Economic processes in Par\u00e1, intensified by large government intervention projects, have caused immeasurable environmental and sociocultural impacts on Indigenous populations. The case of the Gavi\u00e3o is emblematic. The name Gavi\u00e3o was given to different Timbira groups by travelling missionaries in the early twentieth century. These groups stood out for their warlike characteristics and used hawk feathers as one of their main adornments. [Gavi\u00e3o means hawk in Portuguese].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Gavi\u00e3o were divided, according to their location in the Tocantins River basin, into three self-designated local groups. The first is called Parkat\u00eaj\u00ea (par<\/em> means foot, or downstream; kat\u00ea<\/em> owner; and J\u00ea<\/em> people), the \u201cdownstream people\u201d. The second is Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea (Kyi<\/em> means head), the \u201cupstream people\u201d. In the early twentieth century, due to conflicts with the Parkat\u00eaj\u00ea, they took refuge upstream along the Tocatins, in Maranh\u00e3o state. This is why the Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea are also designated as a group from Maranh\u00e3o. The third group, which occupied the headwaters of the Capim River, became known as the \u201cmountain group\u201d, or as they call themselves, Akr\u00e3tikat\u00eaj\u00ea (akr\u00e3ti<\/em> means mountain).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gavi\u00e3o are speakers of an Eastern Timbira language, linked to the Macro-J\u00ea linguistic family. The first contacts between them and expansion fronts were already occurring in the 1920s, and underwent different phases. The first included sporadic, peaceful, visual contacts between Indigenous and \u201ccivilized\u201d people. At the time, the non-Indigenous \u201cpioneers\u201d used the banks of the river to anchor or rest during trips, having no reason to penetrate the interior of the forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, when vegetal extraction (caucho [rubber], copa\u00edba oil, and, eventually, Brazil nuts) gained momentum and assumed greater importance for the regional economy, the socioeconomic structure of the middle Tocantins and of the Burgo do Itacai\u00fanas changed. This led to the search for nut trees within the forests on the right bank of the Tocantins River, initiating conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This began a bloody struggle between the Gavi\u00e3o and the local community, especially with collectors of caucho [rubber] and, later, nuts. The Gavi\u00e3o people were accused of committing \u201cgreat savageries\u201d. In the 1930s and 1940s in Marab\u00e1, the region\u2019s main commercial centre, groups of local politicians, businessmen, and nut plantation owners organized expeditions to exterminate the Indigenous people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1943, the federal intervener in Para State granted a tract of land to the Gavi\u00e3o. This smaller group began to inhabit the headwaters of the M\u00e3e Maria igarap\u00e9<\/em> between the Flecheira and Jacund\u00e1 rivers. Afterwards, the Indian Protection Service (SPI) began to commercially exploit the area, issuing leases to third parties for the exploitation of the existing nut trees. Given the difficult access, a minimal amount was charged for the leases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the beginning of the 1950s, completely unable to form a resistance or treat their sick, whether due to forest diseases, or the constant attacks against them, the Indigenous people saw that their only possibility for survival was to seek contact and \u201cnegotiate\u201d a \u201cceasefire\u201d with the Kup\u00ean<\/em> (non-Indigenous people).<\/p>\n\n\n\n A brief history of the Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea is also pertinent. In the early 1960s, they inhabited a region along the Frades igarap\u00e9, a tributary of the Tocantins River, near the current borders of the municipalities of Cidel\u00e2ndia and Vila Nova dos Mart\u00edrios, in Maranh\u00e3o. At that time, these lands were in the municipality of Imperatriz, which was broken up into several other municipalities during the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The opening of highway PA-070 (now BR-222), connecting the municipality of Marab\u00e1, Par\u00e1 with the Bel\u00e9m-Brasilia highway (BR-010), promoted the rapid incursion of the cattle grazing front and the penetration of land grabbers and squatters on territory inhabited by the Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea. Ant\u00f4nio Soares Cotrim, a sertanista<\/em> [an expert in the region] from the National Indian Foundation (Funai), denounced, in newspaper articles at the time, the activities of the Industrial Campaign for Development of the Amazon (Cida), which had begun to expropriate Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea lands for logging projects. It is no coincidence that one of the municipalities that currently lie on lands previously occupied by the Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea is called Cidel\u00e2ndia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The occupation of Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea territory by the expanding fronts of occupation provoked reactions from the Indigenous people. The panic that hit the region resulted in the military government issuing Decree n\u00b0 63.515, of 31 October 1968, prohibited expansion into an extensive strip of land to stem the invasions and promote contact with this Gavi\u00e3o group. However, the decree was ignored and Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea lands continued to be seized and traded. The restricted area contains portions of the municipalities of Cidel\u00e2ndia, Vila Nova dos Mart\u00edrios