In April, the first Indian elected to Brazil’s senate will take his seat. Antônio Ferreira da Silva is an Apurinã Indian who won his bid with the help of President Lula da Silva’s Workers Party and the Brazilian Communist Party. Ferreira da Silva says he plans to enter the main chamber of the Senate with a headdress, armband, and his face painted. His main goal as a senator will be to fight for the approval of the Indian Bill, which has been stalled in Congress since 1988. Brazil has 345,000 Indians living in villages yet Brazil is the only country in South America where land ownership rights of indigenous people are not recognized.
