Txai Suruí is an indigenous Brazilian environmental activist. She has been called "the most well-known Brazilian environmental activist in the world".
Suruí received a
as executive producer of ''
The Territory'', a 2022 documentary about the
indigenous people in Brazil.
Early life and education
Suruí was born in
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 ...
, Brazil.
Her father, Almir Suruí, is an activist, former parliamentary candidate, and member of the indigenous
Paiter
The Paiter, also known as Suruí, Suruí do Jiparaná, and Suruí de Rondônia, are an indigenous people of Brazil, who live in ten villages near the Mato Grosso–Rondônia border. They are farmers, who cultivate coffee.
Language
The Paiter sp ...
people of Brazil. Her mother, Ivaneide Bandeira Cardozo, is a scholar of indigenous people in Brazil, particularly the
. Suruí first attended school at the age of seven, when her family moved from an indigenous village to the nearby city.
She spent much of her childhood living with her grandparents in
Porto Velho
Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital (political), capital of the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin. The population is 460,434 people (as of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, ...
.
Suruí later studied law.
Activism
In 2021, Suruí and three other activists from the environmental group Engajamundo, along with two activists from the international group
Fridays for Future
Fridays for Future (FFF), also known as the School Strike for Climate ( ), is an international movement of school students who skip Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand climate change mitigation, action from political le ...
, sued officials in the Brazilian government for changing official carbon emissions calculations in order to circumvent
Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...
restrictions.
Later that year, Suruí was selected to be a speaker at the annual
United Nations Climate Change Conference
The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties – the conference of the par ...
, where she criticized attendees for their lack of attention to deforestation issues.
The appearance significantly raised her international profile, leading Spanish newspaper ''
El País
(; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...
'' to call Suruí "the most well-known Brazilian environmental activist in the world".
Suruí served as an executive producer on the 2022
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
documentary film ''
The Territory''.
The film covers three years of conflicts between indigenous people and the farmers and land developers trying to use indigenous land for their own purposes.
''
The Territory'' was nominated for multiple
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
, including Outstanding Cinematography For A Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Directing For A Documentary/Nonfiction Program, and Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking.
Suruí and her fellow filmmakers won the Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.
In 2023, Suruí and her mother were taken hostage, along with British film director
Heydon Prowse
Heydon Prowse (born February 1981) is a British activist, journalist, satirist, director and comedian. He is best known for writing and performing in BBC Three's Bafta-winning '' The Revolution Will Be Televised'' alongside Jolyon Rubinstein. ...
and a filmmaking crew, by a group of armed men, but were eventually released.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suruí, Txai
Living people
1990s births
Brazilian women environmentalists
People from Rondônia
Primetime Emmy Award winners