In Brazil Indigenous Peoples Day (), observed annually on April 19, recognizes and honours the

indigenous peoples of Brazil Indigenous peoples in Brazil or Native Brazilians () are the peoples who lived in Brazil before European contact around 1500 and their descendants. Indigenous peoples once comprised an estimated 2,000 district tribes and nations inhabiting what ...

. The date was created by President

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; ; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...

by a decree in 1943 and recalls the day (April 19) in 1940, in which several indigenous leaderships of the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

decided to attend the First Inter-American Indian Congress, held in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The observance name was changed from "Indian Day" () in 2022. Nowadays most part of the cities does not celebrate the date, however it is very common for schoolchildren across Brazil to dress up like Natives and visit Museums to learn more about the first Brazilians. It is common to see celebrations in

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

with a relatively large indigenous population, such as

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

and Amazonas.

Festivities

The National Indian Festival is held yearly in Bertioga, São Paulo to celebrate the Indigenous People's Day. It is considered the largest indigenous cultural event in the world, which takes place on April 19. The festival is seen as an opportunity to learn about Brazilian indigenous peoples, since traveling to most tribal areas and reservations in Brazil is restricted and must be authorized by the national foundation

FUNAI is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. Currently, it is in liquidation. Apart from producing its own branded electronic products, it was also an OEM providing assembled televisions and video players/recor ...

. It is also seen as an opportunity for Native Brazilians to perform celebrations, such as indigenous rituals, body art, music, dance, food, crafts and sports.

Similar days celebrating racial groups in Brazil

The "Day of the

Caboclo A caboclo () is a person of mixed Indigenous Brazilian and European ancestry, or, less commonly, a culturally assimilated or detribalized person of full Amerindian descent. In Brazil, a ''caboclo'' generally refers to this specific type of ' ...

" (''Dia do Caboclo'') is observed annually on June 24, in celebration of the contributions and identity of the original caboclos and their descendants. This date is an official public holiday in the State of Amazonas. " Mixed Race Day" (''Dia do

Mestiço ''Mestiço'' is a Portuguese term that referred to persons of mixed European and Indigenous non-European ancestry in the former Portuguese Empire. Mestiço community in Brazil In Colonial Brazil, it was initially used to refer to , persons b ...

'') is observed annually on June 27, three days after the Day of the Caboclo, in celebration of all

mixed-race Brazilian Brazilian censuses do not use a "multiracial" category. Instead, the censuses use skin colour categories. Most Brazilians of visibly mixed racial origins self-identify as pardos. According to the 2022 census, "pardos" make up 92.1 million peo ...

s, including the caboclos. The date is an official public holiday in three Brazilian states. " Black Awareness Day" (''Dia da Consciência Negra'') is observed annually on November 20 as a day "to celebrate a regained awareness by the

black community Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ch ...

about their great worth and contribution to the country". The date is an official public holiday in five Brazilian states.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indigenous Peoples In Brazil Indigenous peoples in Brazil Indigenous peoples days April observances