Brazil Begins Demarcation of Territory for Uncontacted Kawahiva Indigenous People

The Brazilian government has begun demarcating the Pardo River Kawahiva Indigenous territory, a 410,000-hectare area located between the states of Mato Grosso and Amazonas in north-west Brazil. The National Indigenous Peoples’ Foundation confirmed the start of the process last week.

The action follows more than 25 years after specialists first proved the existence of the uncontacted community in 1999. The demarcation is intended to protect the approximately 290 Kawahiva people from pressures including the expansion of farming, land grabs, illegal logging and mining in the region.

Some isolated Indigenous peoples in the Amazon have shown signs of surviving and in some cases thriving despite these threats. Anthropologists have stated that the Kawahiva’s survival depends on the land being clearly mapped and physically marked to create protected areas.

The process remains subject to legal challenges from groups linked to the agribusiness sector. A forthcoming presidential election scheduled for October adds further uncertainty. Political, legal, economic and logistical obstacles have delayed the establishment of the new boundaries.

“The entire region where the Pardo River Kawahiva Indigenous people live is under pressure from a clear push to expand the agricultural frontier,” said Renan Sotto Mayor, the federal public defender responsible for the National Office for Isolated Indigenous Peoples.

” Indigenous lands have recorded the lowest rates of deforestation in the Amazon in recent years. One area within the Kawahiva territory has not suffered any deforestation for two years despite high levels of rural violence in the surrounding region.

Indigenous leaders have pointed to difficulties in ensuring the safety of isolated Indigenous people, agency staff and physical markers during and after demarcation. One specialist noted that the territory has seen a massacre of landless workers as well as other deaths linked to land disputes.

Funai said it was planning buffer zones to prevent environmental degradation at the edges of the territory. “A buffer zone extending beyond the territory’s boundaries creates a protective area between the Indigenous land and deforested areas,” said Lúcia Alberta Baré, the president of Funai.

Campaigners have called for the acceleration of demarcation for other lands inhabited by uncontacted peoples, including Piripkura, Ituna-Itatá and Jacareúba-Katawixi. According to the government, there are 115 isolated groups, but only 29 have been confirmed.

Officials continue to work toward formal recognition of the Pardo River Kawahiva lands, which requires the president’s signature. “The protection of Indigenous lands must be a state policy,” said Baré.