The National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) will be presided over by an indigenous person for the first time since its creation 55 years ago. The lawyer and former federal deputy for Roraima Joenia Wapichana (Rede) takes office this Thursday (2).
The historic ceremony will take place at the Memorial dos Povos Indígenas, in Brasília (DF), starting at 4 pm (Brasília time). The event will be attended by indigenous leaders from all over the country, in addition to authorities and indigenists.
Joenia graduated in Law from the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR) and has a master’s degree in International Law from the University of Arizona. Born in Boa Vista, (RR), she was the first indigenous woman in Brazil to practice law and also the first indigenous federal deputy in Brazil.
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When commenting on the humanitarian crisis in the Yanomami Indigenous Land in an exclusive interview with Brazil in factJoenia said that Funai plans to participate in operations to expel illegal miners from indigenous lands, but stressed that first it needs to “rebuild” the indigenist body, scrapped during the Bolsonaro administration.
“As soon as I assume the presidency of Funai, I know that it will be a very big challenge and that the resources are insufficient. But we have to be very innovative and creative and seek support from other ministries”, he said in Roraima.
Unpublished not indigenism
This is not the only unprecedented fact that marks Brazilian politics in 2023. From now on, Brazil has a Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI), led by a globally recognized indigenous leader, Sônia Guajajara (PSOL-SP). The new folder now houses Funai, which was previously subordinated to the Ministry of Justice.
Another novelty is the change of name of Funai, the official indigenist agency of the Brazilian State. As of this year, the designation changed from National Foundation for the Indigenous People to National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples, as a way of valuing the diversity of Brazilian native peoples.
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The change was a demand of the national indigenous movement and was even approved in 2022 through a Bill (PL) proposed by Joenia Wapichana, the only indigenous congresswoman in the last Legislature.
President Bolsonaro, however, vetoed the text on the grounds that there was no “public interest”.
Editing: Nicolau Soares
