Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
is to demarcate the land, so that we can prevent all the invasions, and get this
reservation included in your city plan. Most of the reservations in São Paulo
are demarcated, so why aren't the reservations here in the south [of the state of
São Paulo] demarcated? This is my question, and this is what we want you to
think about: We need our land demarcated as soon as possible.
Figure 3.13. Luiz Karaí, Basílio Silveira and Itaóca Villagers on Indigenous Peoples'
Day, April 19, 1999, asking for justice.
During the following months, Luiz Karaí and his young assistants met with
government officials in the Baixada Santista, in São Paulo City, and in Bauru,
where the Funai headquarters for the state of São Paulo are located. In April 2000,
Itaóca was officially delimited by the Ministry of Justice (the second step of the
demarcation process), almost 6 years after being initially “identified” as Indigenous
land. A year later, in April 2011, the children and young adults of Itaóca walked
the dusty road that leads to the entrance of the reservation holding signs that read:
“Queremos a demarcação de Itaóca já!” (We want the demarcation of Itaóca now!),
while singing in Guarani the songs they practice in the opy. Of an estimated 60 Mbyá
who participated in the demonstration, at least 40 were 18 or younger, and the rest
were young adults between the ages of 19 and 25.
FINAL REMARKS: TURNING THE FUTURE INTO THE PRESENT
In this piece I have attempted to show that Guarani children's performances are
not mere “games” or “play” but entail, instead, a critique of human society. The
kids' criticism also embodies what they consider to be desirable solutions to their
