FUNAI Coordinator Killed by Arrow in Isolated Indigenous Territory He Was Studying

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Together with his friend Roberto de Barros Ossak, who is a Pastoral da Terra (a Roman Catholic organization for social justice and human rights in the Brazilian countryside) agent and researches agricultural law in the region, Rieli Franciscato made an expedition to the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau territory to understand why the indigenous are moving from the interior of the reserve to areas far from its center.

The meeting of the activist with members of the tribe occurred near a road access known as Line 6, in Seringueiras (RO).

The group that shot the arrow at Rieli Franciscato consists of five people, according to witnesses. They are identified as Isolated Cautários (after the Cautário river in the region). The total number of indigenous within this group is unknown.

Rieli’s work consisted precisely in trying to raise awareness among the population about the significance of preserving the reserve so that the people could remain inside the forest.

Ossak explained that the movement of indigenous peoples is directly linked to land invasions, particularly in the region of Buritis, Parecis and Campo Novo: “They are heading to the border in search for food. They are collectors, they don’t farm, so they need to migrate from one region to another collecting food, like nuts, honey, acai.”

According to the researcher, the expedition notes that the invasions begin with loggers and then landowners who want to deforest the region for cattle raising. There are also the prospecting operations.

In May, FUNAI and the Federal Police detected a prospecting and wood extraction operation in the area surrounding the indigenous land, in the municipality of Campo Novo de Rondônia. No one was arrested.

The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous Territory is an area inhabited by nine indigenous peoples. Last year, it was among the ten most deforested lands in the country. With 1.8 million hectares of land, Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau has lost 42.54 km² between 2008 and November 2019, according to data from the National Space Research Institute (INPE).

Ossak believes that the advance of invasions has led the indigenous to the center of the indigenous land.

“During the time they were trapped in the center, food began to be scarce. So now they are returning to the borders. This is my assessment as an agricultural specialist. The lack of food is what is leading the indigenous people to come to the borders of the reserve, where there is more game, more food. And it’s at the border that they are sighted,” says the expert.

For the Kanindé Ethno-environmental Association, the fact that the isolated indigenous people do not know the distinction between defender and enemy also contributed to the situation. Their understanding in the case of contact with non-members is that the group’s territory “is being invaded and the indians are trying to survive.”

The police investigation detailing the arrival of the indigenous near the road access known as Line 6 in Seringueiras reported that at about 10 AM on Wednesday, a resident of the area was sitting outside his home when he looked at the pasture that borders FUNAI office and saw five uncontacted indigenous people, naked and moving cautiously towards the house of a man known as Monteiro.

“They were in fan formation, and the two at the end were carrying bows apparently for hunting,” he recalled.

The resident said he has lived there for 25 years and this is the first time he has seen the indigenous people in the region. When the police learned of this report, they called Rieli to assist monitoring as a FUNAI representative. From that point on, they entered the region following in the footsteps of the indigenous people. The intention was to do their job, from a distance, but Rieli was ultimately spotted and shot in the chest with an arrow.

Police officer Paulo Ricardo Bressa, Rieli’s friend, describes the moments that preceded his death:

The indigenous were sighted in June

In June this year, a group of isolated indigenous people was spotted by a housewife in the backyard of a farm in Seringueiras. They exchanged game for a chicken and took an axe. The resident, Gabriella Euvira Moraes, said she ran to the bathroom and filmed the visit.

“I didn’t even come out. I looked through a crack in the door and saw a man standing. That’s when I noticed that he was naked. I hid, I heard three men coming near the house and talking. I could not understand anything. They walked around the house,” Gabriella said at the time. According to Kanindé, this is the same group that Rieli came across before he was struck.

Rieli Franciscato, 56, died on Wednesday after being struck in the thorax by a 1.5 meter bamboo arrow shot by the indigenous. As soon as he was hit there was an attempt to rescue him, but he was dead when he reached the hospital.

He was one of those well known for the work of protecting the isolated indigenous people of the Amazon. The coordinator advocated not making contact with the group and worked to prevent a conflict with the local population. He was also part of the team that defined the first exclusive land for isolated indigenous peoples.

Source: El Pais