceremony, President Lula and First Lady Janja were honored by Chief Raoni Metuktire, who placed a necklace of shells around their necks, and by Kokonã, the chief’s daughter, who presented them with a carrying basket.

PROTECTION — The President stated that, in addition to the honors, the ceremony was a moment to listen to the demands of the Indigenous leaders. Lula emphasized that ensuring Indigenous rights is a priority for the Federal Government and highlighted the land demarcation and disintrusion processes that have been occurring in Indigenous lands. He also declared that the Indigenous peoples are fundamental to the goal of reaching Net-zero deforestation in the Amazon by 2030, recognizing that, without them, climate events would be even more extreme.

“We recognize the rights and have the exact notion of the indispensable role played by the Indigenous peoples for the preservation of the forest and for our strategies to address climate change. Without the protection of the Indigenous peoples, their care for the forest and the rivers, the climate crisis would bring even more extreme events — from droughts to floods — to the entire Brazilian population, with no exceptions.”

The efforts to protect Brazil's original peoples, highlighted the President, tantamount to the fulfillment of a constitutional duty, with public policies that ensure their rights integrally. “We are not doing more than ensuring what is determined by the Constitution. We know that the time of things is often slower than what is wished for. Your wishes as well as ours. But we look in the same direction, we have the same purpose and the certainty that the Brazil we want and that we are building respects and values our original peoples,” the President stated.

ADVANCEMENTS — Brazil’s Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, detailed the advancements of the current administration in the past two years with regard to the Indigenous issue, including the homologation of 13 Indigenous lands. “In these two years, we have already surpassed the last ten years under other administrations in terms of the demarcation of Indigenous lands. With President Lula, we have signed 13 Indigenous territories, which have been homologated. At the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, we have signed 11 declaratory ordinances,” she recalled.

REPRESENTATIVENESS — Furthermore, Guajajara highlighted Indigenous representativeness in the Federal Government. “President Lula enabled the participation of Indigenous peoples in strategic positions within the Federal Government. More than occupying these positions in the day-to-day activities, we are raising awareness and understanding about what it means to be Indigenous in this country, a work of making people understand the role that the Indigenous peoples and territories play for Brazil and the world,” stated the minister.

PARTICIPANTS — Also in attendance at the ceremony were ministers Margareth Menezes (Culture), Marina Silva (Environment and Climate Change); Macaé Evaristo (Human Rights and Citizenship); Carlos Fávaro (Agriculture and Livestock); Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development and Family Farming); FUNAI President Joenia Wapichana; Indigenous Heath Secretary Ricardo Weibe Tapeba; and Federal Congresswomen Célia Xakriabá, Dandara Tonartzin, and Juliana Cardoso.