People of the water hole
The Berê Xikrin Indigenous Association has brought together 16 Mẽbêngôkre-Xikrin villages of the Trincheira Bacajá Indigenous Territory, in Pará, Brazil, since 2018.
The Mẽbêngôkre-Xikrin of the Bacajá
The Xikrin call themselves Mẽbêngôkre, “people of the water hole”. Water is at the heart of their culture: most villages lie along the Bacajá River, and the others by streams and creeks. Their language is Mẽbêngôkre, the same spoken by the Kayapó, and much of the community communicates mainly in it.
Kukradjà is the Xikrin way of being and living: “living with the forest, together with the forest and for the forest”, as the people’s Territorial and Environmental Management Plan puts it. It is something lived today, not a heritage of the past to be kept.
“I think that if the forest keeps disappearing, our future disappears too.”Beptok Xikrin, Pytakô village · Xikrin Life Plan, 2021 (translated from Portuguese)
Mission and vision
To represent and strengthen the Mẽbêngôkre Xikrin people, defending their territorial and cultural rights, preserving the socio-biodiversity of the Trincheira Bacajá Indigenous Territory and promoting the sustainable development of the communities, based on ethnodevelopment and autonomy.
To be a reference in the Amazon for Indigenous autonomy, sustainable territorial management and bioeconomy, ensuring the continuity of Xikrin culture and the well-being of its people for future generations.
- RightsAdvocacy for and defense of the rights of the Xikrin people.
- TerritoryTerritorial and environmental management of the Trincheira Bacajá Indigenous Territory.
- EthnodevelopmentFood security and income generated from the forest.
Who decides
Decisions follow traditional Xikrin organization, with the free, prior and informed consent of the villages.
- KubengêtThe elders, “those who truly know”. The council of elders and chiefs is the highest collective decision-making body.
- NgàbThe warriors’ house, the political space for local decisions in each village.
- General assembliesWhere the 16 villages decide together.
The Berê Network
Berê coordinates the Berê Xikrin Socio-biodiversity Network, which brings together three associations in the Trincheira Bacajá Indigenous Territory:
- Berê Xikrin Indigenous Association · 16 villages
- Katap-Ti Association · Prindjãm village
- Bep Tok Association · Tepkoika Nho Ngo, Pytakô and Pokamrôre villages
- Indigenous Steering Committee
- Indigenous Education Council (TEMEX)
- District Council of Indigenous Health (CONDISI)
- APIB, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil
- Trincheira Bacajá Indigenous Territory Subcommittee
Since 2018, and before
- Since 2013
Building of the Territorial and Environmental Management Plan (PGTA) “Aben Kaben Marimei”, “knowledge shared by all”, and cacao planting by the families.
- 2018
The Association is founded on October 23 in the Ngàb of Krãnh village by the villages of Kabakrô, Krãnh, Pyudjan and Prindjam, to defend the Xikrin people from the impacts of large infrastructure projects in the region.
- 2019
Legal registration in Anapu and, in December, the meeting that starts the alliance of villages that becomes the Berê Network.
- 2021
Xikrin Life Plan; Kwyrykangô ritual; the assembly decides to create community canteens and bring internet to the villages.
- 2023
Xikrin Cultural Festival, strengthening of the menire handicraft value chain, film club and environmental monitoring.
- 2024
Kwyrykangô Xikrin Cultural Festival and Cine Xikrin; the 16 villages approve the Berê Network Work Plan.
- 2025
Olhos d’Água — Menire Xikrin project; leadership training; selection in Call 3 of Restaura Amazônia.
- 2026
Kukràdjà Xikrin sports project, Berê Xikrin Festival, food and water security, territorial management and mobility between villages, and the Restaura Amazônia contract signed on September 2.
Who leads Berê
Bep Kamati XikrinPresident
Kadjore XikrinVice-president
Bep Ketoj Xikrin1st Secretary
Kangore Xikrin1st Treasurer
Piydjo Xikrin2nd Secretary
Bep Djyre Xikrin2nd Treasurer- Koitunggri XikrinMember
Irekoti XikrinMember
Nhoko XikrinAlternate member
Life Plan and PGTA
Since 2013, the villages have been building the Territorial and Environmental Management Plan “Aben Kaben Marimei”, “knowledge shared by all”. In 2021 came the Xikrin Life Plan, made in workshops with each village, its leaders and communities.
Both documents guide territorial management, long-term partnerships and the Association’s projects, such as Restaura Amazônia.
