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Sônia Guajajara (New Article)

Sônia Bone Guajajara, is an indigenous activist, leader, public speaker, and the national coordinator of Brazil's Association of Indigenous Peoples (APIB) and spokeswoman for the country's indigenous movement.  She is the member of the Guajajara tribe in the northeast Amazon. Guajajara is a primary advocate for the protection of indigenous peoples' rights in Brazil, pushing for greater measures to stop proposed developments produced from the national congress. She is well known for her work around protesting the Belo Monte Dam, as well as her work around the demarcation of indigenous land to fight agribusinesses and other corporations from developing indigenous land.

“We must guarantee indigenous territories in order to save all of our lives. Indigenous peoples’ contribution to the equilibrium of the climate, to the conservation of biodiversity, and to the preservation of territories will also save the lives of these people who in this moment are proposing economic development. This economy doesn’t guarantee life, what guarantees life is land.”- Sônia Bone Guajajara speaking at COP20 in Lima, Peru.

Guajajara is considered an opponent to the ruralista movement of the Brazilian congress. The ruralistas prioritize more development of indigenous land in the name of economic prosperity and poverty reduction for the citizens. According to critics of ruralistas, including Guajajara, ruralistas are in strong opposition to environmental conversation and preservation, and has already sponsored a bill in Congress that was approved in the Senate, which extends the legal limit for farm deforestation in the Amazon and provides amnesty to farmers who have already illegally cleared their land. Guajajara has argued for a reduction in the government's active criminalizing force against the FUNAI and greater transparency around government land management regimes. She is an advocate for indigenous led sustainable development, centered around traditional ecological knowledge and resource management. She is also a large advocate for the power of storytelling and transforming narratives around indigenous rights via digital media. Guajajara consistently offers critiques of Brazilian mainstream media's suppression of indigenous culture and expression, which she finds is expressed in the larger, oppressive acts of Brazilian government officials.

Career

Guajajara is 41 years old, married, and the mother of three sons (Mahkai, Yaponã and Y'wara). She has an academic degree in letters and has a post-graduate degree in special education from the State University of Maranhão. She is today considered one of the most significant leaders of the indigenous movement in Brazil.

Ahead of the articulation of the indigenous peoples of Brazil – APIB, where she holds the position of Executive Coordinator Nanalal, as it is called by their "relatives" natives and their friends in Brazil and around the world. She understands his work as a mission and, with the same passion and care, takes care of both the local issues of its people, in Maranhão, as the great national causes of indigenous peoples.

Guajajara has engaged in Forest activism since her youth, defending the land of her ancestors based on multiple traditional ecological practices. Her main platforms in leading APIB are:

• Defending Indigenous rights
• Territorial rights
• The formation and implementation of public policy
• The right to be consulted
• A fight to retain these rights
• Give exposure to the problem of indigenous rights
• Using social media to paint indigenous people as the protagonists of their own narratives

Belo Monte Dam Protests

The construction of the controversial Belo Monte Dam in 2011 led Guajajara and other indigenous members to fight for the reclamation of indigenous rights over Amazonian territory. Guajajara openly condemned the Brazilian government for the construction of the large hydroelectric dam and its infringement upon indigenous lands. Guajajara claimed that she was not opposed to national growth and development as long as it was with the consent and collaboration of indigenous peoples.

Guajajara led the main protests during the 2014 International Day of Rivers in Paris, France. The action was centered around preventing the continuation of developing large hydroelectric dams across the Amazon. Guajajara's leadership in the action was notable, garnering her a substantial amount of social media attention around the globe. The main demonstration in this protest was through creating human waves to demonstrate the destruction and violation of human rights that the construction of this project causes to indigenous lands.

2016 São Luiz do Tapajós Dam

Following the Belo Monte Protests, the São Luiz do Tapajós Dam was expected to be the next largest hydroelectric dam built in Brazil. Guajajara and other activists led the fight to encourage the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) to halt the plans for construction of the dam, citing environmental and human rights concerns. Despite the victory of the APIB in stopping the construction of the dam, Guajajara believes “The economic interests behind the project are so strong,” said through an interpreter. “We need to stay vigilant.”

