Declaration in support of the 2nd World March of Indigenous Women in Brazil. Who is Kunangue Aty Guasu?
Kuñangue Aty Guasu is the Great Assembly of Kaiowá and Guaraní Women, organized from the Southern Cone of Mato Grosso Do Sul. It began in 2006 when indigenous women collectively decided to be spokespersons for their walk. That historic decision began in the sacred territory of Nãnderu Marangatu, Municipality of Antônio João-MS. Other editions were held in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
In their assemblies, Guarani and Kaiowá women discuss agendas that extend beyond territorial issues, encompassing aspects of their daily lives: demarcation of traditional lands, promotion of citizenship, social rights, public safety, and social participation. They also address specific issues such as: violence in their camps resulting from attacks by gunmen on their communities; food/farming, food sovereignty, and the consumption of pesticide-free food, as well as the impacts of grain monoculture around Guarani and Kaiowá villages; racism, prejudice, religious intolerance, children's and adolescents' rights, the rights of women and elders, the environment, climate, and the Guarani Kaiowá struggle/mobilization agenda.
Kuñangue Aty Guasu It is an assembly organized by women, where representatives from diverse communities have a voice, space, participation, and decision-making power. They are present at the Assembly. Nhandesys (Old women-Jary) and Nhanderus (Elders-Ñamõi), youth, prayer leaders, children, social movements, activists, international and national press, universities, researchers, and supporters. Regional, provincial, and federal authorities linked to Indigenous issues, as well as Indigenous organizations, were also present at the plenary session, receiving the demands of the Kuñangue Aty Guasu. The plenary session audience varies between 400 and 600 people; it is a space for active participation and discussion of issues of high relevance to indigenous communities. Kuñague Aty Guasu It is the only space where Kaiowa and Guaraní women, representatives of all TekohasThey meet to discuss and talk about women's rights and demands.
Photo: Kaiowá and Guarani Women
OUR VOICE WILL RESOUND IN BRASILIA FOR 19 DAYS!
JOIN US, THIS FIGHT IS FOR EVERYONE!
IX Kuñangue Aty Guasu – Great Assembly of Kaiowa and Guaraní Women: Silenced bodies, present voices.
1-5 September 2021
Assembly Highlights:
September 1 – The journey of the Kaiowa and Guaraní women from the return to Brasilia;
September 2 – Anti-indigenous agenda: our existence is threatened;
September 3 – A call from the Kaiowá and Guarani matriarchs to social movements: this struggle is not only ours, this struggle belongs to everyone;
September 4 – Body, health and soul of Kaiowa and Guarani women in times of pandemic;
September 5 – International Day of Indigenous Women
First International Public Hearing “Silenced Bodies, Present Voices – Violence against Kaiowa and Guarani Women” Launch of the Virtual Map “Silenced Bodies, Present Voices…”
FROM AUGUST 23 TO SEPTEMBER 11, 2021, The strength, resistance, chants and prayers of the Kaiowá and Guarani women resonate once again in the federal capital of Brazil.
From August 23 to September 11, 2021, the strength, resilience, songs, and prayers of Kaiowá and Guarani women will resonate in the Federal District once again. We, the Women of the Kuñanque Aty Guasu Council – Kaiowá and Guarani Women's Council /MS, will be present in encampments, assemblies, and demonstrations, with our bodies, our voices, and our lineage. The march will begin on August 23 with the arrival of our first delegation at the "Fight For Life" encampment, where Indigenous leaders from across the country will be present, fighting against Time Frame Thesis and Bill 490/07, currently on the agenda in the Brazilian National Congress. From different sacred lands Kaiowá and Guarani (indigenous territories), 84 women from our people will join their voices with those of the women of other peoples who are here making up the national struggle of the indigenous movements.
The fight for Mother Earth is the mother of all fights!
Sonia Guajajara
After 10 Kaiowá and Guarani Women's Assemblies, due to attacks on our original and constitutional rights, for the first time, the Kuñangue Aty Guasu will take place far from our communities in southern Mato Grosso do Sul. Because to exist is to resist, and we resist everywhere! The meeting will include, among other events:
- Debate on the strengthening our existence;
- publication of the Virtual Map of Violence, written by the Kaiowá and Guarani women;
- First Public Hearing: Bodies and Silenced Voices Presents – Violence against Kaiowá and Guarani Women, and the International Alliance with Social Movements, a call from the Kaiowá and Guarani women.
In addition to the meeting of indigenous leaders in Brazil, the Kaiowá and Guarani Women's Council will be broadcast online with English translation, as in its last installment, in November 2020.
“Our lives, our dreams, we draw them every day. Yet our bodies continue to be violated, our lineage has been attacked, and our existence threatened from all sides. Our earth-colored skin continues to bleed. Our seeds are poisoned again and again. And we are tired of defending ourselves against this attack. This struggle is ours. And the world’s. We will resist, we must, until the day we die!” – Kuña Aranduhaá – advisor of the Kuñangue Aty Guasu.
Following the meeting, the delegation will remain in Brazil to join the Second National March of Indigenous Women, which will take place from 8 of the septiembre 11 of 2021with several demonstrations and debates, as well as public hearings, in defense of the rights of Native Women in this country.
Kaiowá and Guarani Women's Council / MS. Dourados / MS
Campaign to help the delegation's infrastructure: https://www.kunangue.com/vaquinha
Kuñangue Aty Guasu Council – Kaiowá and Guarani Women's Council / MS. DATE / Brasilia | [email protected] / [email protected] | +55 67 9925-9450 | www.kunangue.com
MAPPING VIOLENCE
Mapping the violence against Kaiowá and Guarani women is a demand of the Great Assembly of Women Kuñangue Aty Guasu, undertaken by the women of this community. We are addressing the violence perpetrated against Indigenous women in the Southern Cone of Mato Grosso do Sul state, in central-western Brazil. This is a slow but steady process, built collectively by capturing the perspectives, cries, and voices of these Guarani and Kaiowá women. To make this possible, a team of Indigenous women from various regions of the state, members of the Kuñangue Aty Guasu council, was formed to conduct surveys in their communities.