and S\u00e3o Pedro da \u00c1gua Branca (all in Maranh\u00e3o), and Rondon do Par\u00e1 (in Par\u00e1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1969, contact was made. Faced with several threats of \u201cmassacre\u201d against the group, the National Indian Foundation negotiated with the Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea for their transfer to the M\u00e3e Maria Indigenous Land. According to anthropologist Iara Ferraz, the costs of this removal were borne by the Industrial Campaign for Development of the Amazon, whose land expropriation and squatting practices had already been denounced by Cotrim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the opening of highway PA-70, the M\u00e3e Maria area, which until then had been considered of little importance, started to arouse great interest among dozens of land grabbers, who moved onto the Indigenous Land. Realizing that the National Indian Foundation staff and the Indigenous people living there would not be able to hold back the incursion, different Gavi\u00e3o groups (the Parkat\u00eaj\u00ea, the Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea and, later, because of the Tucuru\u00ed hydroelectric plant, the Akr\u00e3tikat\u00eaj\u00ea) planned to unite on the M\u00e3e Maria Indigenous Land. This would eventually turn into a stronghold of resistance and survival for the Gavi\u00e3o people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The M\u00e3e Maria Indigenous Land was duly ratified by Decree n\u00b0 93.148, of 21 August 1986. It lies in the Tocantins-Araguaia hydrographic basin in the municipality of Bom Jesus do Tocantins, Par\u00e1. It is bounded on the west by the Flecheiro River and on the east by the Jacund\u00e1 River. It has an area of 62.488 thousand hectares and is comprised of tropical forest and firm ground. It is worth noting that a serious anomaly occurred in the demarcation of the M\u00e3e Maria Indigenous Land. In the ratification of the decree, highway BR-222 (old PA-70) as well as lands where the Eletronorte power lines and Caraj\u00e1s Railroad pass, were excluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to data collected by the Special Secretariat of Indigenous Health (SESAI) and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the Gavi\u00e3o currently have an estimated population of over 900 Indigenous people, distributed across 17 independent villages. Three of them are older (Parkat\u00eaj\u00ea, Kyikat\u00eaj\u00ea and Akr\u00e3tikat\u00eaj\u00ea) and 14 are more recent (Akr\u00e3kapr\u00eakti, Krij\u00e3mretij\u00ea, Koyakati, Kr\u00e3peitij\u00ea, Krij\u00f5h\u00earekat\u00eaj\u00ea, Akr\u00f5tikat\u00eaj\u00ea, Rohokat\u00eaj\u00ea, Akr\u00e3ti, Kripei, Print Par, Krintuwakat\u00eaj\u00ea, H\u00e0ktij\u00f5kri, Mej\u00f5krikat\u00eaj\u00ea and Pamrex\u00e3). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The implantation of large government projects in south and southeastern Par\u00e1 caused immeasurable and irreversable environmental damage to the M\u00e3e Maria Indigenous Land. The initial construction of the Bel\u00e9m-Bras\u00edlia and the Trans-Amazonian highways caused indirect changes to the landscape and had an acute impact on the region\u2019s flora and fauna. The implantation of federal highway BR-222, had a direct impact on the Indigenous Land since, in addition to cutting down two thousand hectares of nut trees, it scared off game and left the area even more exposed, and consequently, vulnerable to invasion and crime. There have even been robberies of tourist buses on the Marab\u00e1-Belem route, and of passenger cars, which often drive into the Indigenous Land. More recently, a leader of the Akr\u00e3tikat\u00eaj\u00ea village was kidnapped. These facts have forced some villages to hire special security, while in others, the Indigenous people themselves have handled the protection of their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The extraction of iron ore from the Caraj\u00e1s National Forest, in the southeastern part of the state, along with the accompanying construction of the Caraj\u00e1s Railway, inaugurated in 1985, directly affected the lands and ways of life of the Indigenous people in the impacted area. The railway has an extension of 890 kilometres and is primarily intended for hauling iron ore to foreign markets. It was built and operated by the Vale S.A. company (formerly the Vale do Rio Doce company).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Caraj\u00e1s Railway is linked to the mining project. On the one hand, its opening, by cutting through previously unexplored forests, attracted and provided easy access to land grabbers, squatters, hunters, prospectors and loggers; all of whom began to fight for control of Indigenous lands and their natural resources. On the other hand, the world\u2019s largest freight train, with four engines and 330 cars, with capacity to carry over 80 tons of iron ore, circulates daily and noisily among urban centres and inside the Indigenous Land. In some cases, like in the Parkat\u00eaj\u00ea village, it passes within 1.5 kilometres. This has caused vehicle accidents, in which people and animals were run over, and has scared off regional game, as well as other consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Against the backdrop of the Great Caraj\u00e1s Project, Vale and the National Indian Foundation signed an agreement (n\u00ba 059\/1982) to provide the following assistance to impacted Indigenous peoples in the demarcated areas of the Indigenous Lands: territorial security, health, productive activities and infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At certain moments, tensions between the Gavi\u00e3o communities and Vale intensified, resulting in various reactions. The largest, most recent demonstration occurred in 2015, near the railroad. Vale immediately retaliated