Movimento Xondaria Kuery Jera Rete empodera mulheres indígenas no Paraná

Xondaria Kuery Jera Rete movement empowers indigenous women in Paraná

August 9, 2019

Did you know that when Europeans invaded the Americas, in less than 100 years, they exterminated about 90% of the natives and natives who lived here? This is one of the greatest genocides in history and there are those who celebrate it, those who think their culture is better than other people's, who think they need to 'teach how to be civilized'.

For over 500 years indigenous peoples have struggled to maintain their culture. On the last weekend of July, Eliane and Jéssica Gabriel de Castro started yet another resistance action focused on women: the first meeting of the Xondaria Kuery Jera Rete Movement. “We saw that there are many indigenous people who need guidance to defend their rights, to have their opinion, without depending on men”, explains Eliane, who lives in Kuaray Haxa, in Guarçouba, on the coast of Paraná.

The name of the movement is a tribute to Jera Rete, the first chief of Paraná. According to Eliane, they are continuing the work that her aunt started years ago. “For spiritual reasons, she left Palmeirinha and founded Araçaí, in Piraquara. Jera Rete was the first woman to show up, always encouraging the women around her. She suffered a lot of discrimination from non-indigenous people and from indigenous people as well.”

Due to the connection between Jera Rete and Palmerinha, the village was the first to receive the movement. Volunteer Adryelli Sacilotto de Camargo organized the transport that took volunteers to the municipality of Mangueirinha, about six hours from Curitiba. Among the topics discussed were the presentation of the history of Jera Rete, feminism and violence against women, reproductive health, the importance of reconnecting with ancestry and the screening of the documentary “Ko Yvy Ma Ndopa Mo'Ãi – This land will not end”. , by Matias Dala Stela.

Jessica, Jera Rete's niece, considers the event very important and confesses that she was moved. “I was very happy to see that the project worked. I was sad too, because I wanted her to be there. It was her dream.”

According to Marli Delane, who lives in Palmeirinha and participated, the women really enjoyed the action of the movement, one even separated from her husband, after realizing the countless violence she had suffered for years and receiving Adryelli's shelter during the weekend.

“The movement is for women to learn to release their voice, be leaders, independent and be able to raise their children without their fathers. We want to make a movement for women to express themselves, to see that they are important and that they can be whoever they want”.

The organization is already evaluating which will be the next village that will receive the Xondaria Kuery Jera Rete Movement and seeks support to continue empowering indigenous women in Paraná. Remembering that empowerment is collective and horizontal. No one empowers anyone, we empower ourselves together.