Members of 10 ethnic groups gather for Indigenous Peoples Week

Approximately 4 thousand indigenous people took part in the Indigenous Peoples Week, in São Félix do Xingu, in the northern Pará state. The event started Saturday (Apr. 15) and is slated to end on Wednesday (19), when Indian Day is celebrated in Brazil. “The purpose of the week is to restore the identity of indigenous peoples of the Amazon, discussing public policies and the development of these societies that resist and fight for the strengthening and continuity of their customs,” said the government of Pará, organizing the event.

Altogether, members of 10 ethnic groups—Caiapó, Tembé, Gavião, Waiwai, Kuxuyana, Xikrin, Guajajara, Parakanã, Surui, and Munduruku—took part in the cultural, social, and sports activities. Sport competitions include bow and arrow, athletics and futsal.

The government of Pará is promoting initiatives for bolstering heath care and the exercise of citizenship, issuing identity cards, work record and social security booklets, as well as previously unissued birth certificates and duplicates.

Also expected to take place is the launch of a program for indigenous high-school teacher training, lectures and workshops on audiovisual production and photography.

According to official data, the presence of native peoples in the place where the gathering is held dated back to more than 9.5 thousand years ago.

Today, 75% of the population of over 120 thousand inhabitants in the municipality of São Félix do Xingu is indigenous in origin.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira