Brazil's government is locked in a struggle to deny aid to its indigenous people who are at extreme risk from Covid-19. On 8th July, an aid package put together by Congress under Supreme Court order was partially vetoed by the president, Jair Bolsonaro, to remove requirements for indigenous communities to be supplied with clean water, disinfectants and guarantees of hospital beds for treatment. As delays drag on, Covid-19 has hit the Xingu (Brazil's main indigenous reserve territory) with a vengeance. Over 77 cases have been confirmed in the Upper Xingu.
One of the worst affected areas is the Yawalapiti village. The first two deaths in the community were registered in mid-July and many more are now infected. Without PPE to nurse their sick, clean water, disinfectants and medicine the whole community is at risk. This community of around 200 people urgently needs aid.
UPDATE, 6th August 2020: Yesterday we received the devastating news that Aritana Yawalapiti, the village's leader and one of the most important figures in indigenous life in Brazil, has died in hospital of COVID related symptoms. His contribution to the survival of indigenous people in Brazil in the 20th and 21st centuries is immeasurable.
In 1954, after a measles epidemic ravaged the Xingu, only 25 Yawalapiti were left alive and their culture was threatened with extinction. Please help to prevent a similar outcome in 2020.
A message from Complicite:
As we started to plan our 'Ways of Listening' event, Covid-19 started to get a foothold within the Indigenous communities of the Amazon, communities that have few resources to protect themselves and their unique cultures. One of these communities, the Yawalapiti, welcomed and helped Simon McBurney during a research visit for the play 'The Encounter'. We now need to help them. Covid has already hit in Yawalapiti, and they have appealed directly for aid, as the Brazilian government under Jair Bolsonaro have expressly said they will not extend extra help to Indigenous communities touched by the pandemic. The knowledge and wisdom of indigenous peoples is vital to help us all navigate the climate and ecological emergency. If you can, please donate to the crowdfunder.
To thank you for your donation, People's Palace Projects has made available a chapter of our English edition of Celio Turino's book 'The Point of Culture', about the Yawalapiti, available for download on our website here .
You can follow all Complicite's news and events by subscribing to their mailing list here.
You can read a little more about the Yawalapiti here: and find updates (mainly in Portuguese) on the situation of Brazil's indigenous people here .
People's Palace Projects will transfer all donations to this campaign directly to the Yawalapiti community association's bank account. We will not charge for our time, the only deductions will be for costs of money transfer.
A plan has also been launched to set up a local hospital. It will keep patients from being concentrated in villages, but will be run under indigenous administration to help to combat mistrust of healthcare provision in Brazilian towns and cities. Once the immediate needs of the Yawalapiti are met, if additional funds are available from this campaign, their Association may use them to support this initiative.
All photo credits: Adelino Mendez, anthropologist and researcher, HCTE/UFRJ
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