In 1983, in an attempt to claim support and resources from Funai, the Kawaiweté intercepted a plane at the Diauarum Post, located on the Lower Xingu. A symbol of the expeditions that had arrived in the Xingu four decades before, the airplane was taken by these indigenous people in order to send out a message: “Respect indigenous land!”

In 1984, the Kayapó blocked a road that the dictatorship had opened in their territory and prevented the ferry from crossing the river. As such they demanded the demarcation of the Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory, where they live until today. While sealing the agreement in Brasilia, Raoni pulled the ear of Mario Andeazza, general João Figueiredo’s Home Secretary.

In 1989, at the 1st Encounter of Indigenous Peoples of the Xingu, in Altamira, Pará, Tuíra Kayapó used a machete to protest against a planned hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River. Constructed three decades later, Belo Monte Dam devastated the region and continues to be a focus for protests.