Indigenous Land Rights NOW!
Why should the Brazilian government grant land rights to the indigenous communities in the Amazon Rainforest?
The Amazon Is Not For Sale
The Amazon Rainforest, a wonder full of mystery, beauty and life, is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. It extends across nine different countries specifically Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. As wonderful as the Amazon may look, many people continue to threaten and exploit it. Not long ago, President Michel Temer of Brazil declared to open the biggest Amazon reserve, Renca, for future foreign investments and mining. In the Associated Press’s New York Times article titled “Decree Opening Brazil Amazon to Mining Comes Under Criticism”, they shared the perspective of the Brazilian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature about how the area that’s considered for mining and investment is “larger than the Netherlands… [and]… Roughly “18,000 square miles (47,000 square kilometers).” Renca is also a stretch of land that’s rich in copper, silver, and gold.
His declaration to open up Renca caused a worldwide outcry from many conservationists, climate change advocates, environmental activists, and especially indigenous rights advocates. Luckily, in Ernesto Londoño and Shannon Sims’ article on the New York Times titled “Brazilian Judge Stymies Plan to Allow Mining in Amazon Region”, they talked about how Brazilian judge Rolando Valcir Spanholo temporarily blocked Michel Temer’s decree and claimed that he “had exceeded authority” and that a move like that has to be approved by Congress.
Brazilian President Michel Temer and the Ruralistas
President Michel Temer rose into power after the impeachment of the first female president of Brazil, Dilma Vana Rousseff. Ever since he came into power he was very well known for showing no support in anything that has to do with preserving and protecting the environment and upholding the rights of indigenous people. He cut the budgets of agencies that enforced these protective laws.
Many wonder how he remained in power, a powerful group of lawmakers backs him up despite the many corruption cases he was charged for. The group of lawmakers that secures his spot as president and protects him are called the ruralistas or ruralists, who also controls more than half of the Brazilian Congress and mostly consisted of the land-owning class. Their priorities range from promoting agribusiness, extracting natural resources through mining and defending individual’s interests and private property.
Alan Tormaid Campbell explains in his The Guardian article, “Land Grab in Amazon Jungle Threatens Dispossession, Violence and Murder,” for years now the ruralistas condemned protecting the Amazon and the natives inhabiting it too. With a powerful group backing up Temer, they control the future of Brazil, the Amazon, and the lives of the indigenous.
Why Should The Brazilian Government Grant Land Rights to the Indigenous People?
Besides plants and animals, the Amazon is also home to various indigenous tribes. In order to protect the Amazon and the indigenous should the Brazilian government grant land rights to the indigenous communities in the Amazon? Land rights are basically marking the territories under the natives. It’s also their right that’s guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution. Many of the policymakers in Brazil are often against it because of their economic ideals and values, to them what they’re doing is good because it’ll stimulate the country’s economy, bring up employment rates, and so on. But they’re completely ignoring the natives and if they’ll be affected or not.
The Brazilian government has often neglected the natives and their right to possess indigenous land. Land rights is needed and should be granted to them. Without the Brazilian government acknowledging the native’s land rights and properly demarcating land for them in the Brazilian Amazon, they could possibly face the erasure of their identity, risk furthering the devastating effects of climate change, and put no stop to the alarming genocide of many tribes and life that thrives in it.
Land Loss = Identity Loss
Without land rights being granted, the many indigenous tribes in the Brazilian Amazon could face the possibility of having their identity erased. Omaira Bolaños explains in her article, “Redefining Identities, Redefining Landscapes: Indigenous Identity and Land Rights Struggles in the Brazilian Amazon,” that the indigenous “…have been historically linked to the land as their main source of survival and…an essential element for the preservation of their culture and distinctive ethnicities” (46). This means that once we take away their ancestral land, it’s like stripping them off their culture, language, customs, traditions, religion and home. The natives who has been on that land has already created a meaningful relationship with the land as it holds the history and memory of their ancestors. There are only a few native people left for each tribe in the Amazon and if their land is taken, their rich history could vanish. The stories of every generation that has lived on that land will be forgotten.
On the other hand, there are some people that are upset with the indigenous people because it appears they’re just trying to occupy “private land”. Fernanda Canofre says in her article called “Criminalizing Indigenous Rights: The Battle for Land in Brazil,” during the colonial Brazil era, about 900,000 Brazilian natives out were evicted from their lands (65). Those local ranchers claiming that the indigenous are stealing land from them are occupying their indigenous land, which was their private land in the first place.
Brazilian Government as Threat
The threat the government imposes on the natives could also contribute to their erasure. Chris Arsenault states in his Reuters article, “Brazil’s Indigenous Leaders for Amazon Land Rights as Carnival Kicks Off,” published on February 24th 2017, as that the Brazilian government tried to build a dam in the Xingu region, the northeastern region of Brazil known for its fish-rich rivers and abundant vegetation. Many of the supporters of the proposed dam in the Brazilian Amazon said that Brazil needs it for clean energy and construction jobs.
Although dams could be beneficial in terms of providing clean energy and jobs in construction, the indigenous people who live in the area it has to be built on has to be moved and would lose their home. When construction takes place, most likely the natives can’t stay around. They’d be displaced of their home, and their source of food could be gone. Also, if the dam wasn’t built with strong materials and it breaks, there’s a possibility that the land or area they live on might be flooded which could cost innocent lives.
