National Indigenous Conference to begin next week

06/04/2006 - 12h53

Juliana Andrade
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília – For the first time Brazil is going to hold a National Indigenous Conference (Conferência Nacional dos Povos Indígenas). It will take place in Brasilia from April 12 to 19, bringing together 800 delegates from 230 different ethnic groups.

All the Indian groups, even those with less than 200 members, will have a representative at the conference," says the president of the National Indian Foundation (Funai), Mercio Pereira.

The national conference this year follows a series of nine regional conferences which took place last year. The regional conferences elected the 800 delegates for the national conference. The conferences discussed issues of interest to the Indians, such as political autonomy, education, health and demarcation of land.

The Brazilian indigenous population has been growing around 3.5% per year and now numbers between 450,000 and 460,000.In 1950, it was estimated that Brazil's indigenous population was only around 100,000.

As for reservation areas, there are now 480 of them, 55 of which were established in the three years of the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva administration.

Translation: Allen Bennett