One of the tragedy recent
(Continuation)
The trip to the Kotikô village was delayed a bit due to the need to load the trucks, which always take advantage of the freight to transport various products, especially when the villages receive visitors. Before hitting the road, we stopped at the Iakiô Association store in Guarantã do Norte, which sells clothing, accessories and indigenous objects. The store was recently opened to increase fundraising to meet the numerous demands of the seven Panará villages.
In one truck, besides the driver, there were Marcos, Bruno Jungmann – photographer and videographer hired for the audiovisual production –, Rayssa and I. In the other truck, there were Montagner and the other researchers. Along the way, the landscape revealed the advance of agribusiness in corn, soybean, cotton and sesame crops, with areas of forest interspersed with crops and pastures. It is worth noting here that “practically 90% of the pesticides in circulation in Brazil are applied to just five crops: soybean, corn, cotton, pasture and sugarcane”, according to studies by USP researcher Larissa Mies Bombardi, detailed in the book Pesticides and chemical colonialism, launched in 2023.
The study also reveals: “The case of mancozeb, a fungicide with high toxicity to fish and invertebrate aquatic animals, is illustrative. Its use has grown throughout the country, but in the states of the Central-West (mostly in the Cerrado biome, the birthplace of the country's river basins), it has grown by 4.740% and in the North region, which contains about a fifth of the planet's drinking water, by 5.831%.” (BOMBARDI, Larissa Mies. Agrotóxico e colonialismo químico. São Paulo: Elefante, 2023, pp. 25, 73-74)
Close to the indigenous land, already in the state of Pará, the road got worse, and, bumping along the path full of undulations, which made the truck feel like a boat in rough seas.
Upon entering the indigenous land, the path was narrowed by the forest, which was not yet very dense, as it was a transitional vegetation between the cerrado and the Amazon rainforest. This explains the name “Gateway to the Amazon”, printed at the entrance to the city of Guarantã do Norte.
Very close to the village of Kotikô, it was necessary to cross the Iriri River, which, during the dry season, is usually at its lowest water level. There is no bridge on the chosen route. To cross by car, you need an experienced and skilled driver, which Komoio Panará proved to be, surprising those who thought the water would enter the truck. On this route, the first water samples were collected, from a small tributary of the Iriri, bordered by the road, where cattle and feces were found. Chemists Edilaine and Telma collected the samples, completing part of this stage of the research, which aims to identify, qualify and quantify the presence of toxic substances in the water.
This concern intensified, especially after 2017, when there was a second fish kill in the Iriri River (the first was in 2003) and the spread of a green, fetid stain along the banks of the villages of Sönkâränsän, Kresã, Sönkwê, and Nänsêpotiti, which extended as far as the Kaiapó land (PA). At the time, the analysis of the water carried out by the State University of Mato Grosso (Unemat) was inconclusive. technical inspection report prepared by the Southern Amazon Ichthyology Laboratory (Liam) at Unemat, in partnership with Ibama, suggested as its main hypothesis the exacerbated proliferation of cyanobacteria – which can produce high concentrations of toxins, harming fauna and posing risks to human health in the event of direct consumption of fish and water –, probably related to the use of fertilizers on farms located on the edge of indigenous land. Sudden changes in temperature are also associated with the proliferation of cyanobacteria, according to the report, whose publication contributed to the change in routine in the villages and surprised geographer Zaira Moutinho. “This phenomenon occurs naturally, but never at the magnitude and speed reported at the time,” said the researcher.
The signs of contamination
The technical inspection report, on page 10, stated: “Along the inspected stretch, in the region influenced by the headwaters of the Iriri and Iriri Novo Rivers, no evidence was found of specific dumping of toxic substances due to agricultural or mining activities that could justify the poisoning of the ichthyofauna. However, since the sources of the main tributaries of the Iriri and Iriri Novo Rivers are on rural properties in the north of the state of Mato Grosso, in a region where agriculture and livestock farming are expanding, constant monitoring of water quality is necessary, since diffuse pollution cannot be ruled out, due to leaching of surface waters and infiltration of interstitial water into rivers and lakes that can introduce toxic chemicals with a cumulative effect on the food chain.”
