Justice Now!
Join the worldwide chorus calling for justice by urging Brazil’s Supreme Court to rule on lawsuits against the Belo Monte Dam!
Amazon Watch is honored to welcome Mayalú Txucarramãe as a special guest at our 8th Annual Luncheon and Celebration in San Francisco on September 25th. She is also our special guest, along with Kichwa indigenous leader from Sarayaku, Patricia Gualinga, at our 2nd Annual DC Fundraiser on September 18th. They will also be joining 100 women from 35 countries in the first International Women’s Earth and Climate Summit, September 20th-23rd. You can watch and participate in the Summit proceedings live here.
As Mayalú begins her first U.S. tour, she hopes that her travels will further hone her leadership skills, experience and knowledge that will allow her to be a better advocate for defending Brazil’s indigenous peoples while demonstrating the universal importance of assisting their struggle. In doing so she hopes to help forge unity among her supporters to strive together for a better world. Welcome, Mayalú!
More about Mayalú
While Brazil’s native peoples and their ancestral homelands confront serious and escalating threats to their rights, resources, and cultures from the country’s aggressive industrial development policies and the current administration’s attempts to roll back indigenous land rights laws, a new generation of indigenous leaders are emerging and joining the ranks of the movement’s courageous forerunners. Born to proud Kayapó and Waurá families from the Amazon’s Xingu River basin, the young and dynamic Mayalú Kokometi Waurá Txucarramãe is committed to defending the future of her people, her rainforest homeland and rich cultural traditions.
The daughter of Kayapó Chief Megaron Txucarramãe and grandniece of legendary Chief Raoni Metuktire, Mayalú comes from a long line of Xingu warriors whose unwavering strength and skills led to the demarcation of the largest mosaic of indigenous and protected areas on the planet. She was born a warrior – fierce and determined to defend the rights of her people. “Resistance is in my blood!” she proclaims.
Mayalú demonstrates an astute and sensitive ability to act as a spokesperson for her people, a rare honor for female leaders among the Kayapó and a testament to the power of her voice and presence. She is featured in several short films and has led numerous protests and activities aiming to bring global attention to the struggle of the Amazon’s indigenous peoples.
Mayalú’s motivation springs from her ancestral roots and from a dream that her children and grandchildren will inhabit a healthy Amazon, its rivers and forests preserved and thriving for future generations. It is also driven by her rejection of the shortsighted and unsustainable development model that is imposed on her people by the damming of rivers and felling of forests. So-called “development” projects like the Belo Monte dam that will devastate her beloved Xingu River are emblematic of a larger trend by the Brazilian government to undermine indigenous peoples’ legal rights guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution.
The heir to the struggles of Chiefs Raoni and Megaron, Mayalú became conscious of these injustices at a young age and has prepared herself accordingly. The native language of her mother Wauja profoundly influenced her Portuguese-language education in Brazil, inspiring her to weave together both traditional and modern aspects of indigenous culture. In 2005 she began her professional career working as deputy coordinator of a program to train indigenous teachers, while supporting a program in defense of the Mebêngôkre people.
In 2009, Mayalú began working as a coordinator of indigenous schools in her region, coordinating the training of indigenous teachers, supporting the production of specialized education materials and providing curriculum support for indigenous teachers while assisting research into the recovery and revival of her people’s cultural traditions.
In 2012 she founded the Mebêngôkrê Nyre Movement to strengthen and promote indigenous culture among Mebêngôkrê Kayapó youth. Also in 2012, Mayalú brought a group of indigenous leaders from the Amazon to the United Nations Rio+20 Earth Summit, joining forces with other indigenous delegates from around the planet in defense of the environment.
In 2013, together with her father Chief Megaron, Mayalú traveled to Turkey to join a global campaign to protect the world’s last wild rivers from destructive dams. While in Turkey she joined protests against the massive Ilisu dam on the Tigris River and garnered major media attention for tying the struggle of her people to other communities fighting dams globally. “Water is not only important for us, but also important for the earth and to balance our environment. Water is life,” she said.
“I want the world to understand our struggle and to support us so we can live in dignity. Right now Brazil’s indigenous peoples are losing their rights to health, land, freedom and justice. We need global solidarity and support because we are taking care of the rainforests and natural resources that are not ours, but everyone’s. As a woman, I see that I should not only support our men in this fight, but join them in the struggle, because people are stronger when they are united.”
