Around a hundred indigenous women have been camping for two weeks at the headquarters of the Regional Coordination of Funai in Altamira, Pará, Brazil, to protest against the installation license granted to the Volta Grande project by the Canadian mining company Belo Sun, which seeks to reopen the area for open-pit gold extraction. The protest is predominantly led by Indigenous women from the Juruna, Xikrin, Xipaya, Kuruaya, and Arara ethnic groups, who have raised significant concerns over the environmental and cultural implications of the project.

The protestors are demanding the immediate revocation of the installation license, arguing that the process has not been properly managed by Funai, the governmental body responsible for indigenous affairs in Brazil. They insist that the licensing process should be transferred from the state level, currently under the Secretariat of Environment of Pará (Semas-PA), to federal control under the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), arguing for stronger oversight and protection of indigenous rights and territories.

A recent online meeting convened a range of stakeholders to discuss these demands, including indigenous leaders, representatives from Funai, Ibama, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI), Semas-PA, and the Federal Public Ministry (MPF). As the situation develops, the protest highlights ongoing tensions between indigenous groups and state policies regarding land use and natural resource extraction in Brazil, further complicating the nation's approach to balancing development with indigenous rights and environmental protection.