The result of an unprecedented partnership between ISA and Anmiga, the mapping was made public during the first stage of the 2024/2025 Indigenous Women's Conference, held at TI Aldeia Limão Verde (MS)
On November 29th, the Map of Indigenous Women's Organizations in Brazil 2024 was launched, a partnership between the National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestrality (Anmiga) and the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA).
The event was hosted at Limon Verde Village Indigenous Land, of the people Guarani Kaiowá (MS), during the opening of the Indigenous Women's Conference 2024/2025, organized by Anmiga, the Ministries of Indigenous Peoples and Women and the Federal Government.
With the theme “Confronting violence against indigenous women”, the Conference, in turn, was integrated into the program of the XII Kuñangue Aty Guasu, the great assembly of Guarani Kaiowá and Guarani ñandeva women in Mato Grosso do Sul, which took place between November 27th and 30th – and marked the 18th anniversary of the indigenous organization’s existence.

Present at the event were authorities such as Sonia Guajarara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples; Eloy Terena, Executive Secretary of Indigenous Peoples; Pagu Rodrigues, Director of Rights Protection at the Ministry of Women; Putira Sacuema, Director of Primary Indigenous Health Care (DAPSI) at the Secretariat of Indigenous Health (Sesai); Giovana Mandulão, Coordinator of Knowledge Management, Information, Monitoring and Evaluation of Indigenous Health at Sesai; Juliana Jenipapo Kanindé, Secretary of Indigenous Peoples of Ceará; and Viviane Luiza, Secretary of Citizenship of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS).
The Map of Indigenous Women's Organizations in Brazil 2024, launched at the event, is an unprecedented partnership between researchers from Anmiga and ISA that seeks to put indigenous women's organizations across the country on the map.
In addition to mapping all georeferenced organizations, the publication contains a list by state in alphabetical order and also contains articles that focus on the way and motivations of indigenous women when organizing themselves, and also how Anmiga has developed its own concepts to think about the presence of indigenous women in politics.
All authorities present at the Conference received the Map first-hand, as did the hosts of the Aldeia Limão Verde Indigenous Land; the participants of the Kuñangue assembly; and the 100 delegates of the 2024/2025 Indigenous Women's Conference of the Aroeira stage, elected locally to represent their home states: Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás and the Federal District. More than 400 kits were distributed, including the map and two posters with illustrations by the indigenous artist. Aua Mendes, of the people Walls, distributed throughout the event that ended on Saturday, November 30th.
Joziléia Kaingang, executive director of Anmiga and one of the organizers of the Map, explains that it was the result of a joint construction, carried out by a team composed of women, indigenous and non-indigenous people, and that the launch marks a very significant moment as it takes place on the ground of the territory.
She also points out that mobilized indigenous women can inspire new movements, and that this can be demonstrated in the mapping results. “For us, indigenous women, identifying how indigenous women’s organizations have been growing over the last four years is fundamental. From here, we also come away with a diagnosis of how the incidence of indigenous women in a national context, in the national struggle, also encouraged organizations and collective associations of indigenous women to be established in the territories as well,” she states.
Luma Prado, historian, researcher at ISA and responsible for the mapping, explains that indigenous women have always been in struggle, and that associations are just one of the forms of expression of this movement, which is alive and very diverse. “The map is able to demonstrate the liveliness and diversity of the indigenous women’s movement, which is organized in different ways, constantly renewing itself and transforming itself,” she says.
“With the intention of monitoring these transformations and aware of the limits of mapping, we added a QR code to the Map that leads to a form. This way, indigenous women who do not find their organization on the Map can add it to be included in a future edition, and new organizations, once created, can also be added to the survey,” highlighted the researcher.
The Indigenous Women's Conference 2024/2025
At the Conference, over the two days of the event, debates with experts and guests took place and discussion groups were created on five thematic axes: law and territorial management; climate emergency; gender violence; health; education and the transmission of ancestral knowledge.
On the last day of the Aroeira stage of the Conference, based on the discussions made within the thematic groups, work proposals were presented to be taken to the national stage of the Conference, Copaíba, which will take place in Brasília between March 6th and 10th.
For Minister Sonia Guajajara, the goal is to bring indigenous women into the debate, so that they can bring their knowledge to the construction of public policies that truly respond to their needs. “Now, in this stage of the Conferences, we will discuss public policies for women and we want to establish a program for women guardians, both women who are guardians of culture and territory, as well as women who fight against violence,” she stated.
The next stages of the Conferences – Araucária, in Curitiba (PR) and Jurema, in Paulo Afonso (BA) – will bring together indigenous women from Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina; and Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and northern Bahia respectively. The meetings, however, have not yet had a set date.
The other stages – Sumaúma, Castanheira, Sapopemba and Mangabeira – will take place next year and are expected to bring together at least 400 indigenous women. The Map of Indigenous Women's Organizations in Brazil 2024 was included in the kit that will be distributed at all stages of the Conference. The Map is also available online and the physical version can be purchased at the Instituto Socioambiental store, Floresta no Centro. Get yours here.
Kuñangue Aty Guasu Assembly
The 12th General Assembly of Kuñangue Aty Guasu took place between November 27th and 30th, 2024, in the Aldeia Limão Verde Indigenous Land, in Amambai (MS). One of the most important forums for indigenous women of the peoples Guarani Kaiowá e Guarani Ñandeva, in Mato Grosso do Sul, this year's event marked the 18th anniversary of the indigenous organization, which was celebrated with the launch of the documentary “Kuñangue 18 years” and with the hosting of the 2024/2025 Indigenous Women's Conference as part of its program.
The Assembly, which had its first edition in 2006 in Ñande Ru Marangatu Indigenous Land, takes place with the objective of strengthening and highlighting the demands of the Guarani Kaiowá and Guarani ñandeva indigenous women in Mato Grosso do Sul, creating a space for welcoming and articulating around the various issues that affect the lives of these women.
Furthermore, it is a space for valuing the traditional knowledge and practices of the Guarani Kaiowá, and allows teachings, prayer songs, care and debates to circulate among different generations of women, from elderly women to young women and girls. “More than just women’s gatherings, the kuñangue aty are moments when women come together to sing and pray together, because among the Guarani Kaiowá, prayer songs are one of the main weapons of political action, and are used in all their mobilizations for rights”, explains Tatiane Klein, anthropologist and researcher at ISA.
Amidst the sound of the mbaraka and takuapu ritual instruments, discussions also take place on key issues for the indigenous movement, such as the threat of the “temporal framework” thesis; the struggle of Guarani Kaiowá and Guarani ñandeva women for the demarcation of Indigenous Lands; the impacts of pesticides on health; the construction of a protocol for consultation with women on the adoption of Guarani Kaiowá and Guarani ñandeva children and adolescents in Mato Grosso do Sul; among others.
The assembly's discussions also included access to basic rights that affect the Guarani Kaiowá and Guarani ñandeva populations, such as the lack of water in the territories, and human rights violations, such as the one that occurred on the morning of November 27. On the day the assembly began, Guarani Kaiowá, Guarani ñandeva and terena na Dourados Indigenous Reserve (MS) suffered a violent act of repression by the Military Police of Mato Grosso do Sul, which left around 50 injured and four arrested.
The event also featured cultural performances, such as a show by rapper Anarandá MC and the third edition of the Machu Award, which seeks to recognize and honor people who are allies in the struggles of Guarani Kaiowá and Guarani ñandeva women.
The next kuñangue aty will take place in 2025, this time in the Indigenous Land (TI) Ñande Ru Marangatu, in Antônio João (MS).