The report also pointed out, on page 10, the result of the inspection carried out specifically in the section of the river that bathed the Panará indigenous land: “During the boat trip, many dead fish or those in a lethargic state were found of the following species: Potamotrygon motoro – ray; Plagioscion squamosissimus – curvina; Cichla – tucunaré; Crenicichla – joaninha; Loricaria – cascudo; Hypostomus plecostumus – cascudo; Prochilodus nigricans – curimba; Ancistrus – cascudo; Hoplias aimara – trairão; Hoplias malabaricus – traira; Leporinus brunneus – piau; Leporinus friderici – piau três pintas; Myleus setiger – pacu; Serrasalmus rhombeus – piranha; Bryconops melanurus – piava; Platydoras – cuiu-cuiu; Moenkausia – lambari, also There were reports of Pseudoplatystoma punctifer – cachara, among other large fish. Even fish that were very resistant to hypoxia died in places with good oxygen levels for the survival of ichthyofauna, which indicates another factor causing the rapid death and lethargy of fish.”
The report also recommended, on page 34: “…it is worth noting that the indigenous populations of the Socorasã and Sancuê villages should avoid both the ingestion of fish and water, which may cause health problems. From a social point of view, it is suggested that meetings should be held between leaders and FUNAI so that they can develop actions to guarantee the health and quality of life of all indigenous peoples in the areas bathed by the Iriri River. The main source of protein for the populations living in the villages is fish, and if this is contaminated it can cause serious health problems.e".
From this point on, artesian wells began to be drilled in the Panará villages. However, by July 2024, three of them still did not have a well – such as Kotikô – and depended entirely on the waters of the Iriri River, including for drinking and cooking. The Canaã village was in the process of drilling an artesian well.
In June 2025, the Panará and researchers are trying to understand a new fish mortality event in the Iriri River. This one is on a smaller scale compared to what occurred in 2017, but equally worrying, and has been affecting mainly small fish. According to Montagner, understanding what is causing these effects is not a simple task, but it can be elucidated by aligning indigenous knowledge and science.
The time to gather the elders was approaching. It is worth highlighting their importance in the Panará culture. Some are called tapuntun (elder) and tuatun (elder) because, throughout their lives, they have distinguished themselves in actions in favor of the community, being much loved and respected by everyone in the village. The criterion for becoming a tapuntun or tuatun, therefore, is not only age, like elders in non-indigenous cultures. In the hierarchy of power, their decisions are worth more than those made by the representatives of the villages, such as the caciques and cacicas. They have ancestral authority even over the history that needed to be recorded. Upon arriving at the Kotikô village, the Iakiô vehicles stopped near where the indigenous women were preparing lunch. The teams were served a plentiful meal of Piau fish, cassava beiju, and bananas. After everyone had eaten very well, the place for the discussion circle was organized: a traditional indigenous house, temporarily occupied by a state public health employee who served the village. We were surprised by the participants' lateness, until one of the indigenous people accompanying us offered to walk around the village and call them. As he was taking a long time to return, Zaira considered the possibility that everyone was at the river and suggested that we also go for a swim. The rhythm in the village was not what we determined, but what nature offered and the indigenous people enjoyed. As we were finalizing the last details of the setting for the circle, the tapuntun and tuatun began to arrive.
The house where the conversation circle was held had a roof made of woven straw, typical of the Panará. Outside, the village floor acted as a natural reflector of sunlight, which provided the ideal brightness for recording. While indigenous objects such as baskets, bows, arrows and burdunas were positioned so as not to show the microphones and wires, the elders spoke to the indigenous people who would translate the conversation into Portuguese.
Among the translators were Perankõ, an important Kotikô leader, son of the great warrior and pacifist Teseya Panará, who was a conciliator during the first contact, an articulator of the compensation action brought against the Union and Funai in the 1990s and a fundamental figure in the recognition of the Panará killed during the opening of BR 163. “Teseya Panará and the old women, Sàrkyarasã, Kyütakriti and Swakiê, reconstructed, one by one, the list of Panará killed by epidemic diseases in Peixoto de Azevedo, between 1973 and 1975 – 176 individuals". (ARNT, Ricardo, et al. Panará, the return of the giant Indians. Socioenvironmental Institute. 1998, pp. 107)
The young communicator Krekiô Panará tells the SEC team how he works, alongside the young Jôwpôpri, in the project that encourages the training of communicators among indigenous people for the production of audiovisuals.
(Continued…)
(Continue …
Second chapter
INFORMATION
Edição: Raquel do Carmo Santos
report: Hebe Rios
Photos: Raissa Azeredo and Marcos Botelho Jr.
Videos: Marcos Botelho Jr., Bruno Jungmann, Krekiô Panará, Ricardo Abad (drone)
image editing: Alex Calixto, Paulo Cavalheri, Thiago dos Anjos
Art: Paulo Cavalheri
Web design: Renan Barreto
Video edition: Kleber Casablanca
Audiovisual coordinator: Patricia Lauretti
Coordination: Alvaro Kassab, Christiane Neme Campos, Laura Freitas Rodrigues
