Brazilian Indigenous activist, Sonia Guajajara made history by becoming the first ever minister of the newly created Ministry of Indigenous Affairs. “It is a collective achievement of the Indigenous peoples, a historic moment of reparation in Brazil.”
Brazilian Indigenous activist, Sonia Guajajara made history as she is appointed by President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva as the minister of the newly created Ministry of Indigenous Affairs.
In 2007, Guajajara began working with Indigenous organizations Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira (COIAB) and Anmiga (Association of Amazonian Indigenous Women) in the Amazon region, and in 2009 she was elected Deputy Coordinator of COIAB. In 2013, she was elected Executive Coordinator of APIB.
And In 2017, Guajajara launched her candidacy for the presidency of Brazil with an “Indigenous, anti-capitalist, and eco-socialist” agenda. Guajajara is the first Indigenous woman to run for president of Brazil, and although she was not elected, she succeeded in gaining recognition and visibility for Indigenous Peoples’ issues.
“Historic reparation”
In 2021, she became the target of State harassment by then-president Bolsonaro and his supporters for her work to secure Indigenous Peoples’ rights (Read Cultural Survival’s Letter supporting Guajajara). In the country’s recent October 2022 elections, she was elected to congress with more than 150,000 votes as federal deputy for São Paulo, the most industrialized state in Brazil.
Brazil also created a Ministry of State for Indigenous Peoples. It is the first time in the history of Brazil that the country has created a Ministry specifically for Indigenous Peoples and Guajajara has made history as Brazil’s first-ever Minister for Indigenous Peoples. She called her appointment an “historic reparation” after years of struggle and after the catastrophic reign of Bolsonaro.
Brazil swears in Sonia Guajajara as Indigenous Peoples Minister
Guajajara was sworn in on Wednesday at the Planalto Palace in capital Brasilia in presence of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, lawmakers and representatives from Brazil’s Black and Indigenous movements.
Guajajara, who heads Association of Brazilian Indigenous People, touched upon the significance for being the first-ever Minster of Indigenous Peoples, saying, “If I am here today, it is thanks to the ancestral and spiritual strength of my Guajajara Tentehar people.”
“Thanks to the centuries-old resistance of the struggle of the Indigenous peoples of Brazil. Thanks as well to my persistence of never giving up,” she said.
Sources: Cultural Survival, TRT World