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October 4, 2023
“This blog was originally written in Spanish and automatically translated using artificial intelligence.”
The National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestrality (ANMIGA) was born as an organic space for action led by Indigenous women from all over Brazil in April 2019. During the great Acampamento Terra Livre organized by the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB), a group of women came together around a platform of community leadership, political influence, and global outreach.
ANMIGA emerged as a cry for the survival, existence, and resistance of Indigenous women; with a clear collective and global call for a political, spiritual, and environmental revolution capable of fostering new relationships of solidarity between people and nature.
“We are seeds sown through our songs for social justice—women of the earth, women of water, women of biomes, women of spirituality, women of trees, women of roots, women of seeds, and not just women, warriors of ancestral knowledge.”
On August 9, 2019, four months later, ANMIGA called for the I March of Indigenous Women on International Indigenous Peoples Day. Seeking to create a nationally impactful action, Brasília brought together over 2,500 women from 130 communities under the slogan “Territory, our body, our spirit.” The march joined the March of the Margaridas, where over 30,000 Indigenous, quilombola, riverside, and other traditional community women marched together for their rights against violence and racism.
I March of the Indigenous Women of Brazil, 2019.
“Us, Indigenous women, we are also the Earth, because the Earth is made within us. Through the power of song, we are connected in every corner where our ancestors are present. The Earth is sister, daughter, aunt, mother, grandmother, womb, food, the healing of the world.”
In 2021, in response to the advancing anti-Indigenous politics and the violence and invasions suffered in their territories, Indigenous women called for the II March of Women under the slogan: “Reforesting Minds to Heal the Earth.” Despite COVID-19, distances, and threats from extremist, fascist, and armed groups backed by the government, women celebrated life and sang for social justice, for the demarcation of territories, for the forest to remain standing, for health, for education, to combat climate change, and for the healing of the Earth.
II March of Indigenous Women, 2021. Credit: Alass Derivas
With the premise that the Earth is Mother, Indigenous women play a fundamental role regarding life and survival. The march is a call to humanity, an attempt to provide all the peoples of the world with a new possible way to relate to Mother Earth and the beings that inhabit it.
If reforesting minds refers to planting new ideas that allow for healing, regeneration, and giving life to our actions in such a way that we protect ecosystems and the life within them, then reforesting politics invites the creation of supportive, inclusive, anti-colonial norms and laws that position Indigenous women as political protagonists. On that occasion, 5,000 Indigenous women from 172 communities and 6 biomes camped in Brasília and in the minds of people around the world.
“Caring for Mother Earth is, at its core, caring for our own bodies and spirits. The body is the earth; the forest is the mind. Reforesting our minds is caring for body-earth.”
The year 2022 was a year of returning to origins and territories. A caravan, “of the originaries,” traveled throughout the country for a year, promoting actions of individual and community strengthening; collecting stories and carrying messages of strength and unity. The caravan, above all, sought to reforest politics and amplify Indigenous candidacies to reimagine a politically inclusive Brazil. The movement gained even more strength, adding and converging more voices, knowledge, traditions, and a shared feeling and will to save life in all its manifestations, generating policies from Indigenous women for Indigenous women.
III March of the Indigenous Women of Brazil. Credit: Alass Derivas
United and organized, they call themselves Women of the Earth, representing each Brazilian biome and those who comprise the executive coordination of ANMIGA; Women of Roots are the leaders chosen to represent their territories at the state level; Seed Women are the leaders chosen to represent their territories at the local level; and finally, Water Women are the leaders chosen to represent ANMIGA at the international level.
In a very short time, ANMIGA was responsible for a massive campaign that led to the election of three Indigenous women to Congress. With 17 Indigenous candidates in federal and state elections, the historic victory of Célia Xakriabá as a federal deputy and Sonia Guajajara first as a deputy and then as Minister of Indigenous Peoples brought ANMIGA to the “Cocar Caucus.” In this way, ANMIGA intensified its mission to continue acting with its own narratives in various fields of defense for Indigenous women, regardless of region, people, or social class, emphasizing the voices of women through institutionalized representation.
“We are many, we are multiple, we are thousands: women, chieftains, midwives, witches, shamans, farmers, teachers, lawyers, nurses, and doctors in the multiple sciences of Territory and University. We are anthropologists, parliamentarians, and psychologists. We are many, moving from the ground of the village to the ground of the world.”
Despite the countless challenges and injustices, Indigenous women refuse to remain silenced. Recently, in September 2023, the III March of Indigenous Women was called with the slogan: “Bioma Women in Defense of Biodiversity with Ancestral Roots.” At the center of this march is a powerful call for equal rights for Indigenous women. 8,000 women from 200 communities participated in the activities in Brasília.
III March of Indigenous Women, 2023. Credit: Alass Derivasº
The march demanded access to quality healthcare, education, and economic opportunities; the protection of land and natural resources; and advocated for the end of violence against Indigenous women, a widespread problem that has plagued communities for generations. The message is clear: it is time to end the cycle of discrimination and reclaim their rightful place in society.
The march sought to connect and reconnect with the potential of ancestral voices to strengthen the work of Indigenous women, debate the challenges, and propose new dialogues to influence politics in the fight for justice and equality. Transcending borders and with great determination, ANMIGA once again placed Indigenous women at the center of the world, honoring ancestral generosity and wisdom, reminding humanity that “The fight for Mother Earth is the Mother of all fights.”
“The struggle for the rights of Indigenous women is far from over, but with each march, each manifestation, and each united voice, progress is being made. And as long as there are brave united women, the flame of hope will never go out.”
