Brazil Gears Up for Week-Long Indigenous Festival

With the theme 'Empowering Indigenous Women,' Brazil is gearing up for the sixth annual Week of Indigenous Peoples, a cultural festival featuring traditional dishes, food, games and dances.

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Over 5,000 Indigenous people from ten ethnic groups are expected to attend the country's largest festival of its type. Indigenous rights activists will take the stage, leading discussions on the current state of native communities, their struggle for human rights and equality, and their fight for progress.

"As in previous years, we hope that this year's Indigenous Peoples Week will be a real moment of integration between the ethnic groups that come to the meeting and the non-Indigenous population attending competitions, participating in debates or crafts and products so appreciated all over the world," said Viviane Cunha, municipal secretary of education of Sao Felix do Xingu and event organizer.

Members from the Kayapo, Tembe, Wai Wai, Kaxuyana, Xikrin, Gaviao, Guajajara, Parakana, Surui, Munduruku, Juruna and Bare communities are expected to attend.

Photography and art exhibitions, documentaries on ethnic traditions from around South America will precede the much-anticipated event in Sao Felix do Xingu, opening its doors to art lovers from April 2 until May 4.

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The festival is due to launch April 15 and draw to a close April 19 after a week of storytelling, cultural presentations, elaborate displays of historic artifacts, and live performances.

Services also available include citizenship action, providing documentation, legal, health, social, and dental registration and documentation assistance, specifically for the event's Indigenous participants.