Tuíre Kayapó

{{Infobox bio

| image = Tuíre.jpg

| caption = Tuire in 2019

| birth_date = {{Birth based on age at death|54|2024|08|10}}

| birth_place = Kokrajmoro, Pará, Brazil

| death_date = {{death date|2024|08|10|54|df=y}}[https://blogdogersonnogueira.com/2024/08/10/morre-tuira-kayapo-simbolo-de-resistencia-indigena-na-amazonia/ Morre Tuíra Kayapó, símbolo de resistência indígena na Amazônia] {{in lang|pt}}

| death_place = Redenção, Pará, Brazil

| relatives = Paulinho Paiakan (brother)

}}

Tuíre Kayapó, also called Tuíra (1969, or 1970{{Cite web |date=10 August 2024 |title=Morre Tuíre Kayapó, ícone da defesa dos direitos indígenas |trans-title=Tuíre Kayapó, an icon in the defense of indigenous rights, dies |url=https://umsoplaneta.globo.com/sociedade/noticia/2024/08/10/morre-tuire-kayapo-icone-da-defesa-dos-direitos-indigenas.ghtml |access-date=15 August 2024 |website=Um só Planeta |language=pt-br}} – 10 August 2024), was a Brazilian indigenous rights activist, environmentalist, and a chief of the Kayapó people. She was active in the movement against the Belo Monte Dam project on the Xingu River in the 1980s and constitutional amendment PEC 215 in the 2010s.{{Cite web |last=Yolaçan |first=Pinar |date=13 June 2017 |title=Kayapó Chief Tuire |url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/kayap%C3%B3-chief-tuire/ |access-date=27 July 2023 |website=BOMB Magazine |archive-date=27 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727025926/https://bombmagazine.org/articles/kayap%C3%B3-chief-tuire/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Jansen |first=Charlotte |date=15 June 2017 |title='This Is My Land': The Indigenous Women Chiefs Protecting the Amazon |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/bj8pxv/this-is-my-land-the-indigenous-women-chiefs-protecting-the-amazon |access-date=27 July 2023 |website=Vice |language=en |archive-date=27 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727033555/https://www.vice.com/en/article/bj8pxv/this-is-my-land-the-indigenous-women-chiefs-protecting-the-amazon |url-status=live }}

Early life

Tuíre's father was born in the village of Kubēnkrãkêj. He met her mother in her home village of Kokrajmoro (also spelled Kokraimoro), which was also where Tuíre was born.{{Cite web |last= |date=8 February 2019 |title=Multiplicidade encarnada |url=https://escoladeativismo.org.br/multiplicidade-encarnada/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130082146/https://escoladeativismo.org.br/multiplicidade-encarnada/ |archive-date=30 November 2023 |access-date=27 July 2023 |website=Escola de Ativismo |language=pt-BR}} Her grandmother named her. Growing up, Tuíre's grandfathers and uncle were Kayapó leaders who defended their lands against government incursions. Her paternal grandfather, Betikré, died during one of these conflicts. From a young age, her family encouraged her to also become a warrior and to defend her people.

At age 17, Tuíre and her family moved back to her father's village, Kubēnkrãkêj. Her parents died shortly afterwards. Tuíre and her infant son moved to the village of Aukre, where she met her husband, Takaktô, from the village of Gorotire. They married soon afterwards.

