“Every piece of land has our blood”: Pataxó people face violence and abandonment in the far south of Bahia telegram Join our Telegram channel! telegram leaders are calling for help — and justice.  “This land has been ours since before 1500. We are not invading anyone’s property. Every corner of this territory is sacred. It is where our enchanted ones live,” said the Suruí Pataxó chief to the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA), shortly after his people have been targeted by Operation Pacificar when 150 civil and military police officers from Bahia entered the Barra Velha do Monte Pascoal TI to serve 12 arrest warrants and seven search and seizure warrants after a request from the State Public Defender's Office The remaining four have not yet had their request granted the Civil Police stated that the action sought to dismantle armed groups of “supposed indigenous people” who “under the pretext of acting in the ‘retaking’ of their ancestral territories act with violence and serious threats against workers and rural landowners”.  There are several of our people with arrest warrants That we took the land to steal things from the ruralists,” he explains “But the story is different: we are not invading anyone’s property which is ancestral land of the Pataxó community,” says the chief “The public and political agents involved in this operation must be investigated and held accountable; including for their failure to observe and respect our rights As well as for the violations against the rights of children and the most vulnerable people victims of the violence we are suffering,” reads an excerpt from the letter the Pataxó are back in Brasília to participate in the 21st Free Land Camp (ATL) and denounce the violence that afflicts them “Let’s dance Pataxó / For the relative who died / We thank father Tupã / For the view he gave us,” they sang as they occupied the main tent of the camp that began on Monday (07/04) was eagerly awaited by the Pataxó delegation that went to Brasília — but it ended in frustration and revolt to ask the government to do what the Constitution requires And we left there with more pain,” says indigenous leader Uruba Pataxó the meeting with the minister was marked by a lack of listening The leader says that the minister arrived late stayed for a short time and seemed more concerned with another commitment he had after the meeting than with the murders and conflicts reported by the Pataxó “He said he could only stay for 30 minutes because he had an appointment He went straight to saying that he couldn’t sign the demarcation that it could end up in court,” said Uruba This Tuesday (08/04), the 6th Chamber of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) released a technical note recommending that the ministry led by Lewandowski immediately sign the declaratory orders for three Indigenous Lands in the South of Bahia including Barra Velha do Monte Pascoal and two others belonging to the Tupinambá people Violence against the Pataxó was also the subject of a meeting of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) in addition to recommending the declaration of the area by the MJSP indicated the deployment of the National Force to the region at the March meeting the minister justified the government's inertia in advancing the demarcation process by stating that the invaders of Indigenous Lands are very influential people with great economic power capable of hiring the best lawyers to reverse any administrative act “I told him that our land is bathed in blood and that what should rule Brazil is the Constitution The Barra Velha Indigenous Territory was administratively demarcated in 1981 and ratified in 1991 with an area of ​​just 8.627 hectares — where eight villages are currently concentrated the Pataxó have claimed that the area does not correspond to the entirety of their traditional territory According to anthropologist José Augusto Sampaio this first demarcation did not respect legal criteria nor did it take into account the history and territoriality of the Pataxó Brazil was still under a military dictatorship and the process was led by two agencies linked to the regime: the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI) and the now-defunct Brazilian Institute for Forestry Development (IBDF) “The delimitation was decided by Funai and the IBDF it does not meet the constitutional requirements of what constitutes Indigenous Lands The area was defined for administrative convenience not based on technical or historical criteria who is a professor at the State University of Bahia (Uneb) and president of the board of directors of the National Association for Indigenous Action (Anaí) Signed in 1980, this agreement between federal agencies involved the overlapping of Barra Velha by Monte Pascoal National Park — created in 1961 when the Pataxó were restricted to an area of ​​just 210 hectares Everything was done without respecting the rights of indigenous peoples as if they were dealing with common squatters,” explains Sampaio According to an article by anthropologist Sheila Brasileiro published by ISA in 2004 the attempt to regularize the Barra Velha Indigenous Land contravening the indigenous legislation of the time and resulting in half of the territory traditionally occupied by the Pataxó – already identified by researchers from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) – being ceded to the National Park The Pataxó were left with a land of sandy marshes around Monte Pascoal and a long history of disputes with environmental agencies.  