By Ivan Bocchini, Regional Coordinator of CR Madei frog
On December 3, the chief of the Kampinhu’hu village, Ivan Tenharim, died at the age of 45. Ivan was the son of Kwahã and grandson of Ariuvi. He therefore belonged to the lineage of the greatest warriors in the history of the Tenharim. If the cacique’s importance for the Tenharim nation was not enough, the circumstances of his death brought sadness and revolt. Ivan was found still alive on the banks of the BR 230, Trans-Amazonian Highway, by his nephew Marcos on the way between the Matupi District (km 180) and the village on the 2nd. However, the motorcycle, helmet and luggage were almost intact, raising suspicions about the true cause of death, initially identified as a traffic accident.
Ivan was taken to Humaitá and then removed to Porto Velho where he died the next day. The commotion was general. More than five hundred Tenharim and several Jiahui and Parintintin relatives attended the wake in Kampinhu’hu Village.
Ivan was buried next to his father along with his belongings, as per the Tenharim tradition. Bows and arrows, clothes, nets, various utensils were all thrown into the pit. The relatives also placed inside the coffin their own clothes that they had worn on some occasion that resembled Ivan. I, for example, wore a FUNAI t-shirt that I had worn when I went with Ivan to his Água Boa chestnut grove in 2011.
Ivan was from the Mutum Nangwera clan and all the burial work was done by the Taravé. His brothers-in-law carried the coffin, opened and closed the grave as a sign of respect for the Mutum. Everyone cried compulsively for endless hours. And they certainly still cry as I write these lines.
“I lost my mate!” sobbed João Bosco, chief of Aldeia Mafuí and great partner of Ivan. Bosco and Ivan married several of their children together, creating an indissoluble bond of companionship and mutual obligations. “They killed my brother-in-law!” cried indignantly Duca and Pedro Tenharim, former and respected leaders of the Taravé clan.
Ivan’s eldest son, Gilvan Tenharim, was the one who cried the loudest and most uninterruptedly. With impressive maturity and strength, Gilvan stated that he will continue his father’s work once he regains strength after the bereavement.
Ivan’s mother, Tu’ã, and his aunt, Kururu’í, the eldest of the family, mourned the dead and participated in the entire ceremony. Telma, the widow, and her children Darlene, Gilson, Daiane, Daniela and little Gabriela were crying hugging each other.
Nobody can accept that such a good person and with so many friends could have left that way.
Ivan was like a head of state. The competent authorities must now be able to respond to the importance that the cacique had for the Tenharim.
FUNAI will charge the police to carry out an investigation and identify the true cause of death.
We leave here our condolences for the departure of Ivan Tenharim. May the fight of the Tenharim people continue!
Goodbye namesake! Ji acoeté derehé!
Text originally published in December 2014 on Funai’s blog CR do Madeira.