Activism

In 1989, at age 19,{{Cite web |title=PA – Território Kayapó sofre com expressivo processo de contaminação, desmatamento, destruição e garimpo ilegal |url=https://mapadeconflitos.ensp.fiocruz.br/conflito/pa-territorio-kayapo-sofre-com-expressivo-processo-de-contaminacao-desmatamento-destruicao-e-garimpo-ilegal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605033646/https://mapadeconflitos.ensp.fiocruz.br/conflito/pa-territorio-kayapo-sofre-com-expressivo-processo-de-contaminacao-desmatamento-destruicao-e-garimpo-ilegal/ |archive-date=5 June 2023 |access-date=27 July 2023 |website=Mapa de Conflitos Envolvendo Injustiça Ambiental e Saúde no Brasil |language=pt-BR}} Tuíre attended a meeting in Altamira, Pará, with officials from the Belo Monte Dam. She brandished her machete in the face of an {{ill|Eletronorte|pt}} official in protest of the dam's construction.{{Cite news |date=15 March 1989 |title=Indians confront Amazon dam officials |pages=2 |work=Kainai News |url=https://jstor.org/stable/community.34478852 |access-date=26 July 2023 |archive-date=27 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727033556/https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.34478852 |url-status=live }} {{ill|Tuíre com facão no rosto de diretor da Eletronorte|pt|lt=The photo}} taken of the event brought her name into the public consciousness. By the 1990s, Tuire began travelling abroad, including to the United States, to spread awareness of her people's political struggles.{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=Michael F. |date=1993 |title=Facing the State, Facing the World: Amazonia's Native Leaders and the New Politics of Identity |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40589898 |journal=L'Homme |volume=33 |issue=126/128 |pages=307–326 |doi=10.3406/hom.1993.369642 |jstor=40589898 |issn=0439-4216 |access-date=27 July 2023 |archive-date=27 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727033553/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40589898 |url-status=live }}

Tuíre took her uncle's place when he died, and faced little resistance from her community, although she was one of the first women chiefs of the group.{{Cite web |last=Pender |first=Danielle |title=Tuire Kayapo |url=https://www.ripostemagazine.com/tuire-kayapo |access-date=27 July 2023 |website=Riposte |language=en-US |archive-date=27 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727025927/https://www.ripostemagazine.com/tuire-kayapo |url-status=live }}

She went to Congress to speak on behalf of the Kayapo and other indigenous groups. She chose to speak in Mebêngôkre during these events, and had an interpreter translate for her.{{Cite web |last=Ávila |first=Cristina |date=14 September 2021 |title=Indigenous women protest for their rights |url=https://www.wwf.org.br/?79888/Indigenous-women-protest-for-their-rights |access-date=27 July 2023 |website=www.wwf.org.br |language=pt |archive-date=27 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727025928/https://www.wwf.org.br/?79888/Indigenous-women-protest-for-their-rights |url-status=live }} She also advocated for indigenous groups' access to electricity{{Cite web |date=29 March 2019 |title=MME afirma que indígenas serão prioridade no Programa de Universalização do Acesso à Energia |url=https://www.gov.br/funai/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2019/mme-afirma-que-indigenas-serao-prioridade-no-programa-de-universalizacao-do-acesso-a-energia |access-date=10 August 2024 |website=Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas |archive-date=11 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811021529/https://www.gov.br/funai/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2019/mme-afirma-que-indigenas-serao-prioridade-no-programa-de-universalizacao-do-acesso-a-energia |url-status=live }} and spoke out against the expansion of mining efforts in indigenous land.{{Cite web |date=19 October 2023 |title=Marco Temporal: "Os políticos são covardes", diz guerreira Tuíre Kayapó |url=https://pulitzercenter.org/pt-br/stories/marco-temporal-os-politicos-sao-covardes-diz-guerreira-tuire-kayapo |website=Pulitzer Center |access-date=11 August 2024 |archive-date=11 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811021529/https://pulitzercenter.org/pt-br/stories/marco-temporal-os-politicos-sao-covardes-diz-guerreira-tuire-kayapo |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Neto |first=Fernando |date=12 August 2024 |title=Sorrow and struggle in the Amazon: Tuíre Kayapó, the Indigenous woman who postponed the end of the world, dies |url=https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2024/08/12/sorrow-and-struggle-in-the-amazon-tuire-kayapo-the-indigenous-woman-who-postponed-the-end-of-the-world-dies |access-date=15 August 2024 |website=Brasil de Fato |language=en}} She strongly criticized the passing of PL do Marco Temporal in 2023, a law which limited indigenous claims to land.{{Cite web |date=4 June 2023 |title=Tuíre Kayapó convoca luta contra marco temporal: 'O branco só quer destruir a nossa Amazônia' |url=https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2023/06/04/tuire-kayapo-convoca-luta-contra-marco-temporal-o-branco-so-quer-destruir-a-nossa-amazonia |access-date=11 August 2024 |website=Brasil de Fato |language=pt-BR |archive-date=11 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811021529/https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2023/06/04/tuire-kayapo-convoca-luta-contra-marco-temporal-o-branco-so-quer-destruir-a-nossa-amazonia |url-status=live }}

