History

The Wajãpi Programme has its origins in the research work developed together with this indigenous group from 1977 by anthropologist Dominique Tilkin Gallois, which led her to provide assistance to FUNAI in the initial process of identifying and delimiting Wajãpi indigenous land. As a result of this work, the Wajãpi leaders began to request her support in confronting other problems. This led to the elaboration of the first Wajãpi projects, which received institutional support from the NGO Centre of Service for the Indigenous Peoples (Centro de Trabalho Indigenista – CTI).

• Territorial Control, Recuperation of Deteriorated Areas and Small-Scale Artisanal Mining in the TI Wajãpi – Project developed with the support of the National Fund for the Environment, SEMAM, between 1992 and 1993.
  
• Wajãpi Project for Extractive Diversification – Project developed between 1993 and 1995 with the support of the European Union Commission, to reorganize the small-scale artisanal mining practiced by the Wajãpi in areas previously invaded by gold miners, promote the careful management of the vegetable extractivism destined for the production of handicrafts and consolidate forms of territorial management related to the distribution of villages throughout Wajãpi territory.
  
• Wajãpi Demarcation Project – Developed between 1993 and 1996 in partnership with the German Government’s Technical Cooperation Agency / GTZ and through a contractual agreement with FUNAI, this project represented a pilot experience in indigenous autonomy in the process of territorial demarcation in Brazil.
  
• Wajãpi Education Project – Developed between 1994 and 2002 with support from the Rainforest Foundation Norway, this project gave continuity to a programme, founded in 1992 with the support of various institutions, for the training of indigenous teachers and the establishment of differentiated schools in the Wajãpi villages. Apart from the activities relating directly to school education, this project made possible the development of various training activities for Wajãpi young people and adults, with the objective of offering them the means to provide effective assistance to their communities and to confront autonomously the new challenges and demands brought about by the intensification of their relations with wider society. This project led to the consolidation of the Wajãpi Education Programme, whose courses for teachers and health workers continue to be developed with the support of other institutions. These include the Brazilian Ministry of Education’s General Office for the Coordination of Indigenous School Education (CGEI/MEC), the Brazilian National Indian Foundation’s (FUNAI) education sector, the Brazilian Ministry of Health, and in particular the Amapá State Department of Education, which now has a contractual agreement with Iepé guaranteeing the continuation of the Wajãpi teacher training programme.
  
• Wajãpi Health Programme – Set up in 1997 through a partnership between the Wajãpi Villages Council, the Centre of Service for the Indigenous Peoples / CTI and the Amapá State Department of Health, this programme initially offered health care activities in all of the villages on Wajãpi indigenous land as well as educational activities, including training courses for indigenous health workers. With the creation of the Special Indigenous Sanitary District (DISEI) of Amapá and Northern Pará in 2002, these health care activities became the responsibility of the National Health Foundation, but a partnership has been maintained with the Wajãpi Programme team for the development of training programmes for Indians and non-Indians working with health issues in the indigenous communities. Currently the Wajãpi Health Programme is being developed through a contractual agreement between the Brazilian Ministry of Health and the Wajãpi Villages Council – Apina.
  
• Programme for the Control and Supervision of Wajãpi Land – Developed between 1999 and 2003, with the support of and in partnership with the Brazilian National Indian Foundation’s Integrated Project for the Support of Indigenous Populations and Lands of Legal Amazonia (PPTAL / FUNAI), this programme helped consolidate the Wajãpi’s autonomous management of their territory, especially in relation to the settlements in the regions at the limits of their land as a means to guarantee the permanent surveillance of these areas.
  
• Environmental Evaluation of Wajãpi Land – Established in 2002, in partnership with the National Environment Fund / MMA, this project was based on a survey of indigenous environmental knowledge and expertise carried out in 2000 with support from the Rainforest Foundation Norway. The project made possible the complete mapping of the different regions of the Wajãpi Indigenous Land and led to a territorial management plan developed by the Indians themselves which is currently in the initial stages of implementation.
  
• Management Training for the Wajãpi – This programme began its activities in 1999 as part of the Wajãpi Education Project funded by the Rainforest Foundation Norway. From 2003 it was restructured as an autonomous programme which includes activities for the training of young people and adults, linked to the permanent provision of assistance and support to the Wajãpi Villages Council – Apina.