TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsIndigenous ‘warriors’ defend the Amazon with bows and spears
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Set as preferred source
I
n a remote pocket of the Brazilian Amazon under siege from illegal fishermen, poachers, loggers and drug traffickers, indigenous people have taken it upon themselves to defend the land and its resources.
With bows, arrows and spears, young men of Sao Luis village patrol the Javari River by motorboat in the valley of the same name.
They call themselves the “Warriors of the Forest”, the self-styled heirs of indigenous rights defender Bruno Pereira, who was murdered in the Javari Valley one year ago along with British journalist Dom Phillips.
“We must always be prepared for the worst. But we do not want violence,” said Lucinho Kanamari, his face painted red, insisting the traditional weapons were merely a “precaution”.