In August 2019, she helped organize the first March of Indigenous Women of Brazil in Brasília. The following year, she helped lead the Meeting of the Mebengokrê Peoples and indigenous leaders of Brazil in Mato Grosso.{{Cite web |last=Arini |first=Juliana |date=17 January 2020 |title="O governo não irá nos dividir", diz líder Tuíra Kayapó |url=https://amazoniareal.com.br/o-governo-nao-ira-nos-dividir-diz-lider-tuira-kayapo/ |access-date=11 August 2024 |website=Amazônia Real |language=pt-BR |archive-date=26 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226042618/https://amazoniareal.com.br/o-governo-nao-ira-nos-dividir-diz-lider-tuira-kayapo/ |url-status=live }}

Recognition

In 2020, Turkish artist and photographer Pinar Yolaçan released a film about Tuíre's life, entitled Tuire Kayapó (First Contact). Yolaçan and Tuíre had first met during a residency Yolaçan had in Bolivia in the late 2010s. In 2024, painter Éder Oliveira unveiled a portrait of Tuíre.{{Cite web |title=Artista paraense Éder Oliveira rifa pintura para ajudar Tuíre Kayapó |url=https://www.oliberal.com/cultura/artista-paraense-eder-oliveira-rifa-pintura-para-ajudar-tuire-kayapo-1.818142 |access-date=11 August 2024 |website=O Liberal |language=pt-BR |archive-date=11 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811021531/https://www.oliberal.com/cultura/artista-paraense-eder-oliveira-rifa-pintura-para-ajudar-tuire-kayapo-1.818142 |url-status=live }}

Personal life and death

Tuíre lived in and was chief of the village of Kaprãnkrere, in {{ill|Terra Indígena Las Casas|pt}}, Pará. She was married to Takaktô (also spelled Kôkôto) Chief Dudu, with whom she had two daughters. One of her grandchildren was named after her.{{Cite news |last1=Camargos |first1=Daniel |last2=Harari |first2=Isabel |date=10 August 2024 |title=Morre Tuíre, a guerreira Kayapó que parou a construção de Belo Monte com um facão |url=https://reporterbrasil.org.br/2024/08/morre-guerreira-tuire-kayapo/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240810194320/https://reporterbrasil.org.br/2024/08/morre-guerreira-tuire-kayapo/ |archive-date=10 August 2024 |access-date=10 August 2024 |work=Reporter Brasil}} She was the sister of activist Paulinho Paiakan and the aunt of aspiring politician Maial Panhpunu Paiakan.{{Cite web |date=20 October 2022 |title=Kayapó chief Tuire interview with artist Pinar Yolaçan |url=https://www.lampoonmagazine.com/article/2022/10/20/female-leadership-kayapo-chief-tuire-artist-pinar-yolacan/ |access-date=26 July 2023 |website=Lampoon |archive-date=20 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020112207/https://www.lampoonmagazine.com/article/2022/10/20/female-leadership-kayapo-chief-tuire-artist-pinar-yolacan/ |url-status=live }}

Tuíre was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2023, and began undergoing treatment that same year. She died from the disease on 10 August 2024, while receiving palliative care in Redenção, Pará. Her family confirmed she would be buried in Gorociré, a Kayapó village about 60 kilometers from Cumaru do Norte. She received tributes online from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara, the Federation of Indigenous Peoples of Pará, and the Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas.{{Cite web |last=Bessa |first=Juliana |date=10 August 2024 |title=Tuíre Kayapó, liderança indígena do Xingu, morre aos 54 anos |trans-title=Tuíre Kayapó, indigenous leader of Xingu, dies at 54 years |url=https://g1.globo.com/pa/para/noticia/2024/08/10/morre-tuire-uma-das-maiores-liderancas-indigenas-do-povo-kayapo.ghtml |access-date=10 August 2024 |website=G1 |language=pt-br}}{{Cite web |last=Oliveira |first=Yasmin |title=Ativista indígena Tuíre Kayapó morre aos 57 anos; autoridades lamentam |trans-title=Indigenous activist Tuíre Kayapó dies at 57 years of age; authorities lament |url=https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/nacional/ativista-indigena-tuire-kayapo-morre-aos-57-anos-autoridades-lamentam/ |access-date=15 August 2024 |website=CNN Brasil |language=pt-BR}}