Criticism of the 2016 Rio Olympics

Sônia Guajajara actively criticized the Brazilian government for suppressing indigenous peoples' demonstrations during the ongoing events of the Rio Olympics. The Indigenous Rights Movement of Brazil claimed that the government was putting on a clear facade for international audiences that the country honors diversity and peaceful relationships with the native peoples of the country. Guajajara and other activists discussed the ongoing onslaught of indigenous activists across the globe, the highest being in Brazil. In 2015, there were 50 reported incidents of environmental activists in Brazil being murdered across the country. This record number of deaths highlights the greater gaps in transparency between Brazil's government officials and indigenous activists demanding for greater environmental justice on their lands.

Mainstream Media Critiques

Guajajara and other APIB activists push that the internet is continuing to provide the indigenous movement in Brazil with an ability to communicate their concerns to their nation and the world. Platforms like media ninja and independent journalists in Brazil are willing to risk their lives to build momentum for the movement. Examples of this are the Indigenous Peoples Project that continues to promote transparency and accountability initiatives on behalf of indigenous peoples in Brazil. On a national scale, Twitter has played a huge role in empowering this movement. Funding for Funai, a state organization that “protects” indigenous people, was gutted and controversy arose about its leaders’ true motives, leading to a movement #OcupaFunai an occupation of the organization’s HQ.

Dakota Access Pipeline Protests (existing article)

#NoDAPL Movement

The Dakota Access Pipeline protests received very little mainstream media coverage from major broadcast television networks, pushing protesters to utilize social media to communicate the movement's activity following confrontations with Dakota Access workers. On April 19, 2016, Standing Rock Youth aged 6-18 launched a social media campaign titled, 'Rezpect Our Water,' demanding through online petitions that the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers would not go ahead with issuing permits to Dakota Access LLC to build the Dakota Access Pipeline.

On September 3,2016,tribal protectors of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe attempted stopping Dakota Access Workers from bulldozing their sacred burial grounds in order to construct the pipeline. In response, the tribal members were pepper sprayed and threatened with guard dogs.

Native Americans and allies on site captured the event via videos and pictures to be shared on social media. The attacks on the sacred burial grounds soon went viral across the internet, sparking interest worldwide about the ongoing events in North Dakota. North American tribes across the country began building networks of support and mobilization efforts to stand in solidarity with Standing Rock tribal members.

The Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters soon branded their campaign using the hashtag #NoDAPL on social media to note the defense of the original tribes against the pipeline's construction. The #NoDAPL movement grew exponentially in September 2016, boasting support from notable celebrities such as Shaleine Woodley, Leonardo DiCaprio, Susan Sarandon, Bernie Sanders, Mark Ruffalo and others. Ongoing social media support allows the Dakota Access Pipeline movement to continue seeking out support and donations for those standing in solidarity at Standing Rock.

On September 13, 2016, thousands of social media users across the world participated in the #NoDAPL Global Day of Action to call on President Barack Obama to permanently cease pipeline construction. There were 100 events in 35 U.S. states as well as five countries outside of the U.S. The growth of social media movements on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline utilizes hashtags, such as #NoDAPL, #StandwithStandingRock, #dakotaaccess, #waterislife and #RezpectOurWater.

The rise of social media regarding the North Dakota Pipeline has also brought greater awareness of contemporary Native American culture within the United States. According to some, social media is allowing tribes across the country to craft new narratives around Native American customs and cultural norms. The #NoDAPL movement is considered by some as a new set of networks to attract both national and global support regarding indigenous solidarity and sovereignty over native lands.

On October 31, 2016, a Facebook status update from what was suspected to be Standing Rock, warned users across the world that the Morton County Sheriff's Department was geotargeting Dakota Access Pipeline Protestors. The status encouraged Facebook users to 'Check-In' on their profiles to indicate that they were at Standing Rock in order to "overwhelm and confuse" the Morton County Sheriff's Department. However, the Morton County Sheriff's Department indicated that the rumor claiming that they were following and tracking Facebook check-ins at Standing Rock and elsewhere was false. The origins of the status were unknown, but people observing the protest check-in phenomena witnessed around 790,000 users talking about the trend of "#NoDAPL" on Facebook, between 2x and 100x the amount of conversation being had on other Facebook trends. Despite this viral attention, leaders at Standing Rock clearly indicated that they were not aware of the writer or sender of the original status. The Sacred Stone Camp indicated that while they were not responsible for the social media tactic, that they affirmed the action to spread awareness and solidarity about the movement. Following the Facebook Check-In action, the Facebook page for the Standing Rock Reservation was visited over 868,000 times and 'liked' more than 310,000 times.