‘Indigenous Peoples are resisting’, says Txai Surui about international award

Iury Lima – Cenarium Magazine

VILHENA (RO) – Txai Surui is now the ‘World Voice of the Amazon’. This was the way the environmental activist from Rondonia, representative of the Paiter Suruí, native people who inhabit the Sete de Setembro Indigenous Land (TI), was mentioned during the delivery of the main trophy destined to Ecology defenders, in Brazil, the Hugo Werneck Award for Environment, Sustainability & Love, with ceremony held last Tuesday, 22. 

“The message that this recognition sends, in defense of our state, is that the Indigenous Peoples are resisting and that this is being seen, even internationally”, said the young woman in an interview to CENARIUM MAGAZINE. 

Txai Suruí’s first award

Txai says she was surprised because she did not know she was running for the 12th edition of the award. She was the only one chosen in the International Highlight category, being among other illustrious personalities in the other qualifications; a total of 15 activists, entities, and social projects.

“I was very happy to receive the award. I didn’t know that I had been nominated. So it was a great joy, also because it was the first award that I won in my life,” she explained happily to the reporter.

The award is the result of the speech that silenced almost 200 leaders from all over the planet to listen to the voice of the forest, guided by the Suruí ancestors, in November last year, during the 26th Climate Conference in Glasgow, the COP26. On that occasion, the young woman was the only indigenous Brazilian to speak at the opening of the event; a milestone for the history of the Nation and for the legacy of Brazilian native peoples.

“And the importance of this award is, exactly, the recognition for the work, not only that I, but that the organizations of which I am part have been doing and that the indigenous peoples have also been doing for the environment”, said the activist. 

A source of pride

The Kanindé Association for Ethnoenvironmental Defense, a non-governmental organization (NGO) of which the activist is a member, celebrated the recognition through social networks. The entity paid tribute to Txai and recalled that the young indigenous woman was persecuted by the Bolsonarist summit in Glasgow after her speech at the UN.

“Her defense for the standing Amazon Rainforest threw spotlight on the main claims of Brazilian environmentalists. At the end of her speech, at COP-26, in Glasgow, Scotland, while videos of her presentation were already viral on the internet, she was approached by a man who allegedly told her to “not speak ill of Brazil”. According to her, on the credentials he was wearing, it was possible to see that he was part of the Brazilian government delegation (…) The next day, even without having attended the Climate Conference, the president criticized her in statements that triggered a wave of hate and prejudice messages directed to the social networks of the activist”, wrote Kanindé.

Who is Txai Surui?

Now 25 years old, Txai Suruí is a law student at the Federal University of Rondonia (Unir), coordinator and legal advisor of the NGO Kanindé, creator of the movement Indigenous Youth of Rondonia, and activist for the preservation of the environment and the rights of the native peoples of the country.

She is the daughter of one of today’s most influential indigenous leaders, Chief Almir Surui, and Ivaneide Bandeira Cardozo. In the Kaxinawá indigenous language, the activist’s baptismal name, Walelasoetxeige Suruí, is loaded with powerful meanings, such as “intelligent woman”, “real people”, “more than a friend”, “more than a brother”, among others.

At the age of six, Txai was announced by her family as a future great leader, a legacy she has carried on, following Almir’s footsteps.

Hugo Werneck Award

Upon reaching its 12th edition, the Hugo Werneck Award for Environment, Sustainability & Love has become the main form of recognition for activists and defenders of life, biodiversity, and natural ecosystems in Brazil; the ‘Oscar of Ecology’.

The award is held by Revista Ecológico, in the state of Minas Gerais, recognizing the best projects, cases and actions. It also highlights initiatives from companies, governments, people, citizens, NGOs, institutions, political representatives, and personalities. Over time, it has already accumulated more than a thousand entries and nominations, having awarded, so far this year, 151 winners of the trophy.

See here all the winners of this edition.