“I am ready to die for my people.” Juma Xipaia is a fearless woman, an environmental champion and a voice for the voiceless. Born in Brazil 34 years ago, she is a mother of four and lives in the Amazon, where she fights for the defence of the forest and land, indigenous rights and against corruption.
Her courageous activism has cost her six assassination attempts from which she miraculously escaped, but for a time she was forced to move to Switzerland and then to Assisi. Upon returning to Brazil, she continued her fight, appearing in public with her face painted in tribal designs and wearing a spectacular feathered headdress.
Juma’s most recent public appearance was at COP30, the international climate change conference held last November in Belém, right in the heart of the Amazon, to discuss common solutions, strengthen multilateralism, and promote consensus on global goals aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “This event must become increasingly democratized”, she said. “It must include the participation of children, youth, and elders. Communities must not only be heard but actively involved in the crucial decisions for our present and, above all, for our future”.
Born in 1991 in Tucumã, a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pará, Juma has been an activist since she was 13. Leaving her village, she attended school in the town of Altamira, deep in the forest, where she still lives, and later studied law in Belém.
At 24, elected to govern Tucumã, she became the first female chief (cacica, in the indigenous language) in the Middle Xingu region: a result that not only broke gender barriers but also provided a new perspective on the struggle of native peoples.
Her most famous battle was against the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, which endangered the territory and local communities. Today, Xipaia is supported by her husband Hugo Loss, a helicopter pilot who works for IBAMA, the Brazilian agency for environmental protection, hunting illegal mines.
In 2020, the fearless activist founded the Juma Institute to promote indigenous independence, sustainable development, and cultural revival. “I am ready to die for my people”, she continues to repeat.
Her community is now building a village called Carimã, which will be a centre for the practice of traditional medicine and customs, where traditional and scientific knowledge will coalesce to foster sustainable development solutions for her community.
“I envision the future from the present,” Xipaia declares. “There will be no change in the future if the present continues to neglect and trade lives for gold, feeding economic interests at the expense of rivers and food contaminated by mercury. The future is now!”. (Gloria Satta/OR) – (Photo: Courtesy of Juma Institute)
