Inside a guard post
Tap the post, the team, the water tower or the river to see how a post is built, staffed, supplied and run.
Organized at the border
A guard post tells outside society that the Kayapo of an area are organized to defend their land rights. The very presence of organized Kayapo along the border has proven effective to deter invasion.
Our drive to protect territory, culture and livelihood, combined with income that is shared fairly, is a strong social antidote to the bribes of goldminers, loggers and fishermen.
One community, one team
5–6 Kayapo guards from a single community, plus 2 non-Indigenous administrators. Teams from different communities rotate every week at most posts; where transport is daunting, every two weeks or monthly.
Built to stay
Each post has huts for sleeping, cooking and storage, and a bathroom.
Starlink internet at every post makes logistics easier, delivers a video education program and keeps the teams safe.
Teams and supplies travel by boat or 4x4 truck, depending on river or road access.
Watching the way in
Posts stand at the most vulnerable entry points into Kayapo territory: the rivers and roads invaders use to get in.
No non-Kayapo person may enter without official authorization from FUNAI, the federal Indian agency. Even the posts' own administrators need federal clearance, which can take time to obtain.
The long road to the guard post
Some posts sit days from the nearest town. Every litre of fuel, every sack of food and every team rotation has to travel there by road, river and on foot.
Unmaintained roads wear vehicles down fast, and boat motors need constant repair, especially in the dry season, when the rocks come back up.
More than a checkpoint
A deterrent to illegal invasions
Positioned on the rivers and roads at the edge of Kayapo land, guard teams watch, patrol and turn back loggers, miners and illegal fishers before they get in.
A source of income for Kayapo communities
Guards are paid for their rotations, bringing steady income into the villages: earned by protecting the forest, not by cutting it.
A hub for education
Between patrols, the posts become places to learn: monitoring, mapping, communications, and the skills to use them for our territory.
Elders & young Kayapo, side by side
Long rotations bring generations together. At the post, elders pass on stories, songs and knowledge of the land to the young guards beside them.
A source of pride
For young Kayapo, the guard posts are a connection to their traditional culture and a bridge that carries that bond with the land into the future.
Behind the shield, the forest grows