Remember: The Pataxó and Monte Pascoal “Indigenous people suffered many forms of violence at the hands of IBDF employees These violations have left their mark on generations,” explains Milene Maia Oberlaender coordinator of the ISA Socio-Environmental Policy and Law Program.  who worked for eight years as manager of the Monte Pascoal National Park says that families were prevented from harvesting their own crops which led to hunger among a large part of the Pataxó population “They were forced to collect food at night so that they would not be ‘caught’ by the inspectors; they felt like thieves in their own home These psychological attacks still scar the Pataxó today,” she explains It was only after the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution which explicitly recognized the original rights of indigenous peoples over their traditional territories with the support of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and the university the process of regularizing their true land with the Pataxó retaking the Monte Pascoal National Park and actions by the MPF Funai finally began the technical studies necessary to repair past deeds and correct the boundaries of the Barra Velha Indigenous Territory.  The work was completed in 2008, resulting in the identification of the Barra Velha do Monte Pascoal IT, an area of ​​52.748 hectares, distributed across the municipalities of Itabela, Itamaraju, Prado and Porto Seguro. technical report confirmed that the area corresponds to the territory of traditional occupation of the Pataxó encompassing and significantly expanding the limits of the portion of land demarcated in 1991 Approved and published by the presidency of Funai the identification and delimitation report was sent to the Ministry of Justice for the issuance of the declaratory ordinance — but it got stuck there due to the change in political stance in the Temer and Bolsonaro governments regarding the demarcation of Indigenous Lands the Pataxó have once again put pressure on the process The process reached the Ministry of Justice in November 2023 after being approved by the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) In 2024, a decision of the Federal Court determined that Funai and the Federal Government complete the procedures for reviewing the boundaries and demarcating the Barra Velha do Monte Pascoal TI within two years no concrete measures have been taken to date “This land has been on the minister’s desk for over a year He just keeps stalling,” concludes Sampaio The land is ours and we are already occupying it The State needs to do what the Constitution requires,” says Chief Suruí “They took our relatives away with bullets Both lived in a village on Fazenda Condessa a rural property located within the boundaries of the same TI was killed with a shot to the back of the head during an attack in the same territory.  The Comexatiba IT, also known as Cahy-Pequi, is a territory traditionally occupied by the Pataxó that faces the same logic of exclusion and racism: deforestation, illegal subdivision and the State's failure to finalize the demarcation. Learn more.  There are constant reports of armed sieges imposed by gunmen, which include burning houses and intimidation against women. The land also overlaps with a Conservation Unit, the Discovery National Park.  These murders are part of an even larger number. A document addressed to Lewandowski by Deputy Attorney General Eliana Peres Torelly de Carvalho, obtained by Sumaúma 74 Pataxó people have been murdered in the extreme south of Bahia Only then will these conflicts cease,” emphasizes Suruí Faced with the historical omission of the Brazilian State and the escalation of violence suffered in the territories, the Pataxó leaders turned to the international sphere. In March 2025, the Council of Chiefs of the Barra Velha do Monte Pascoal Indigenous Land submitted to the United Nations (UN) a complete dossier denouncing murders connivance of local authorities and the halt in land demarcation the repression of Pataxó self-demarcations is not a coincidence but the result of actions orchestrated by groups with a strong economic interest in maintaining illegal possession of the lands Among the main actors opposing the demarcation of Pataxó lands are farmers land grabbers and militiamen who work in collusion to prevent the advancement of self-demarcation indigenous leaders are constantly threatened by representatives of local agribusiness and by gunmen hired to intimidate and attack the communities.  The document points out that sectors of the State — including public servants representatives of the judicial system and bodies protecting indigenous peoples — have been silent or even actively acting against indigenous peoples favoring private interests under the guise of legality armed militias linked to drug trafficking have consolidated a parallel power structure in the most vulnerable areas of the territory These groups impose fear through aggression and attempt to control the daily life of the villages including interfering in the cultural and spiritual life of the Pataxó and many families live in a constant state of alert,” Uruba denounces The document demands that the federal government be held accountable and asks for international support to ensure the protection of the leaders and the completion of the demarcation process “We are tired of asking the government for help The UN was the last way we found to say: they are killing our people remains in the hands of the farmers,” Uruba Pataxó complained The most relevant news for you to form your opinion on the socio-environmental agenda LAST ISSUE You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed.