Honoring the Indigenous tribes of Amazonia.  A short 15 minute video. The words are in Portuguese (translated below) but the meaning comes through loud and clear. Check out the song “Demarcação Já!”,  a tribute of more than 25 artists for the indigenous peoples of Brazil. For the right to the land, for the right to life! My favorite part is …And a native without land leaves all of us without an Earth,Civilization would be stripped bare

# DemarcationJah – do explore that hashtag on twitter and Instagram. Here’s the video…

Demarcação já! 

• Artist: Carlos Rennó
• Featuring artist: Chico César, Arnaldo Antunes, Criolo, Céu, Djuena Tikuna, Dona Odete, Elza Soares, Gilberto Gil, Felipe Cordeiro, Letícia Sabatella, Gilberto Gil, Lenine, Lirinha, Margareth Menezes, Maria Bethânia, Nando Reis, Ney Matogrosso, Russo Passapusso, Tetê Espíndola, Zeca Baleiro, Zeca Pagodinho, Zé Celso, Zélia Duncan
• Source: Portuguese English Translation of Demarcação já!

English Translation of Demarcação já!  

Now that it’s been more than five centuries And who knows how many cycles of ethno genocide, And yet the Indian lives on, amidst a thousand scourges Having already been killed and reborn,   Like the Kadiwéu and Panará peoples   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   Now that so many peoples have come to be attacked, Without ever coming to see their land demarcated, Starting with the first in Brazil To be invaded by the white man upon his very arrival: The land of the Tupinambá   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   Now that, just like the building of the Trans-Amazonian Highway, When the grunts 1 called them sylvans, Today the building of other pharaonic projects, Along with agricultural expansion, Is inducing an indicide, just look at the Kaiowá people,   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   Now that there’s so much more excess latifundium Than indigenous land being leased out by the government And since the latifundia only carry single crops While T.I.2 has diverse fauna and flora,   Ah!   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   And one plows down, saws through, genetically modifies, While the other deifies and divinizes nature: The Indian loves her for her innate sacredness, And the ruralist, for the dough that she yields;   Hum… Bah!   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   Now that in retrospect only the aboriginal Keeps the forest tidy and all in one piece, And leaves no trace, and doesn’t infect it, And connects with it, and keeps a pact with it.   Without it, our water would run out,   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   So that they stop both indigenous lands And nature reserves From being opened up like cancerous sores By the effects of mining   And of the hydroelectric plants in the heart of the Amazon, in Rondônia, in Pará…   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   Now that, just like the black man and the homosexual, The Indian is “all that is useless”, how could one want, Who could want to strip him of all he has left His territory, his ancestral heritage   And now that what he wants is what already belongs to him,   Demarcation, alright? Demarcation now!   So that the Indian can be covered by the Statute 3 That delineates his corner of land like a fortress And protects it against the evil and brutish white man Who robbed him of what was his,   Just like they did from the Pampa to Amapá4   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   Now that that’s how certain white people act:   Calling them savages when they react, And un-Indian when they don’t lift a finger To the violence and violation   Of their rights, from Humaitá to Jaraguá;   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   For the Indian can have an iPad, a freezer, a TV, a pick-up, a motor boat, And none of that stops him from being Indian Nor from wanting and having in his village A gourd, a canoe, a headdress, a bow, a maraca.   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   So that the native doesn’t end up a pauper, An alcoholic, a slave, an outcast, Either camping out on the side of the highway, Or locked up and in the end, a case of suicide, Old or young, or worse yet, a little kid.5   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   For us not to see their sociocultural death As natural; In other words, to show our sympathy for each other, And have forever   The beautiful contributions of the Tupi to tucupi 6 and of the Guarani to Guaraná 7.   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   For the Guarani and Makuxi and Pataxó Live within us, and are us, we are the Indian; It’s he whom we carry within us; you know, We’re one and the same as the Kaiapó and Kaiowá,   One and the same.8   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   So that we don’t lose those with whom we learn To be moved upon seeing and watching The trees, birds and rivers, The rain, the earth, the night, the day, the macaw, And the passion flower,   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   Out of respect and the right to Difference and diversity Of every ethnicity, every minority, Of every type of community, Of living beings   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   For a better world, or, at least, Another world to come, for a better Future, or, at the very least, some future; For them and for us, for the entire world,   For we’re all in this boat together.   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   Now that, once the bevy of old trees And blue-winged macaws fall to the forest floor, The Yanomami will truly die, But their shamans will avenge their people, And the sky will fall down upon humanity.   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   Now that, because of all this, Krenak’s 9 plans include Singing and dancing to hold up the heavens, And a native without land leaves all of us without an Earth, Civilization would be stripped bare,   Left at God’s will.   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   No more beating around the bush at the Palace, 10 No more fudging things in Department of Justice, No more delaying or postponing the process, No more backsliding or suspensions in Congress, No more filibusters, gobbledygook, or blah-blah-blah!   Demarcation now! Demarcation now!   So that our lands can finally be demarcated, Or self-demarcated by the Indians Without any loggers, prospectors, farmers, Commanders, or thugs, or bodyguards, Militia, or policemen to abuse them.   Vrah!   Demarcation yesterday! Demarcation now!   And leave the Indian, leave the Indian, leave the Indians be.  

• 1.milico: derogatory term for soldier
• 2.Terra Indígena: indigenous land
• 3.specifically that of demarcation, potentially also alluding to the 1973 Indian Statute that called for the integration of indigenous peoples into mainstream Brazilian society without much input from indigenous peoples themselves
• 4.from the southernmost to northernmost parts of Brazil, i.e. the entire country
• 5.piá: often specifically a young Indian or half-Indian child
• 6.tingling yellow sauce from the manioc root that must be boiled for hours to not be poisonous
• 7.popular soft drink flavored with the extract of the fruit of the same name
• 8.xará: word of Tupi origin meaning someone with the same name as another, also slang for “mate”
• 9.Ailton Krenak: indigenous environmentalist leader
• 10.Palácio do Planalto: workplace of the president

A good article called ‘Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples Demand The Demarcation Of Their Territories‘ at CulturalSurvival is here.

Please visit our Indigenous Voices for Global Earth Repair Conference to learn how important Indigenous People’s work, culture and ancient vision is to restoring our earth.