Babaty Xavante de Iro’Órãpe Institute – Ibaxi

Ibaxi is an association whose mission is to promote the improvement of quality of life and ethno-development; to legally represent; and to defend human rights and citizenship of all the Xavante villages in São Marcos’ Indigenous Land. In order to do this, Ibaxi seeks actions on education, culture, health, prevention of alcoholism, food security and sustainable development.

Project

Before receiving the support of the Brazil Fund, Ibaxi still had not signed any agreement with other organizations. With the project selected, the group plans to build the initial nucleus of the House of Recovery and Support to assist all the Xavante villages. The house will host alcohol and drugs addicted people in an appropriate place, comfortable, with support from experts and the community.

The project also aims to combat the reasons for addiction and the serious consequences of prejudice against the indigenous Xavante, especially against those who are suffering from chemical dependency. The approach will be through lectures, cultural events and debates.

Context

São Marcos Indigenous Land Reserve is home to 34 Xavante villages, with an estimated population of 3,500 inhabitants. Surrounded by agrobusiness, the Xavante indigenous community is discriminated against by the surrounding population, who consider them as “thieves” and “lazy people”, while the reserve lands arouse greed.

This expectation of negative values and the social difference disrupted the process of construction of an indigenous identity, encouraging anti-social reactions and the use of alcohol and drugs, which are easy to access, especially by the young indigenous who go to cities like Campinópolis and Barra do Garças.

The effects of chemical dependency, in turn, replenish the prejudice and trigger serious consequences, such as family violence, particularly against indigenous women, conflicts, aggressions, crimes with knives, use of firearms, threats, and others, among the indigenous people themselves and between them and the non-indigenous. Young people involved in chemical dependency start pulling away from family and friends. This situation is also related to suicide cases, which are occurring among the Xavante.