From a village on the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, indigenous people founded a professional football team made up of players from all over Brazil, transforming the fifth division of the state championship into a new front in the fight for representation.
The objective of Originarios, the first entirely indigenous team to compete in an official football championship in Rio, goes far beyond scoring goals.
“The initial idea was to form the team and play in the championship. Not to be champions, but to give visibility to a people who suffer a lot, directly defending their land”, said the club’s president, Tupa Nunes, chief of the Mata Verde Bonita village, home to the Guarani Mbya indigenous people.
“Since I was young, I believed that by playing excellent football, beautiful football, well-played football, you can break the hearts of stone of those who failed to understand your dream, your project, your people,” he added.
Indigenous peoples, who represent 0.8% of Brazil’s population, are disproportionately affected by violence. Research shows that hundreds of indigenous people are killed every year in land disputes in Brazil.
Coach Huberlan Silva said that assembling the squad required an active search for indigenous talent across the country.
“Wherever I know there is an indigenous community, I call to find out where there is hidden talent, someone who didn’t have the opportunity and who, by coming here, can become a high-performance professional athlete,” said Silva.
Many players came from thousands of kilometers away, from the interior of the Amazon rainforest, to join the Originários.
The matches are an opportunity for striker Edilson Karai Mirim, a graphic artist from the Mata Verde Bonita village, to show the culture of the Guarani people through body painting. “It means a lot to me because it represents my people and my history,” he said.
The dream is to take the fight for representation beyond the Rio championship.
Nunes dreams of seeing his “warrior eagles”, the bird printed on the club’s shirt, fly higher, reaching big clubs in Brazil, Europe and perhaps even the national team.
“I want to see Originarios players opening doors to play for Flamengo, Botafogo, Fluminense, other Brazilian teams or in Europe,” he said. “But I also want to make the Brazilian team.”
