meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Documentary Podcast

Brazil's Miracle: an Indigenous disaster

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.32.6K Ratings

🗓️ 12 October 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

During the Brazilian military dictatorship, the Krenak indigenous people were banned from speaking their language, imprisoned in reformatories and forcibly displaced from their land. In 2024, the State asked them for forgiveness. Can it be granted? Journalist Pūlama Kaufman travels to the remote city of Resplendor in the south-east of Brazil to meet up with Brazilian environmental journalist, Cristina Serra. Together, they are welcomed into the Krenak Indigenous territory where they speak with Karnak elders, philosophers and community leaders. The Documentary uncovers the many layers to what Brazilian Civil Prosecutor Edmundo Dias calls an intentional, “genocide” of the Krenak, lead by Brazilian federal agencies. For decades, very little was known about what the Krenak suffered during the dictatorship, but now they are speaking out. And in 2024, the Amnesty Commission made its first ever apology to an Indigenous group when the president of the Commission got down on her knees in front of the Krenak.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:06.4

I'm in a car on a bumpy road with a journalist named Christina Sarah.

0:11.6

A few kilometers back, we turned off the tarmac and onto this dirt road, marked by a handmade billboard.

0:18.6

The sign read, Welcome to Krenak indigenous land.

0:24.6

This land is located near the city of Hesplendor

0:27.5

in southeastern Brazil.

0:29.7

And Christina and I are here

0:31.0

trying to find the home of Giovanni Kranak.

0:34.5

Hi, good day.

0:36.2

All right?

0:39.3

Here is the house of Giovanni Kranak. Hi, good day. All right? All right? Here's the house of Giovanni? Yeah?

0:40.3

Yeah.

0:41.3

It?

0:42.3

It's...

0:43.3

...legalani is one of eight Krenak leaders

0:45.3

who represents his community.

0:47.3

When I meet him, he's dressed in ripped jeans and work boots.

0:51.3

But what intrigues me are the words on his shirt.

0:55.6

I don't speak Portuguese,

0:56.7

but the question mark makes me wonder,

0:59.4

what is it asking?

1:02.0

Sifiji Kim.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.