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Defending the Tapajós: Gilson Tupinambá and CITUPI’s Fight for Life, Land & Water
In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, along the shimmering waters of the Tapajós River, a powerful movement is rising. The Tupinambá people — guardians of forest, river, memory, and spirit — are facing unprecedented threats from pollution, infrastructure megaprojects, and policies that undermine their rights.
At the forefront of this resistance stands Cacique Gilson Tupinambá, coordinator of CITUPI (Conselho Indígena Tupinambá do Baixo Tapajós). When RFM met with Gilson, his testimony about the contamination affecting his community was heartbreaking, urgent, and impossible to ignore.
Who Are CITUPI and the Tupinambá of the Lower Tapajós?
CITUPI represents around 21 Tupinambá villages along the lower Tapajós. Their territory is more than land — it is a living spiritual landscape shaped by sacred rivers, forests, and stone formations known as pedrais.
CITUPI’s mission includes:
• Defending territorial rights
• Protecting the Tapajós River and its sacred sites
• Ensuring Free, Prior, and Informed Consultation (FPIC)
• Advocating against extractive, polluting, and land-grabbing projects
• Safeguarding cultural and spiritual traditions
This council is not only a political body — it is a guardian of memory and ancestral continuity.
Gilson Tupinambá: Leader, Defender, Visionary
As Coordinator of CITUPI, Cacique Gilson is one of the most prominent Tupinambá leaders confronting threats to his peoples’ survival.
He has spoken out nationally and internationally to expose the dangers facing the Tapajós basin:
• Growing mercury contamination from illegal mining
• Increased barge traffic and dredging that disturb sacred riverbeds
• The mega-project Ferrogrão railway, which would accelerate deforestation and river privatization
• Threats and persecution against indigenous leaders
When speaking to RFM, Gilson described how contamination has infiltrated the daily life of Tupinambá families — poisoning the fish they depend on, polluting the water they drink, and causing irreversible health impacts.
His leadership is rooted in courage, community, and ancestral responsibility.
CITUPI’s Struggle
1. Fighting Environmental Contamination
Mercury pollution has become a silent catastrophe. It threatens food security, cultural practices, and public health.
Dredging, blasting, and industrial waterways worsen the crisis — stirring up toxic sediments and destroying habitats.
CITUPI insists: the river is alive — and its contamination is a violation of life itself.
2. Defending Sacred Territories
The Tapajós is not simply a river. It is a spiritual being, part of the Tupinambá cosmology.
Projects that destroy pedrais or alter the river’s flow cut into cultural identity itself.
For the Tupinambá, defending these sacred places is defending their existence.
3. Resisting Mega-Infrastructure Projects
The proposed Ferrogrão railway (EF-170) and the expansion of waterways could turn the Tapajós basin into an export corridor — with devastating social and environmental consequences.
CITUPI argues that these projects:
• Fail to respect FPIC
• Increase violence and land conflicts
• Risk permanent ecological damage
• Prioritize agribusiness over peoples’ rights
4. Asserting the Right to Consultation
CITUPI developed their own Protocol of Consultation — a landmark document demanding that any project affecting their territory must respect indigenous procedures, language, culture, and decision-making structures.
This protocol has become a reference for indigenous autonomy in the Amazon.
5. Facing Political Pressure and Violence
Resistance comes with danger.
Gilson and other leaders face constant intimidation, threats, and surveillance.
Yet, as Gilson says:
“We are the root of the Tupinambá people — and roots do not run.”
The struggle of CITUPI and Gilson Tupinambá is not isolated.
It reflects a global pattern:
• Indigenous peoples are on the frontlines of climate change
• They face the highest risks and the least protection
• They defend lands that store the world’s biodiversity
• Their knowledge is essential to the future of climate resilience
For RFM, amplifying their voices is not just documentation — it is solidarity.
A Call to Action
As Gilson reminded us, defending the Amazon is not a regional fight — it’s a global responsibility.
You can support by:
• Sharing their story
• Demanding protection for indigenous defenders
• Supporting campaigns against destructive megaprojects
• Calling for real, culturally grounded consultation processes
• Elevating indigenous leadership in climate conversations
The future of the Amazon — and our planet — depends on listening to those who have protected it for centuries.
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#StandWithIndigenousPeoples #AmazonDefenders #ForestGuardians #AncestralKnowledge
#AncestralResistance #COP30 #ClimateCrisis #ClimateJusticeNow
