A Voice for Life

ATINI - Voice for Life is a non profitable organization, located in Brasília - DF, that works in defending the rights of the indigenous children. Atini means "voice" in the suruwahá language.A voice in behalf of life, that presents to society a serious thought about indigenous children's homicide, usually called infanticide, while looking to bring alternatives to provide a solution to the problem.

In many parts of Brazil the practice of infanticide is a reality till these days. Every year dozens of children are buried alive, suffocated with leaves, poisoned or abandoned to die in the forest. Loving mothers are many times forced by cultural tradition to betray their instincts and give up on their child. Some of them rather commit suicide than do that. Others have to live with the pain and remorse for the rest of their life. In some cases, the mothers fight for the lives of their children while they can and are forced to live excluded by society or they need to take refuge away from their community. There are many reasons that lead to the death of hundreds of helpless children. Children that are born with some type of mental or physical handicap may be sacrificed. Twins or children born out of relationships that are undesired by the community have no guaranty of the right of life.In certain communities, the mother has the right to kill a new- born, as long as she is breast feeding another child, or if the baby's gender does not correspond to the expectation. In some tribes infanticide has been growing among young mothers. The lack of information, lack of access to the public politics of education and health, associated with the complete lack of hope for the future help perpetuate this practice.

Even though infanticide is a violation of human rights,it ends up being tolerated by the official agencies, under the politics of not interfering in the culture. Even though we have information that point to an increase of the infanticide rate of these last years, it is very hard to reach an accord of an approximate number of victims per year. Many of the deaths caused by infanticide appear covered in the official documents as death caused by malnutrition or undetermined causes.

Our movement began as a result of a woman's struggle. A indigenous woman decided to face the tradition of her society and the bureaucracy of national society with the purpose of guaranteeing the right of life for her handicapped daughter.In the beginning of 2005, Muwaji Suruwaha left the village with her family and started fighting for her daughter Iganani, that suffers of brain paralysis, to receive medical treatment. Iganani is now being treated in a hospital in Brasilia and will only be able to return to her village and live there if she learns how to walk.

We are a group formed by people from different areas of society like NGO's,indigenous associations, companies, churches, and politicians gathered around the same purpose. We respect the cultures and the differences, but above all we respect the human beings with no distinction.We fight to move and mobilize society with the purpose of seeking solutions for this ancestral problem of our nation.We fight to defend the right of life that each child has no matter what their ethnic origin is. We fight to take information to each indigenous community and to create condition for the children that are survivals of infanticide to be treated with respect and dignity.

A girl named Smile

More than 20 years of working with the Suruwahara Indians in the Amazon Basin of Brazil have made an impact on our lives. We have not only learned their language and culture, but have come to a point where we are as much a part of their lives and history as they are of ours. We have eaten monkey brains with them, and they have painted our bodies with their beautiful paintings. We have also shared their joys and sorrows by welcoming their newborn children into the world and by helping bury their dead.

Over these years we have cried a lot. We have cried with the mothers that were forced by cultural tradition to abandon their children in the jungle. We have cried with the young single girls who got pregnant and had to watch their fathers kill the babies with bow an arrow. We mourned the death of a mother and father who preferred to commit suicide instead of killing their two sick children. We then learned that one of this couple’s children, a five year old boy, was buried alive by an older brother. He was killed because he was not able to walk or talk.

But we were also given a most wonderful gift by the Suruwaha – our little daughter Hakani. She was rescued from the tribe after being abandoned by everyone she knew because she could not walk or talk. Her parents committed suicide because they could not bring themselves to kill her. This meant that Hakani was not only alone, but it also meant that she suffered all kinds of physical and emotional abuse for more than three years. It was at that time we finally received permission to bring her out of the tribe. She god medical treatment, and learned not only how to walk and talk, but also how to read and write. She is now a beautiful and happy girl, and a fine little artist.

Hakani’s name means smile. She has inspired her own people to take a stand against their ancient tribal tradition of infanticide. In turn, the courage of these Indians has inspired my husband and me to launch a national movement in Brazil called ATNI – VOICE FOR LIFE, dedicated to saving precious Indigenous children who are at risk of being killed for cultural reasons.

Marcia Suzuki

Committee

Henrique Terena, belongs to the terena tribe, is a teacher and teaches mainly History and Geography. He has vast knowledge about the indigenous matter and free access to the tribal areas. Married to Corina, they have 2 kids, Elianai and Eliel Terena.

Ana Keila M. Pinezi, is licensed in History and bachelor in Social Science (UnB), has a license in Anthropology, is a Master and Doctor in Science through the University of São Paulo (USP). Disenvolves studies in the area of Cyberculture, Cyberspace, Contemporary Culture, Anthropology of Religion and Human Rights. She is now a docent of the Federal University of ABC (UFABC).

Liz Abad Maximiano is a doctor in Geography by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro– UFRJ. She is a professor and consultant of planning and environment. She is also a watercolourists of Brazilian themes and landscape. Her areas of interest are Geography, Natural environment, Geopolitics, national development, Brazilian problems, citizenship, justice, education and arts.

Maíra de Paula Barreto is one of the greatest Brazilian authorities in the matter of infanticide in the indigenous tribes. Maíra is a Bachelorette in Law through the State University of Maringá and is getting her doctors degree in Human Rights through the University of Salamanca (theme: Culture and Human Rights in Brazil: The governments position regarding the homicide of indigenous children). Besides that, she is getting her masters degree in Personality Rights through the University center of Maringá and is a member of the International Law Association.

Márcia Suzuki is ethno-linguist and Master in indigenous Linguistics, author of the article Esboço Fonológico Preliminar da Língua Suruwahá e Interação entre Regras Segmentais e Prosódicas em Suruwahá, de 1995, among othors. She has around 25 years of experience in the Amazon tribes, speaks two indigenous languages fluently, Sateré-Mawe and Suruwahá, and works on projects for education, health and desenvolvimento sustentável. Since the beginning she has been working as the interpret and companion the suruwahá families in their battle for the right of life that their children in risk on infanticide have.She is married to Edson Susuki and has a daughter, Ana Hakani.