Sheyla Juruna: the non-silenced voice on the Xingu

“I do not believe that this is the way it ends”

Seated on the porch of a house that is not hers; with tears in her eyes that transcend a profound pain, Sheyla blurted, “I suffered and still suffer a lot … I do not believe that this is the way it is to end …”

Wife, daughter, mother; warrior; friend and companion … Many have seen the struggle and clamor for justice for the rights of the indigenous peoples, but few know the weight of that struggle she carries in her heart, by herself…

Sheyla Juruna, of the Juruna people of the Boa Vista village, in the municipality of Vitória do Xingu in Pará, was born and raised in her community: “It was my grandmother who was midwife for my mother. With much honor I say that my umbilical is buried on my land.” This same land and the guarantee of their territory is one of the reasons for her struggle. “Our land is our life.”

The Juruna people have suffered and in fact are not even originally from the territory in which they are found today. They were from another land on the Iriri River and because of inumerous conflicts with the non-indigenous, were expulsed from their lands and taken to Vitória do Xingu, where they now are. Sheyla assures that despite not having experienced that part of the history as her mother and grandmother did, she and her children today live with the consequences of it.

It is at kilometer 17 that the Juruna have lived for 70 years. For all those years they have been fighting for the demarcation of the land, which has yet to happen, due as she points out, to the indifference of the FUNAI and the Federal Government. The Juruna had even been reported to be extinct. For this reason they united, organized and showed the world that not only do they indeed exist, but are also in resistance. “It is not easy to be an indigenous people, to live and survive in a region like Altamira, in the Xingu and in Amazônia as a whole. I say this because the people who live in what is called the "Legal Amazon” are peoples [who have been through] many massacres; who are suffering through the consequences of grandious projects that have only brought discord and destruction to them.“

During the most recent years of the struggle, Sheyla has won a national and international audience. She has traveled the world to recount the history of the peoples impacted by Belo Monte. Because of this Sheyla became a target and lost her position of leadership. Similarly, many leaders who have fought in opposition to Belo Monte and did not "sell out”, today live with drastic consequences, the result of their resistance.

In an intimate conversation, Sheyla revealed her fears and frustrations that as a friend I prefer to not mention. What I can difinitively guarantee is that, yes, this indigenous woman and warrior never accumulated a single cent for all her work; but is one of the most honorable people I have met in my life… There, crying, I saw her tired, and her sadness filled my heart with tears… I realized how egocentric we can be and I felt ashamed… I remembered all the times that she has traveled upon peoples and organizations request to publicize the struggle, and asked myself where are these people now that she needs them more than ever…

In spite of the pain, she clarifies, “all that I am suffering today is with awareness that this fight has not been personal. I was not trying to grow using the name of my people; nor attempting to benefit from anything; but we do need to have a minimum of dignity in life.” Today Sheyla lives in an abandoned house owned by the city hall that was a school in her community. In fact, if the city hall wanted to, it could take it away from her at any moment.

The Juruna indigenous people of Km 17 are the most drastically affected by Belo Monte, because they live at the edge of the highway and are being severely affected by the increase of traffic caused by the construction work. Norte Energia promised houses, but never finished building them. Funai had already determined, as a condition [of the environmental licensing], the demarcation of the territory as ell as the acquisition of new lands for them, which are essential, but Norte Energia refuses to comply with this licensing condition that should be carried out prior to construction, and for this reason is today a potential target for punitive action by the Ministério Público Federal.

In the meantime, people throughout Brazil, deceived and ignorant (in the sense of being unaware of this), believe that projects such as Belo Monte signify progress for the nation and cannot perceive the value of the teachings brought to us by the indigenous and traditional populations… Sheyla nails the issue in stark relief noting, “that which develops does not destroy”. Today we look around us and no longer see forest, but farms. They are destroying everything to develop what? Does that mean that the person does not develop? We, indigenous peoples do not develop this way. For me, the Brazilian government is a dictatorial government because it does not listen to its native people and in addition to this, want to decimate us without any scruples, mercilessly."

Despite looking tired, she paces herself, tireless and forcefully repeating the things she believes in and fights for. This is why I wanted to understand the place from which this woman draws such strength… Without a doubt and with certainty in her voice, she responded that what most gave her strength was knowing she was fighting for a just cause. Even knowing this, I could not hold back the tears as she described the meaning of Belo Monte to her people: "Belo Monte is a major cancer in our Xingu, which is consuming and slowly destroying our people. There is nothing worse than killing a people while they are alive; to kill them little by little … ”

A long silent pause settle over us, and the two of us silently cried…

Then I remembered her youngest son, who was playing in a hammock while we talked. I thought of the many times he had stayed behind while, for the sake of the struggle, she traveled… I asked her what she felt about the future of her children… Sheyla wisely reminded me that the indigenous people are fighting not for themselves, but for their future generations; something that people do not generally consider. “I see the history that is being brought to the Amazon and to the indigenous peoples and am very concerned for my children, because what I have experienced they will not be able to experience; our history, our culture, our land, our life, that for us is sacred. This grandious development projects only bring loss for us.”

At the end of our conversation, I asked her to leave a record of her message to the world. Her message to those who believe that the grand development projects like Belo Monte bring progress … Sheyla concludes with this:

"The world is blind; because it is not concerned about what is next. Look at everyone and everything with the eyes of humanity and not with the eyes of the capitalist. People are only thinking about profit. The world needs to believe in and defend life more. The planet depends on rivers [that are] alive in order to live; it depends on the forests. Nobody can survive without water. How is it that people do not perceive this?

Belo Monte signifies the destruction and death of the indigenous peoples of the Xingu. However, if people think that Belo Monte, the governmnet and Norte Energy won this battle, I say no; they didn’t. The walls of Belo Monte will not defeat us because I am aware that all this one day will come to an end. One day our voices will be what is valued. One day the Brazilian government will have to respect the people who are the owners of this territory called Brazil. “