2005 - Republishing - TEARS OF A BRAZILIAN INDIAN

 

 

I was the first inhabitant of Brazil,

At that time and at that time,

We had many tribes,

We were a huge nation.

 

I was born between bows and arrows,

From the waterfalls,

Between rivers, lakes and seas,

Our life was in the forest.

 

We loved the beautiful nature,

Overlooked by streams,

Full of golds and diamonds.

 

Then we were discovered,

For white and enslaved men,

Persecuted to death,

Before, we were a strong army.

 

Now we are suffering,

Reduced in rudimentary society,

We are few in full extinction.

 

We teach white men,

These were delighted to smile,

With the beauties of the forests,

In search of our diamonds.

 

Brazilians! Brazilians!

We've been enslaved,

Today, I see myself floating,

In this terrible agony.

 

No territory to live in,

I live in hopelessness,

And without my people.

 

Mr President of the Republic!

I am a forest remnant,

I'm an aboriginal.

 

That is always changing,

From one small reserve to another,

From tiny fragments of land.

 

Gentlemen Senators! Members of Parliament!

Literate government men,

Ministers!

Magistrates!

Men of Brazilian Justice!

 

In our traditions,

We are mocked,

I am ashamed of my culture.

 

From the ambition of some Brazilians,

Who call themselves heirs,

From our entire territory.

 

It has no human spirit,

They deceive our people,

With gifts and medicines,

To get hold of our treasure.

 

But I can live Without these alms,

But I can't live,

Without my life,

That Brazilians take mercilessly.

 

O Brazilians! O Brazilians!

Do you know what it is to see and feel?

See all my race shot,

Humiliated and crushed,

By the white man of Brazil.

 

My sacrificed and thorny race,

Ripped with bullets and burns,

Brutally machine-gunned,

And without divine mercy.

 

Brazilian cowards!

Liars and insincerity,

Invade our tribes,

During the mornings.

 

Today, I am nobody,

And I have nothing to give,

I am expelled and without dignity,

Swept away from my indigenous nation.

 

They strafe our women,

They kill our children while they are still sleeping,

They rape before our eyes,

To our wives and children.

 

Our riches are stunned, Brazilians!

We've given it all,

What do you still want?

 

End our lives?

Kill our sleeping people?

How cruel! Brazilian cowards!

They are not men to fight in war,

Where blood runs in time.

 

We lost everything that was ours,

Without us being able to do anything,

The government always promising,

Demarcate our lands.

 

And the white man exploring,

Our riches and treasures,

During the terrifying night,

They attack us by surprise.

 

With bombs, revolvers,

Pistols, grenades and machine guns,

And they still set fire to destroy everything,

And they call us idiot Indians.

 

Brazilians! fake men,

Condemned to the pains of hell,

Leave my people alone

We don't want war

And no blood spilled.

 

We are different,

We are neither hungry nor thirsty,

And we don't even know what inflation is.

 

We know that some indigenous people,

Still suffer in the domains,

Starving and thirsty.

 

And yet, they receive the wounds of the whites,

He claims the government is helping.

 

We want to be respected

And we feel that our people,

They always had their values,

We are all just Brazilians.

 

O Brazilians!

We don't ask for anything,

We don't thank you either.

 

What we have is ours,

We owe nothing.

 

Our culture is not forgotten,

We have already been victims of the colonizers,

Of those catechizers,

With various intentions to domesticate.

 

Of religious catechesis,

Through the Jesuits,

With entrances and flags,

They made us slaves,

Subjugated in those projects.

 

They brought disease with them,

Transmitting the Kock to our people,

Called the tuberculosis bacillus.

 

We were always objects of laughter,

Of cruelties in society,

Not a place in Brazil,

Where we can be dignified.

 

The price we pay,

It was undoubtedly exorbitant,

We pay with our culture,

And with our dignity,

Respect among us is our life.

 

Governments only make promises,

And still they cut, cut,

Our indigenous territories,

And they donate and sell to white people.

 

They make false land deeds,

As if they were true owners,

Frighten with police and justice officials,

With injunction for repossession.

Brazilians, we've always lived here,

We live in the same crib,

From our ancestors.

 

Proceedings in court,

With a request for adverse possession,

They lie in court about possession,

They are real thieves.

 

Mr President of the Republic!

We are like an island,

No defense and no shelter,

In the hands of white men,

Who claim to own the nation.

 

Mr President of the Republic!

Cut our territories,

What are our rights?

What do we gain by that?

 

Public interest of the Union?

Illegal expropriations?

Where is our constitution?

After all, I arrived first.

 

We are currently violated, In our rights,

No land to live on,

And die in this Brazil,

Not knowing the reasons.

 

I live sad in this Brazil,

I am dominated by whites,

Bad men with a thousand rifles.

 

Brazilians! We're equal,

We drink the same water,

We bathe in the same ocean,

We feel the same pain.

 

If you continue to kill my people,

Let's leave our Brazil,

Let's leave the pieces of land,

Let's leave our traditions.

 

We will fly through the skies,

Before, we will drink the bitter tea,

In sacrifice of our lives, Let's go to infinity,

To meet God Tupa.

 

That take us to the other world,

Far from wild Brazil,

Corrupt and full of thieves,

Selfish and uncompassionate.

 

I don't want to leave,

I don't want to leave Brazil,

I don't aspire to feel sadness,

I want to live in my woods,

However, this is our end.