Our Actions

Our grandparents resisted. Following in their footsteps, we too resist.

We established the Xavante Warã Association (AXW) in 1996 with the goal of defending the rights and territories of our people.

Through Warã, we fight for the full protection of our land and an integrated governance and management policy for our territories.

To achieve these goals, we have developed actions along three lines:

Defense of the territory and confrontation of projects

Since the 90s, we have fought against the impacts of opening and paving highways that cut through our territories. Warã has also mobilized against the construction of hydropower plants that threatened our river. We have achieved several victories in this fight, but the attacks have not stopped. We now fight for the fair assessment of impacts and the right to free, prior, and informed consent in the face of new hydropower projects in the River of Deaths basin, the paving of BR-080 highway, and the construction of EF-354 railway – all projects impacting our land and way of life.

Environmental and territorial management of Xavante lands for sustainable development

Our fight secured the demarcation of nine territories, but our land has been cut, and our people divided. Warã fights for our lands to be protected as a whole; for demarcations to be completed; and for our territories to be connected by corridors of protected areas, allowing water, animals, plants, and the A’uwe people to roam the savannah again. Our association develops environmental and territorial management actions in projects to recover degraded areas, protect springs, and value traditional activities such as hunting, fishing, gathering, and rituals, aiming for the sustainable development of our communities.

Community organization and women’s organization

We call the assembly that takes place in the center of the village “warã,” where we sit in a circle and discuss the problems faced by our people. From there came the name and mission of the association, which brings together communities and leaders from all our territories. The Xavante Warã Association organizes local and regional meetings to discuss the issues affecting our land and mobilizes our people in the broader spaces of the national indigenous movement. Additionally, we have a dedicated coordination to promote discussion and coordination spaces exclusively for pi’õ nori tsiptede, the warrior women of the Xavante people, who play a fundamental role in our fight.