The Sarauá indigenous territory is a 19,000-hectare piece of land on the banks of the Capim River, in the Amazonian state of Pará. According to the most recent population estimates, fewer than 200 members of the indigenous Amanayé ethnicity live on the land — which is being progressively swallowed up by non-indigenous invaders, seeking to use the territory for farming.
Federal prosecutors in Pará claim the risks of conflict have heightened since 2018, and the situation could derail into an “unprecedented tragedy.” Earlier this year, a court ordered 260 non-indigenous families to leave Sarauá.
The ruling gave invaders 90 days to voluntarily vacate the land, which has experienced a massive surge in deforestation rates and forest fires. If they failed to comply, federal security agencies — with the assistance of Brazil’s indigenous foundation Funai — would remove them by force.
Prosecutors say the Amanayé people are frequently attacked by trespassers, to which indigenous leaders respond that they “want to remove the invaders on their own.”
But the deadline came and went in late May. The settler families stayed put, and nothing has been done to remove them.
The Sarauá indigenous land lies within the municipality of Ipixuna do Pará, where Mayor Artemes Oliveira has fought tooth and nail...
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