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MEGARON TXUCARRAMÃE, GUARDIAN OF THE FLAME FOR CHIEF RAONI AND FOR THE KAYAPÓ PEOPLE

MEGARON TXUCARRAMÃE, GUARDIAN OF THE FLAME FOR CHIEF RAONI AND FOR THE KAYAPÓ PEOPLE

Chief Megaron Txucarramãe traducing for his famous uncle, Chief Raoni Metuktire © Gert-Peter Bruch

"AMAZON EMERGENCY", a Planète Amazone campaign, in partnership with the Instituto Raoni
Known and respected throughout the world for his fight to protect the Amazon rainforest, Chief Raoni is now approximately 82 years of age. To ensure the continuity of his actions after his passing, he is eager to have his right-hand men accompany him on his visits to foreign lands. It is in this context that the strongest and most faithful among them was at his side during the recent “Urgence Amazonie” (Amazon Emergency) campaign in Europe – his nephew, Chief Megaron Txucarramãe.

The people of France saw Txucarramãe with Chief Raoni on TF1’s 8 o’clock news program on November 29, 2012, as well as on other shows, but many remember him having earlier participated in the 1989 international campaign with singer Sting. The following provides further information on the person who will – along with others – one day take over for Chief Raoni, a man he’s been supporting for over 40 years.

 

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CHIEF RAONI : launch of the "AMAZON EMERGENCY" campaign - episode 3
- Press conference in Paris, Grenier des grands Augustins (atelier Picasso), 30/11/2012 -
Speech of Cacique Megaron Txucarramãe, Leader of the Kayapo people


 

Directed by James Amon for Amonimage Productions
On camera : James Amon,  Christophe Chauprade, Christophe Palluel, Mathieu Roger.

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"AMAZON EMERGENCY", contributors in the press conference on November 30, 2012 at Grenier des Grands Augustins (Atelier Picasso), Paris: Raoni Metuktire, Megaron Txucarramãe, Bemoro Metuktire, Nicolas Hulot, Gert-Peter Bruch (Planète Amazone), Philippe Desbrosses (Intelligence Verte), Jan Kounen, Frédéric Amiel (Greenpeace France), Ronak Monabay (Les Amis de la Terre) / translation: Arkan Simaan, Marcia Bechara and Cecilia Gutel.


 

Excerpt from the "AMAZON EMERGENCY" campaign press kit :

   

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MEGARON TXUCARRAMÃE, guardian of the flame for Chief Raoni and for the Kayapó people

 

 

He is the other grand Kayapó chief, the one who will one day pick up where Chief Raoni left off, a man he has supported for over 40 years. Not well known in the rest of the world, Chief Megaron is a legend in Brazil in the eyes of all indigenous peoples.

Pugnacious, inflexible, passionate and determined, Megaron is indisputably one of the pillars of the international front fighting for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous peoples. His status as an official of the FUNAI (National Indian Foundation) has not prevented him from violently opposing certain government projects, such as the Belo Monte dam. This virulence against Belo Monte is what caused him to be relieved of his duties as general coordinator of the township of Colider (in the state of Mato Grosso) in the autumn of 2011.

  

His full name says it all: Mekaron-ti means “the great soul” or “strong soul” in Kayapó

Megaron Txucarramãe (Mekaron-ti in his native language, or “strong soul”, “great soul”) was born in 1950 in the village of Kapot. He belongs, as does Chief Raoni Metuktire, to the Mebengokrê (meaning “those who came from an opening in the skies”) branch of the Kayapó people. He was only four years old when the Villas-Bôas brothers, celebrated Brazilian activists regarding indigenous peoples, made initial contact with his ethnic group, which is reputed to be the fiercest in the entire Amazon.

In 1964, he was one of five indigenous youth to join the Villas-Bôas brothers at their post in the Upper Xingu to learn Portuguese. His uncle Raoni, who was to one day become the great Chief known the world over, was already working alongside Orlando Villas-Bôas and had done so since the first contact in 1954. These two men were to become among the first of their people to build a bridge between the two worlds, that of the “kuben” (whites) and their own, which forged their relationship for life. Thus, they have never wavered from supporting each other in their battles, often at risk to their lives.

 

From first contact with the white man to reaching the most influential position an Indian has known within the Brazilian administration

Warrior, political leader, Megaron Txucarramãe has experienced a dazzling rise at the heart of the FUNAI, the state organization that replaced the SPI (the Indian Protection Service), which was founded by Marshall Rondon to protect (but also to place under guardianship?) the indigenous peoples of Brazil. He joined the organization in 1971 as a canoeist, becoming regional representative in the village of Kayapó de Kretire in 1977, before ascending to the position of director of Xingu National Park, from 1984 to 1995. He held this position while participating along with Chief Raoni, the singer Sting, and Sioux leader Red Crow in a memorable international campaign to protect Kayapó lands, which is still etched in people’s minds (April – June 1989). The FUNAI presidency extended him an invitation in 1995, but Brazil was not yet prepared to appoint such a key position to an indigenous personality. 

 

Relieved of his duties due to his actions against the Belo Monte dam

At the forefront of the fight against the Belo Monte dam, a project abandoned in 1989 and then reactivated during the term of President Lula Da Silva, Chief Megaron Txucarramãe had the support of every indigenous association and federation in his country the day he was relieved, in the autumn of 2011, of his duties as coordinator of the Colider (state of Mato Grosso) branch of FUNAI, due to his activism.

Launched after the failure of the Rio +20 summit on sustainable development, the Amazon Emergency campaign makes possible Chief Megaron’s return to Europe for the first time in nearly a quarter-century, at the side of his uncle Raoni Metuktire, whom he will replace after this ultimate voyage to that continent.

Father of nine, Chief Megaron is also an inspiration for the youth of the region. His daughter Mayalu is the founder of the Mebengokrê youth movement.

 

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Also available is our news article:

Brazilian anti-dam campaigner sacked - MEGARON TXUCARRAMAE loses job as co-ordinator for indigenous protection service  


 

- Translated from French into English by Lilliane Fiola -

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Planète Amazone (Amazon Planet), a french Non-Governmental Organization dedicated to the protection of tropical forests and its peoples, reflects in particular in Europe and the world, the fights of Cacique Raoni through its official website www.raoni.com and targeted actions.

Date : 19/02/2013

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