by blocking resources for the community, harming it significantly. These events gave rise to a legal battle, which is still pending in the federal court in Marab\u00e1, specifically the Regional Federal Appeals Court (TRF-1). The situation was finally relieved by the granting of an injunction favorable to the Gavi\u00e3o, which ordered Vale to release the resources. This injunction is still in force today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another major project with significant impact upon Gavi\u00e3o communities is the passage of Eletronorte power lines across the M\u00e3e Maria Indigenous Land. The high voltage line that connects Marab\u00e1 to Imperatriz also impacted areas with nut trees, crops and even the Parkat\u00eaj\u00ea community cemetery, located near one of the transmission towers, where it is actually possible to hear the electricity flowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every summer, a \u201ccleaning\u201d takes place along the corridor where the Eletronorte transmission towers are located in the M\u00e3e Maria Indigenous Land. Due to the dry climate and other factors, including recklessness, fires often break out near the power lines, which spread to the forest killing flora and fauna. This creates difficulties for the Gavi\u00e3o, including respiratory problems and eye irritation resulting from the smoke. In addition, soil quality is affected and the community is placed at risk since the fires often approach homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The growing territorial strangulation of the M\u00e3e Maria Indigenous Land is clearly visible. It is increasingly surrounded and besieged by an incessant stream of projects. One of the most recent is the attempt to convince Gavi\u00e3o communities to permit viability studies for the construction of the Marab\u00e1 hydroelectric plant. If it materializes, this project would cause a new incursion into Indigenous land, which is already highly impacted, as well as more human occupation and significant environmental change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is constant pressure on the Indigenous Land. The urban expansion of Marab\u00e1 is one of the direct consequences of the dense occupation of the surrounding area. The fringes of Morada Nova settlement, for example, lie less than three kilometres from the western border of the Indigenous Land. This facilitates trespassing for nut collection, hunting, fishing and other illegal activities, which has repeatedly been reported by the Gavi\u00e3o.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More recently, the Gavi\u00e3o, like other Indigenous communities, have been affected by Covid-19. As has been seen, villages within the M\u00e3e Maria Indigenous Land are crossed by highways that are in constant use, especially for mining activities. It is also important to recognize that the ease of travel and access to the villages, along with the way resources are managed and transferred by Vale to the communities of the M\u00e3e Maria Indigenous Land, make the Gavi\u00e3o areas extremely susceptible to disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this situation, each village adopted its own strategies and protocols for containing the virus. These included: social isolation of the communities, avoiding the departure of Indigenous people from the area, except when unavoidable; limiting the entry of outsiders to the community; solidarity with relatives affected by the disease; acquisition and distribution of hygiene products; distribution of food to families in difficulty; and frequent communication between Indigenous leaders, the community and public health agencies. Up to this point, unofficial data indicate that the Gavi\u00e3o have suffered two suspected Covid-19 deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Links:<\/p>\n\n\n\n andrade, Gilciandro Prestes de. 2015. A Amaz\u00f4nia e o Projeto Grande Caraj\u00e1s, entre as tentativas de desenvolvimento da regi\u00e3o e os problemas causados \u00e0s popula\u00e7\u00f5es ind\u00edgenas. In<\/em>: Mundo Amaz\u00f3nico<\/em>, v. 6, n. 2, pp. 5-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ferraz, Iara. 2000. Povo Gavi\u00e3o Parkat\u00eaj\u00ea. In<\/em>: Povos Ind\u00edgenas no Brasil<\/em>. S\u00e3o Paulo, Instituto Socioambiental. Available at: https:\/\/pib.socioambiental.org\/pt\/Povo:Gavi%C3%A3o_Parkat%C3%AAj%C3%AA. Accessed: 20 Aug. 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n silva, Juliano Almeida da. Mimeo. A mineradora Vale S\/A e os povos ind\u00edgenas do sudeste do Par\u00e1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n silva, Juliano Almeida da. Mimeo. Silenciamento e oblitera\u00e7\u00e3o da diversidade dos povos ind\u00edgenas na Amaz\u00f4nia Oriental marcam os 30 anos do Programa Grande Caraj\u00e1s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Economic processes in Par\u00e1, intensified by large government intervention projects, have caused immeasurable environmental and sociocultural impacts on Indigenous populations. The case of the Gavi\u00e3o is emblematic. The name Gavi\u00e3o was given to different Timbira groups by travelling missionaries in the early twentieth century. These groups stood out for their warlike characteristics and used hawk … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"coauthors":[14],"class_list":["post-1085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conflicts"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1085"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1262,"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1085\/revisions\/1262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1085"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umoutroceu.ufba.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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