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In the Volta Grande do Xingu, the river still runs. Even with turbines and licenses strangling it, the Xingu endures because the peoples who protect it refuse to disappear.
This stretch of the Xingu in Pará, Brazil, contains a rich mosaic of life: Indigenous Peoples and hundreds of riverine communities living side by side – Juruna (Yudjá), Xipaia, Curuaia, Arara da Volta Grande, and Xikrin. They all carry an open wound: the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, which diverted the river’s flow and drained away fish, fields, and ways of life.
Now, another threat pushes the Volta Grande closer to collapse: the Volta Grande Project (VGP). The Canadian mining company Belo Sun plans to build Brazil’s largest open-pit gold mine – a project that disregards the people who live there.
This June, Amazon Watch traveled to the Volta Grande do Xingu and visited the Iawá community, one of six Xipaia and Curuaia communities that traditionally occupy the Jericoá waterfalls region. Despite ongoing threats, these communities continue to affirm their identity as traditional peoples, denounce violations in Belo Sun’s licensing process, and demand recognition of their territories.
In Altamira, we also met Juruna and Kayapó families who were displaced from their islands and riverbanks by the Belo Monte dam. They remain scattered throughout the city but continue to dream of returning to the river that belongs to them.
The reality we witnessed reveals three interconnected layers of struggle.
First, Indigenous Peoples like the Juruna and Arara, who live in demarcated territories, are fighting for increased water flow in the Xingu to keep their villages alive.
Second, communities such as the Xipaia and Curuaia of Jericoá and the Juruna of Boca do Pacajaí continue to live on their ancestral lands but lack official recognition. They are urging the government to secure their territories before land grabbers and miners destroy them.
Third, those already displaced by the Belo Monte dam now face the threat of mining as a new barrier to reclaiming their identity and homeland. Still, they hold on to the dream of returning – and rebuilding – for good.
With each new move, Belo Sun deepens the crisis. Behind every promise of prosperity, the company hides mounting harm: threats, land conflicts, restricted movement, dangerous tailings dams, and irreversible damage to biodiversity. But despite it all, the Canadian mining giant has not succeeded in killing the river – or its people.
That’s why Amazon Watch is taking action alongside these communities to prevent this disaster. We are:
- Supporting legal strategies and expert analyses that challenge Belo Sun’s deeply flawed licensing process, exposing how it violates Indigenous and traditional peoples’ rights.
- Amplifying Indigenous demands for official land recognition and pushing the Brazilian government to prioritize demarcation and protections in the Volta Grande.
- Bringing these voices to global climate and human rights spaces, including efforts to make the Amazon a central agenda item at COP30 in Belém.
- Amplifying the voices of communities impacted by the Belo Sun threat in national and international media.
The Volta Grande lives on – though by only a thread. So too does the dream of seeing this land formally recognized as Indigenous territory. That dream echoes in community meetings, letters to government officials, and the quiet strength of those who still farm, fish, and paddle along the Xingu.
As the Amazon prepares to host COP30, the world must hear this message: you cannot kill a river. A forest is worth more than gold. And the peoples of the Xingu will not be silenced.
Amazon Watch stands in solidarity with the communities of the Volta Grande. Now is the time to build global support, demand land demarcation, stop Belo Sun, and ensure the Xingu flows free – for all who live from it and with it.
