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One of the main indigenous people working in the country, with nearly 30 years of experience in the Funai (National Indigenous Foundation), Rieli Franciscato was killed on Wednesday (9) with an arrow when approaching a group of uncontacted indigenous people. He tried to avoid a friction between the isolated population and the non-indigenous population that witnessed the sudden appearance of indigenous people on a farm in the rural area of Seringueiras, in Rondônia.
Rieli He was considered one of the indigenous peoples with the most experience in monitoring isolated groups in the country and one of the main defenders of the isolated groups active in the country, as well as being a benchmark for younger officials. His death causes a stir among Funai employees and the indigenous people.
A military police officer sent an audio report to Rieli’s friends about what happened. Late in the morning, the Military Police received a call about the appearance of the isolates near a site in Seringueiras. In the afternoon, Rieli went to the police station and asked for support to go to the region and check what happened. Since June, when the group known as “Isolados do Cautário” appeared in Seringueiras, Funai has acted to avoid conflicts between isolated and non-indigenous people and also to prevent contamination by the new coronavirus.
The group that went to the site, according to the Police, consisted of two PM, Rieli and an indigenous friend of the servant. According to the policeman, the group noticed footprints leading to the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau indigenous land. The group headed there, trying to find out if the Indians had returned to the forest.
At that time, according to the PM, already within the indigenous land, Rieli began to climb a small hill to observe the region from a higher point. “We only heard the sound of the arrow, we grabbed him by the chest, then he yelled ‘hello’, took the arrow, ran backwards, managed to run 50 to 60 meters and fell practically dead. We managed to transfer him to the car, which was on the road, we came to bring him to the hospital but he arrived lifeless. And our friend is sadly gone ”.
Indigenist Antenor Vaz, an old friend and colleague of Rieli’s in Funai, said his death “is an incalculable loss.” “It is an absolutely unexpected tragedy. U.S [indigenistas] we place ourselves between isolated Indians and those who threaten the Indians. Only the Indians do not know who their defenders are. It is an incalculable loss, especially for that region of Rondônia and Mato Grosso, where his work was sorely needed, a region of many conflicts. All the indigenous people are in deep pain, a feeling of great sadness. We have just lost a person who represents the protection of the isolated “.
The anthropologist and indigenist Leila Burger Sotto-Maior, former coordinator of the isolated indigenous sector and recent contact with Funai in Brasilia, said that Rieli was “a man who gave up many personal things to dedicate himself to protecting isolated indigenous people.” “.
“Dedicated, firm, committed, very organized. The Funai bases on the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau indigenous land are the best equipped, and all this he did. Tireless, he was demanding with the commitment of an indigenista. At the time of the Indianismo helper contest, he used to say ‘if we don’t have committed people, it doesn’t matter, today the boys want to work with the Indians without going to the mountains’. how he did it all his life. Reference for all of us. I cannot measure the loss for the indigenous world and, even less, for the Indians of TI Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau (Amondawa, Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau and isolated Today we lost a great man, a great teacher, to a great sertanista ”.
The group known as “Isolados do Cautário” had already appeared in the rural area of the municipality last June, but returned to the forest. The name refers to a river in the region.
Due to Funai’s observation from a distance in recent years, they sleep in hammocks and feed on hunting and fishing within the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous Land. Her hair is cut in a bowl shape. The group that appeared in June consisted of eight to ten indigenous people, according to a resident of the region.
