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Brazil's First Indigenous Congresswoman Wants Her Government to Save the Amazon
Joênia Wapixana is fighting for Brazil’s Indigenous people and their land as President Jair Bolsonaro weakens protections.
by NowThis
Published on 1/31/2020 at 5:08 PM
Joênia Wapixana is a lawyer, Brazil’s first Indigenous congresswoman, and president of the National Commission for the Defense of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Wapixana started her term in February 2019. She has vowed to fight for Brazil’s Indigenous people and their land, which President Jair Bolsonaro has threatened with economic and commercial development plans.
More than 900,000 Indigenous people live in Brazil— about 98% of their land lies within the Amazon, where they continually protect and preserve the land.
Deforestation in the Amazon surged 30% between August 2018 and July 2019, and 2019 saw an 80% increase in fires in Brazil— more than half of which were in the Amazon. Experts attribute the widespread burning to weakened protections under Bolsonaro and illegal deforestation.
Wapixana spoke with NowThis about her new role, why she’s motivated to protect Indigenous lands, and what more people should know about her culture and community. This is an edited and condensed version of the conversation.
More:
https://nowthisnews.com/news/brazils-first-indigenous-congresswoman-wants-her-government-to-save-the-amazon
