Indigenous Warriors Take On Illegal Loggers In Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest (Photos)

Ka’apor Indian warriors hold a meeting the night before they begin an operation to search for and expel loggers from the Alto Turiacu Indian territory, in the village of Waxiguy Renda near the Centro do Guilherme municipality in the northeast of Maranhao state in the Amazon basin.

By Black Powder, RPM Staff

The Ka’apor Indians, a tribe of indigenous Brazilians living in the northeast region of the country, have begun taking up arms against illegal loggers.

According to an article by RYOT, the Ka’apor, are a tribe who migrated to the area now known as the Alto Turiaçu Indigenous Reserve centuries ago. They are now defending their stretch of paradise from illegal loggers, criminals who’ve been sacking precious timber from the supposedly “protected” parts of the world’s largest rainforest located mostly in Brazil.

In the past year, several attempts by various Indian groups to force the loggers off their land with help from the Brazilian government have been futile, for reasons that include the army’s fear of the loggers or just not wanting to venture too deeply into the rainforest.

Several indigenous tribes have been attacked by illegal loggers.

Members of the Ka’apor and other Indian groups including the Gurupi and the Munduruku all share stories of having had their villages, elders, and animals attacked at random by loggers along their respective borders. In addition, a fear of losing the resources the forest provides drove the Ka’apor Indians to reclaim their land, despite any potential repercussions by the loggers and the logging industry.

The long-standing territorial battle between the Ka’apor and illegal loggers turned on its head last August as several members of the Ka’apor tribe decided to take matters into their own hands and expel several illegal loggers from the rainforest.

No longer pleased with or willing to wait on the Brazilian government’s assistance, a small army of Ka’apor banded together, armed with guns and bows and arrows, they descended on several illegal loggers in the forest, burning their trucks and tractors. Any loggers who resisted were immediately forced to strip and were beaten in a humiliating display.

The Ka’apor were joined by Reuters photographer Lunae Parracho, who documented the scene when they reportedly found a number of the men.

Ka’apor Indians gesture to members of their tribe as they depart on a jungle expedition in the Alto Turiacu Indian Territory

A truck carries logs along a dirt road leading out of the Alto Turiacu Indian territory, as seen from inside a vehicle belonging to the Ka’apor Indian tribe.

Ka’apor Indians hand bows and arrows to tribal warriors traveling by truck through their village of Ximborenda, on the way to search for and expel loggers from the Alto Turiacu Indian territory, Brazil.

Ka’apor Indians hike during a jungle expedition to search for and expel loggers in the Alto Turiacu Indian Territory.

Ka’apor Indian warriors use sticks to beat captured loggers in the Alto Turiacu Indian territory.

Ka’apor Indians tie up loggers during a jungle expedition in the Alto Turiacu Indian Territory.

Ka’apor Indians stand over a logger they tied up.

A Ka’apor Indian chases a logger who tried to escape.

Ka’apor Indians stand over a logger they captured.

The Ka’apor Indians release the loggers, but keep their trucks, logs, weapons and, in some cases, trousers.

Loggers, relieved of their pants and shoes, run off after being released by Ka’apor Indian warriors.

A Ka’apor Indian pours gasoline on a logging truck before setting it on fire.

A logging truck burns after it was discovered and set on fire by Ka’apor Indian warriors

A Ka’apor Indian warrior uses a chainsaw to ruin one of the logs they found during a jungle expedition to search for and expel loggers.

Ka’apor Indian warriors hold a meeting in one of their “protected areas” from where they expelled loggers who they found illegally working in the Alto Turiacu Indian territory.

All photos by Lunae Parracho/Reuters