Brazil's Krenak Indigenous group gets literary esteem and an apology for dictatorship-era crimes
Updated 24 mins ago
April 5, 2024
3 min read
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — It was a historic week for Brazil’s Krenak people, getting both literary esteem and an apology for dictatorship-era crimes — both firsts for the Indigenous people of the country.
Updated 6 mins ago
April 5, 2024
3 min read
Writer Fernanda Montenegro holds Indigenous writer and environmental activist Ailton Krenak during his admission ceremony at the Brazilian Academy of Letters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Friday, April 5, 2024. Krenak is the first Indigenous person to be elected to the academy. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
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By Eléonore Hughes And Mauricio Savarese The Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — It was a historic week for Brazil’s Krenak people, getting both literary esteem and an apology for dictatorship-era crimes — both firsts for the Indigenous people of the country.
On Tuesday, the indigenous group received a formal apology for human rights abuses they suffered during the military dictatorship (1964-1985) — a first in Brazil. Then on Friday one of their leaders, renowned writer and environmentalist Ailton Krenak, earned a seat at the Brazilian Academy of Letters, the country’s most exclusive literature body.
During Friday’s ceremony, Krenak received a sword, a necklace and a diploma from his peers. Wearing an Indigenous headband and the academy’s traditional green vest adorned with golden embroidery, he said he had come “to bring more languages” to the room.
“My relatives have come from different parts of Brazil to be here. I can’t mention every ethnicity here, there are many,” Krenak said in his speech. “I am here. I am Guarani, I am Kayapo, I am Xavante, I am them all.”
More:
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/americas/brazils-krenak-indigenous-group-gets-literary-esteem-and-an-apology-for-dictatorship-era-crimes/article_c2b19531-1285-5659-ac55-d30e43a7f853.html
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From The Guardian:
Brazil apologizes to Indigenous people for persecution during dictatorship
President of amnesty commission investigating crimes of 1964-85 regime makes first-ever apology to Indigenous leader
Tom Phillips and Tiago Rogero in Rio de Janeiro
Wed 3 Apr 2024 13.07 EDT
Brazil has issued its first-ever apology for the torture and persecution of Indigenous people during the military dictatorship, including the incarceration of victims in an infamous detention centre known as an “Indigenous concentration camp”.
The apology was made on Tuesday by an amnesty commission attached to the human rights ministry that is tasked with investigating the crimes of the 1964-85 regime.
The president of that commission, the law professor Eneá de Stutz e Almeida, knelt before the Indigenous leader Djanira Krenak as she voiced regret for the violence inflicted on the Krenak people.
“In the name of the Brazilian state I want to say sorry for all the suffering your people were put through,” said Almeida, who called the apology the first of its kind in the more than 500 years since Portuguese explorers reached what is now known as Brazil in 1500.
“In truth, I’m not saying sorry [only] for what happened during the dictatorship. I’m saying sorry for the persecution your people – as well as all other native people – have suffered over the last 524 years because of the non-Indigenous invasion of this land, which belongs to you,” Almeida told a hearing in the capital, Brasília.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/brazil-indigenous-people-apology