The following morning, each adorned adolescent was given a white headband with dangling feathers. Within hours, it had dyed their skin black girls were transformed from head to toe, while boys exhibited designs and an upside-down triangle across the lower half of their face, almost resembling a beard. On the second to last day of the Wyra’whaw ritual, mothers painted their children’s bodies with the juice of the genipap fruit. Sergio Muti Tembé, the leader, said the government’s effort came not a moment too soon, and that his people are hopeful it will ensure the future of both their land and their customs. “The expectation is that, by the end of the week, we can complete the total eviction,” Nilton Tubino, the operation’s coordinator, was quoted as saying in the statement. As of Monday, 90% of settlers had voluntarily departed, with rain-ravaged roads impeding the rest, according to a statement from the general secretariat of Brazil’s presidency. Authorities threatened forcible expulsion of settlers who failed to leave, and pledged to eliminate access roads and irregular installations, according to a prosecutors’ statement detailing plans.

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