People’s Palace Projects in the News - People's Palace Projects

Recently People’s Palace Projects received the sad news from our partner the Kuikuro people, of the first Covid-19 confirmed cases in the Upper Xingu, Brazil’s oldest indigenous reservation. As a result, the annual traditional festival of Kuarup is now cancelled for the first time in history. The ritual of Kuarup brings together 16 communities in the Upper Xingu each year to celebrate life, death and rebirth.

“We fear for our lives”, chief Afukaka Kuikuro

This cancellation is extreme for many indigenous people and puts in perspective how seriously the indigenous chiefs are taking the coronavirus as more cases in the villages are confirmed. There is a growing concern for their lives that have already been under threat due to deforestation and the advance of environmental deregulation. To help keep them in total isolation, People’s Palace Projects and our partners have raised more than £28,000 to buy food, water, petrol for boats and generators, and PPE and hygiene products.

They are also building a facility to house the suspected cases in the villages. An app was launched to trace anyone who left the village and presented symptoms.

The story was published by the main national newspapers and TV networks in Brazil. You can read the articles – in Portuguese – by clicking on the links below: