Simone Xerente is the first indigenous woman of her ethnic group to be hired by a fire brigade in her territory and the first indigenous woman to be part of the Pronto Emprego brigades, elite fire crews that serve the entire Brazilian territory, managed by Prevfogo/Ibama, an environmental agency of the Brazilian government.

She was the only woman on the fire brigade last fire season, out of 30 people. The selection process was tough and competitive. Among 156 candidates - 50 women and 106 men - Simone was placed in 18^th, even ahead of her husband Reginaldo Gomes Xerente, a brigade member for almost ten years.

"I cried with joy, I jumped, they said I couldn’t make it, but I did, I passed!"

Simone has 5 children and lives in Cachoeirinha, one of the 100 villages that make up the Xerente and Funil Indigenous Lands, covering 183,000 hectares, in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, where the Amazon meets the Cerrado, a setting of exuberant nature.

During the dry season, the region is afflicted by wildfires, many times due to the conversion of native vegetation areas into plantations for agribusiness.

The beginning of the dream

Despite domestic activities, like many Xerente women, Simone found the strength through fire to fulfill her dream: to protect her territory.

She saw her husband going to fight fires, traveling, and thought "I'm going to do that, too. I'm a woman but I'm going to try." 

And it was through the volunteer brigade, the first in Brazil formed by indigenous women, in 2021, that she turned this dream into reality.

“When we started the volunteer brigade, with all the women, I set my mind into thinking I was going to make it, even though I sometimes didn’t believe that I could pass the test. The women inspired me.”

Getting prepared

Training for the physical test to join the brigade became part of a routine already full of tasks. Simone and Reginaldo trained together. And they didn't go alone, the daughters and the dogs followed too. 

“You have to find time, sometimes it's noon or three in the afternoon. But my goal was to train every day", explains Simone.

She ran 3 kilometers with a 20-liter water pump on her back, the same one used in the physical test and in firefighting. The other test, clearing a 3x5m field in 20 minutes, she managed to do in 14 minutes, above the average time among other competitors.

Forging the way 

Ana Shelley Xerente, one of the leaders of the volunteer brigade, talks about her colleague with a spark in her eyes. "She gives me the strength to try again this year, and I will. Simone is an inspiration to us."

Pedro Paulo Xerente, president of the Association of Xerente Indigenous Firefighters, is a strong supporter of the movement, amidst the Akwē indigenous culture which remains immersed in patriarchy, imposing barriers for the women to work beyond household chores and handicrafts. "The volunteer brigade is a bridge for them to reach the hired brigades. The women bring a broader view into firefighting, they add a lot."

As the first Xerente indigenous woman to occupy this space in a brigade, Simone paves the way for more women to join her, with an even bigger dream: 

"I want to pass again this year, but I want more women hired, more women with me."

In addition to women, her 17-year-old son is inspired by his mother and wants to be a brigade member.

How USAID supports Simone

Simone is one of the 29 Xerente indigenous people who took the first female volunteer brigade training course in 2021.

The course was organized in partnership between USAID/Brazil, the U.S. Forest Service through the South America Regional Fire Program, the Association of Xerente Indigenous Firefighters, the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples, and the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Natural Resources Renewables (Prevfogo/Ibama).

The training included units on environmental education, fire behavior, organization, safety, prescribed fire, and mobilization techniques.

They have already inspired indigenous women of other indigenous groups to organize themselves, such as the Apinajé indigenous brigade, which received the training course in 2022, also with support from USAID Brazil and the U.S. Forest Service.

Footnotes

Written by Priscila Steffen, USFS Internationals Program

Photos by Andressa Anholete for USAID

Tocantínia, Brazil