Change and Challenges Faced by Indigenous People of the Brazilian Amazon

A talk and Q&A with Chief Raoni Metuktire and Megaron Txucarramãe about the CHALLENGES FACING THE AMAZON AND ITS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE Two of Brazil's most important native leaders will lead a discussion about the current state of the Amazon Rainforest and discuss the changes and challenges facing the indigenous people who live there. The event will take place at Imperial College London's South Kensington campus. The exact venue is tbc. Once registered, the location will be updated. RAONI METUKTIRE Raoni Metuktire, also simply known as Chief Raoni or Ropni, born ca. 1930, is an important chief of the Kayapo people, a Brazilian Indigenous group from the plain lands of the Mato Grosso and Pará in Brazil, south of the Amazon Basin and along Rio Xingu and its tributaries. He is a famous international character, a living symbol of the fight for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and of the indigenous culture. More than an informal Ambassador for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous inhabitants, Raoni, as Jacques Chirac once said, is the living symbol of the fight for the protection of the environment. Since 1989, the great Kayapo leader did several trips all over the world, for example to the north-eastern portions of the provinces of Quebec to visit Innu people in August 2001 or to Japan in May 2007. However, his message mainly struck a chord with European countries such as France and the UK. Various indigenous people from the region of Xingu are fighting to preserve the ways and customs which are transmitted orally since the dawn of time. These tribes were isolated from the world until the mid of the twentieth century. Raoni found out means to link with the rest of the world but kept stoicism, distance and dignity. He often meets the great and the good but he lives in simple hut and doesn’t own anything. The gifts he receives are always redistributed. At 89, Raoni took to the road again this year seeking help to stop a surge in fires destroying the forest, which he has blamed on the plans of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro to develop the Amazon economically and assimilate its indigenous people. The Darcy Ribeiro Foundation, named after one of Brazil’s first anthropologists, announced this week that it had formally proposed Raoni’s name to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which decides who wins the annual award. MEGARON TXUCARRAMÃE Megaron Txucarramãe is one of the most important native leaders in Brazil, with outstanding performance on behalf of his people, M_kragnotire, and of other Brazilian native people. Working at Funai, he acted in Contact Fronts of the Ikpeng and Panará People. In 1984 he took part in the setting of the land boundaries of the Native Land Kapôt - Jarina and, in 1992/1993, of the Native Land M_kragnotire. He was a FUNAI supervisor of the Parque Indígena do Xingu (Xingu Indians Park) from 1984 to 1994 and was the director of Funai - Colíder/MT from 1995 to 2011. He is also a founder member of the Associação Ipren-re de Defesa do Povo M_bêngôkre (Ipren-re Association for the M_bêngôkre People) since 1993.