Whitley Apurinã, a young member of the Apurinã/Pupykary people, called for strengthening coordination among indigenous peoples and ensuring their participation in decisions that affect the Amazon.
“The Amazon is a single territory.” With this conviction, Whitley Apurinã, a young man from the Apurinã/Pupykary people and a participant in the 12th Pan-Amazonian Social Forum (FOSPA), summarizes one of the main challenges facing the region’s indigenous peoples: political borders and national laws continue to fragment territories, communities, and ancestral ways of relating to life.
As project manager for the Organization of the Apurinã and Jamamadi Indigenous Peoples of Boca do Acre (OPIAJBAM) and secretary of the Fiscal Council of the Pupykary Institute, Whitley participated for the first time in the FOSPA, held in Puyo, Ecuador, from August 16 to 21, 2026. From this gathering of peoples, social organizations, Afro-descendant communities, small farmers, churches, and other actors from the Pan-Amazon region, he shared his insights, concerns, and hopes for the region’s future with the communications team of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA).
“It was my first time at FOSPA”
For Whitley, participating in FOSPA meant coming into contact with a regional dynamic that, until now, she had known primarily through experiences in her own territory.
“It was my first time at FOSPA, so everything is very new. I learned a lot; I really enjoyed it,” she said.
One of the sessions in which he participated focused on indigenous communities and the right to self-determination. There, representatives from the peoples of the nine Amazonian countries were able to present their proposals and contribute to the drafting of a joint document.
For the young Apurinã, this process has value that extends beyond the meeting itself: he hopes that the proposals developed within the territories will gain recognition and be translated into public policy.
“I want it to become an official document, one that carries legal weight and forms part of public policy not only here in Ecuador but in all nine Amazonian countries,” he stated.
An Amazon Fragmented by Borders
One of the issues that most concerns Whitley is the political division of the Pan-Amazon region. National and administrative borders, he explains, do not correspond to the historical forms of relationship among Indigenous peoples.
“The Amazon is divided into nine large countries, and within those countries, it is further divided into states. Thus, the states divide the Indigenous peoples,” he said.
Before the current borders existed, the peoples maintained relationships, exchanges, and territorial ties that crossed the boundaries that now separate the countries.
“Our nations had no borders. We had relationships with other peoples; we had no limitations on our territory. Today we face those limitations,” he explained.
Added to this territorial fragmentation, in his experience, is legislation that often disregards the worldviews and traditional ways of life of indigenous peoples.
“Legislation created by non-indigenous people directly affects the way of life of indigenous communities. It restricts sacred spaces, limits the possibility of exchanging experiences, and restricts an entire aspect of worldview,” he stated.
That is why he considers it essential to move toward greater recognition of indigenous peoples as collective entities with the capacity to make decisions regarding their territories and their own life plans.
A Church Called to Accompany and Build Bridges
Whitley also highlighted the Church’s historic role in accompanying the indigenous peoples of the Amazon.
“The Church has always played a fundamental role in this social dynamic. The Catholic Church has always been close to us; often, it was the only institution providing that service and offering that guidance to indigenous peoples,” she recalled.
Drawing on his experience in Brazil, he made special mention of the support provided by the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), an organization linked to the Catholic Church that has stood with indigenous peoples in their struggles for rights for decades.
“It helped us a great deal in the beginning, when we still didn’t have trained leaders, in this entire effort to defend our collective rights,” he noted.
In the current context of the Amazon, he believes the Church can take on a renewed role as a bridge between indigenous peoples and public institutions, especially given its capacity for dialogue with different sectors of society.
“I believe the Church’s main role today is to serve as a mediator between communities and public authorities,” he stated.
But this support, in his view, must translate into concrete actions: strengthening consultation processes, supporting the peoples in their dialogues with governments, and helping ensure their voices are heard in national and international forums.
“May the Church help us engage in these dialogues, create these consultation protocols, and ensure our voice reaches national and international public authorities,” he urged.
For Whitley, FOSPA has made it clear that indigenous peoples do not want to be merely the recipients of decisions made about the Amazon.
“We want to participate in decision-making and also in drafting that legislation,” he stated.
Between Fear of the Future and Organized Hope
When asked how he envisions the Amazon ten years from now, Whitley did not hide his concern.
“I have a very pessimistic outlook,” he acknowledged.
His fear stems from the expansion of economic and political activities he considers a threat to Indigenous territories: the expansion of agribusiness, oil operations, the advancing deforestation frontier, and illegal environmental activities.
“Based on my experience today, I see that in ten years, the Amazon doesn’t have a very bright future. I’m very afraid of living through that future,” he said.
But that fear doesn’t mean giving up hope. For Whitley, one of the greatest strengths of the Amazonian peoples lies precisely in their ability to organize and build collective responses.
“I believe we always start from the collective,” he affirmed.
In recent years, he has observed growth in indigenous organizations, greater management capacities, and new opportunities for funding and training. Although he acknowledges that these processes still face difficulties, he believes that organizational strengthening can become a decisive tool for defending territories.
“Strengthen our associations, strengthen the dialogue between indigenous associations, and strengthen our networks,” he proposed.
Coordination also ensures that threats affecting a single territory are no longer viewed as isolated problems.
“When an indigenous land is suffering from a particular action, all indigenous lands are suffering from that action,” she explained.
For this reason, she believes that feeling part of a shared reality makes it possible to transform local responses into a regional force.
“When we feel part of a whole, we are moving toward becoming part of that whole. And that’s very good, because we’re truly going to join forces for a single cause,” she said.
Violence that, in her experience, is systematic
Whitley’s concern also has a concrete manifestation: the violence experienced by Indigenous communities in their territories.
Although he noted that he had not yet read the report on violence against indigenous peoples in Brazil presented by CIMI, he described situations that, based on his experience, highlight the level of risk these communities face.
In his territory, he stated, violence has increased significantly even after the demarcation of indigenous land.
“We managed to demarcate our land in January 2025. But when we’re crossing the mouth of the igarapé to get to our land, non-Indigenous people shoot at us and say we can’t pass through there, that it’s their land,” he said.
For Whitley, these situations cannot be understood simply as isolated incidents.
“I see that the rise in violence in the territories is very specific; it’s very strategic,” he said.
From his perspective, there is a chain of actions that begins with the illegal occupation of lands and can progress toward processes of territorial appropriation and concentration.
“Landowners first send in land grabbers and then buy the territories,” he explained, warning about the involvement of various economic and political actors.
In his view, this violence poses a threat not only to the physical safety of communities but also to the very survival of indigenous peoples.
“This kind of violence—which is systematic and planned—is very dangerous in the Amazonian context,” he concluded.
Building Hope from Within the Territories
Whitley’s presentation at the 12th FOSPA highlights a tension that many Amazonian peoples face today: fear in the face of mounting environmental, economic, and territorial threats, and, at the same time, the hope that arises from organization, coordination, and the peoples’ capacity to defend life.
His message points toward an Amazon where political borders do not hinder cooperation among peoples, where decisions regarding territories involve the effective participation of their inhabitants, and where indigenous organizations can strengthen their capacity to influence public policy.
On this journey, the Amazonian Church is also called to deepen its presence: not only by accompanying the peoples, but also by fostering spaces for dialogue, advocacy, listening, and coordination that allow their voices to reach the places where decisions are made.
From Puyo, the voice of this young Apurinã reminds us that defending the Amazon is not merely about protecting a geographical space. It also means defending peoples, cultures, spiritualities, territories, and diverse ways of understanding life.
And, above all, it means recognizing that, beyond the borders that have divided the map, the Amazon remains a common home and a territory that indigenous peoples continue to defend collectively.