To develop this mapping work on violence against Kaiowá and Guarani indigenous women, interviews and visits were carried out. on-site visit to indigenous lands, recovery areas (reclaimed). During the information gathering, there were several acts of violence against Guarani and Kaiowá women in the Southern Cone, as well as psychological torture, physical violence, prejudice, humiliation, economic violence, death threats, and the murders of women leaders promoted by their husbands, boyfriends, the captain's team, the police, public institutions, and the university.
The objective of this research is to document, make visible, and transform the suffering experienced by Guarani and Kaiowá women into a narrative, and to raise awareness of the different types of violence they endure in the current context. In other words, the goal is to ensure that the demands of the Kaiowá and Guarani women of Mato Grosso do Sul are heard and addressed. To further describe the current violence against Guarani and Kaiowá women, we emphasize that the mapping will continue after the conclusion of this first stage. This will involve the continued identification and systematization of the types of physical and psychological/mental violence against women, as well as the situation of families who are victims of violence in villages, reserves, and Indigenous lands affected by conflict.
Our struggle, unfortunately, had to follow the established patterns. Scratch (non-indigenous). Today we have to dialogue with the State through documents, we have to write in the language Scratch (It would be the Portuguese language, of the society involved, not indigenous). In this way, the mapping and indexing of a specific database of the struggles of women leaders, through appropriate technology, will serve as a basis to support women's demands and, above all, to make consistent denunciations of violence against indigenous women.
Throughout late 2019 and early 2020, weekly on-site visits were conducted to Indigenous reserve villages and reoccupied and disputed lands, areas where various forms of violence against women occurred. On reclaimed lands, these families were subjected to attacks, massacres, torture, and the murder of leaders, perpetrated by gunmen hired by landowners.
OUR VOICE WILL RESOUND IN BRASILIA FOR 19 DAYS!
Dourados-MS, August 11, 2021.
Letter No. 32
FOR THE COLLABORATORS
Ref.: Infrastructure support for the Kaiowá and Guarani women's delegation in Brasília-DF.
Through this letter, the board of Kuñangue Aty Guasu requests infrastructure support for logistics, transportation, food and/or personal protective equipment (PPE) to our delegation of 84 Kaiowá and Guarani women, most of them elderly religious women, bound for Brasilia to participate in the National Indigenous Mobilization.
Our calendar includes the following actions and activities:
- Camp Fight for the Earth: August 22-28, 2021;
- IX KUÑANGUE ATY GUASU: “Great Assembly of Kaiowá and Guarani Women”, from September 1 to 5, 2021;
- International Day of Indigenous Women: 1st International Public Hearing with presentation of the report “Silenced Bodies and Present Voices – Violence Against Kaiowá and Guarani Women”, on September 5, 2021;
- National March of Indigenous Women: “Native Women|Reforesting minds for the healing of the earth”, from September 7 to 11, 2021.
All these events will take place in Brasilia and the Kaiowá and Guarani women will be present in the federal capital for nineteen days, in struggle and resistance, against the anti-indigenous agenda of the National Congress.
It is important to mention that, for the first time in our history, the Kuñangue Aty Guasu – Great Assembly of Kaiowá and Guaraní Women, our main platform for voice and struggle for the rights of Indigenous women, will present a diagnosis of the reality we live in. Our daily life will take place outside our tekoha (sacred territory), of the recovery area in Mato Grosso do Sul (MS).
In this regard, we need financial support to make our stay in Brasilia, as well as our delegation's visit and return, feasible. To that end, we provide the following budget:
- Transportation (02 buses for 84 Kaiowá and Guarani women):
1) Collective 01 – Departure on August 23 / 21 from the Kaiowá and Guaraní territories: 25 thousand reais.
2) Collective 02 – Departure on August 30/21 from the Kaiowá and Guaraní territories: 20 thousand reais.
Note: The entire delegation returns after the conclusion of the II March of Indigenous Women, which will take place on September 11.
- Food (August 23 to September 11):
1) Donations of perishable and non-perishable food for 19 days.
2) Value in 30.000 reais to cover food expenses.
- PPE:
1) 1.000 N95 or PFF2 masks and 100 units of 500ml alcohol gel 70.
2) Donations of blankets, mats, tents and warm clothing for 84 people.
Support this cause, the fight is for everyone, for everyone and for everyone!
Atymã Porã, thank you, obrigadas.
🙌🏾 Support the fight of Women Kaiowa e Guarani from August 23 to September 11 in Brasília 🙌🏾.
🙌🏾 Our Women of the Council of Kuñangue Aty Guasu – Grande Assembleia Das Mulheres Kaiowá e Guarani/ MS, we will be in camps, assemblies and demonstrations present with our bodies, our voices and our ancestrality!🙌🏾
☝🏾 Campaign in support of the delegation's infrastructure: https://www.kunangue.com/vaquinha☝🏾
Donation via pix: [email protected]
🙏🏾 Atyma porã, obrigadx.🙏🏾
💪🏾Conselheiras Da Kunangue Aty Guasu🍀
August 20th, 2021
CLACSO Working Group Epistemologies of the South
UNESCO Chair UFGD «Gender, Cultural Diversity and Borders»
NuSUR. South-South Center for Postcolonial, Performative, Afro-Diasporic Identities and Feminisms IDAES/UNSAM
Postcolonial feminism conferences
This statement expresses the position of the Working Group Epistemologies of the Southr and of the other Groups that accompany it and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
