Indigenous organizations demonstrated on Sunday (Apr. 19), marking Indigenous Peoples’ Day, to call for the demarcation of their lands. The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) emphasized that demarcation is a form of historical reparation and that territories are indispensable to indigenous life.

“We continue to resist because our territories remain under attack and our bodies remain targets. We need our territories demarcated and protected. Without demarcation, there is no life, no culture, no future. Territory is where we plant, where we pray, where we bury our ancestors, and where our children grow up,” the organization said on social media.

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APIB, the organizer of the Free Land Camp in Brasília, also highlighted the violence faced by indigenous peoples and the illegal exploitation of their territories.

“We need them to stop violating our bodies and territories. Illegal mining, logging, invasions, harassment, and femicide: none of this is tradition. Violence is not culture. Demarcation is reparation. There is no sovereignty or democracy without demarcated territory.”

The Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) emphasized that the destruction of indigenous territories has a direct impact on the balance of the Amazon, as evidenced by extreme droughts, wildfires, and environmental degradation.

“Indigenous territories are under constant attack from illegal mining, deforestation, land grabbing, and large-scale projects encroaching on the Amazon, invading lands that should be protected. This is not an isolated conflict, but rather an ongoing project of exploitation of our territories,” the organization posted on social media.

Amnesty International also spoke out on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, calling for urgent action on land restitution and demarcation.

“Demarcating lands, protecting communities, and respecting ways of life that keep ancestral cultures, knowledge, and technologies alive are not merely matters of historical redress. It is about securing the future. When these rights are violated, it is not just the past that is lost; the possibility of tomorrow is also lost.”

Amnesty International emphasized indigenous peoples protect about 80 percent of global biodiversity, according to the United Nations (UN). “The answer to the current crisis already exists, and it comes from those who have always been here. Defending the rights of indigenous peoples is defending human rights.”