THIRD NOTE FROM THE APINA ON THE INVASION OF THE WAJÃPI INDIGENOUS LAND

We from the Wajãpi Village Council wish to communicate some new information on what is happening in our Indigenous Land and ask again for the support of the Federal Police or the Brazilian Army to ensure the safety of the Wajãpi People.

Yesterday morning, July 30, 2019, we received the visit from the Senator for Amapá, Randolfe Rodrigues, who came over to listen to our complaints regarding what is happening in our Indigenous Land and ask for clarification about some information he has received.

The Senator said he will continue to support us and see that the police continues to investigate the invasion, until they arrest the invaders guilty of the murder of our leader, Chief Emyra Wajãpi, and also for us to remain in the Wajãpi Indigenous Land until we are sure they are no longer in our territory. In addition, the Senator invited some of the Wajãpi Indigenous people to the Federal Prosecution Service (Ministério Público Federal) to tell them what they saw and what they know about the invaders.

Yesterday, late in the afternoon, we received information from the residents of the CTA Indigenous Village, located on the edge of the BR 210 highway.  Around 6:00 p.m., a young Indian from that village went to bathe in the stream nearby and heard someone shouting, “Hey! " behind him. When he turned around, he saw a tall, strong man with long curly hair and beard, pointing at him a weapon that looked like an automatic 12-caliber shotgun.

The young man was terrified and ran to the Village to call someone to help.  Soon after, he returned to the creek with five other men and they no longer found the invader.  But they saw tracks of two barefoot people, each going in a different direction. They photographed and filmed the marks they saw as evidence to be shown to the police. They did, however, decide not to follow the trail because it was already getting dark. According to the young Indigenous man, the manthat he saw was wearing a black, long-sleeved sweatshirt.

After receiving this information from CTA Village residents, the Indians from other villages near the highway got themselves organized to patrol, through the night, the entire stretch of BR 210 crossing the Wajãpi Indigenous Land (TIW).

This morning CTA villagers found new tracks of two people in the vicinity of the village and warned the other villages. Then, the Indigenous people from villages near the road organized groups to search for the invaders and they are still searching, thus far.

We, the Wajãpi people, would like to take this opportunity to give thanks for the great support we are receiving from the organizations of our Indigenous Movement, such as APOIANP, COIAB, APIB, AMIM, Hutukara, CIR, FOIRN, Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, former Senator João Capiberibe, Federal Representative Joênia Wapixana, support organizations such as our Iepé partner, the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), and other civil society organizations such as OAB, Association of Judges for Democracy, Brazilian Association of Anthropology, Brazilian Archaeological Society, Greenpeace, WWF, Pan Amazonian Ecclesiastical Network and many others. In addition to the UN and the Organization of American States (OAS) and groups of people from all over the world.

Wajãpi indigenous people in their land in the Amazon. Photo: Mário Vilela/Funai