A bill to establish a holiday in honour of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which is celebrated every day on 19 April, is being promoted in Brazil. The proposal was supported by Deputy Fabio Trad, as reported by Metropoles, a partner of TV BRICS.

“This date goes far beyond celebrating the contribution of indigenous peoples to the creation of the Brazilian social body or the demand to immortalise indigenous culture. In addition, Indigenous Peoples’ Day should highlight indigenous peoples as citizens with the right to designate their own future,” the official text reads.

Formerly known as “Indian Day”, the name change to “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” was an initiative of former federal MP and current president of the National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (Funai), Jonia Wapichana. In addition, April 19 refers to the day in 1940 when indigenous delegates and representatives of various ethnic groups met at the First Inter-American Congress of Indigenous Peoples, which was considered fundamental for the discussion of various programmes on indigenous people.

It is worth remembering that, according to the 2022 census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), there are 1,652,876 indigenous peoples in Brazil.

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