More Land Protected Within Indigenous Lands Helps Curb Climate Change
Moreover, the indigenous are needed in the Amazon and they are a big part of why it has life spurring in it. They are the allies of mother nature and the environment. Canofre shared a statement from a native tribe member and said, “…land is our life, the fundamental right to our life, it’s our mother… We are defending our right to our territory, our sacred right to keep our culture and our existence” (68). Since they’ve been there for a long time, knowledge of the Amazon has been passed down knowledge from their ancestors to every generation to come. The knowledge of medicinal herbs to heal any sickness, how to take care of their surroundings and nature and living in harmony with animals. Even if all the scientists and botanists were banded together, the indigenous’s knowledge of the forest or nature is more widespread since they’ve been there for the longest time. They know what’s good for the forest, mother nature, and the environment. They’ve learned to live alongside nature and keep the ecosystem alive.
With this expansive knowledge and care for nature, when land rights are granted there’s a bigger chance of slowing down the effects of climate change. The more land that’s protected within indigenous territory, the threat of deforestation and illegal logging could lessen which could slow the effects of climate change as well.
The Mass Killings of the Indigenous in the Amazon
In addition, random and frequent killings of natives encountered in the Amazon poses as a concern. Vanessa Barbara speaks of this genocide on the natives on a May 29th, 2017 New York Times article, called “The Genocide of Brazil’s Indians”, “…a group of ranchers armed with rifles and machetes attacked a settlement of about 400 families from the Gamela tribe… and 22 Indians were wounded, including three children. Many were shot in the back or had their wrists chopped.” Since there are threats of being abused, killed, or injured is present in their area this could drive them away from their land. Many of them have no choice but to look for a new home to the outskirts of cities and towns, which they are unfamiliar of. They will struggle assimilating into a new culture or society and be forced to adopt new habits such as wearing full on articles of clothing instead of their traditional clothing, riding public transportation to the place they want to go to instead of their usual walking or hiking to get what they need, and using advanced technology when they weren’t dependent on it at first.
Another reason to grant land rights to them is for their safety and well-being. Barbara states “Since 2007, 833 Indians have been murdered and 351 have committed suicide, according to the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health — rates far above the national average.” Just a reminder that the sidewalk you’re walking on, the road you’re driving on, the lot your house stands on, the hectares of land your favorite mall occupies and so on used to be the land of the indigenous. Imperial powers and colonizers stole land from the natives and took advantage of their hospitality as Michael Parenti says in his book titled “History is a Weapon: Imperialism 101, “Imperialism has been the most powerful force in world history over the last four or five centuries, carving up whole continents while oppressing indigenous peoples and obliterating entire civilizations.” Instead of murdering them we should be helping and respecting their rights as human beings. They’re not different from anybody.
Power to the Indigenous People
Land rights for the indigenous is crucial because it will stop the erasure of the indigenous tribes in the Amazon, slow down climate change, and stop the gruesome frequent random killings of indigenous people encountered in the forest. For natives to obtain their territory is a right of the indigenous. If their territory is planned on being used, there should always be communication with them and a personal approval from the natives should be obtained. A committee of indigenous leaders should be the overseers of the projects proposed in the Amazon.
Even though non-profit organizations are helpful to the natives, it’s still better if the natives were the point person instead of them when it comes to these matters. Nonprofit organizations could always support their actions, but they shouldn’t be the sole action takers or decision makers. Power and authority must be given back to these people as they’ve been robbed of it ever since the colonization of Brazil.
To all those that are threatening the indigenous, back off their (ancestral) lands. It’s simple, don’t take what’s not yours. Last but not the least, to the government of Brazil, indigenous rights are in guaranteed in the Constitution. The Constitution is the law of the land and what’s in it shall not be undermined or ignored. Land rights are the right of the natives, and it’s not open for any negotiations. Grant indigenous land rights now!
Works Cited
Arsenault, Chris. “Brazil’s Indigenous Leaders Push for Amazon Land Rights as Carnival Kicks Off.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 24 Feb. 2017, www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-carnival-landrights/brazils-indigenous-leaders-push-for-amazon-land-rights-as-carnival-kicks-off-idUSKBN16328W.
Associated Press. “Decree Opening Brazil Amazon to Mining Comes Under Criticism.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/08/24/world/americas/ap-lt-brazil-amazon-mining.html. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
Barbara, Vanessa. “The Genocide of Brazil’s Indians.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 May 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/05/29/opinion/the-genocide-of-brazils-indians.html?mcubz=3. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.
Bolaños, Omaira. “Redefining Identities, Redefining Landscapes: Indigenous Identity and Land Rights Struggles in the Brazilian Amazon.” Journal of Cultural Geography, vol. 28, no. 1, 2011, pp. 45–72.
Campbell, Alan Tormaid. “Land grab in Amazon jungle threatens dispossession, violence and murder.” The Observer, Guardian News and Media, 9 Sept. 2017, www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/09/amazon-rainforest-michel-temer-indigenous.
Canofre, Fernanda. “Criminalizing Indigenous Rights: The Battle for Land in Brazil.” World Policy Journal, vol. 34, no. 3, 2017, pp. 64–68.
Londoño, Ernesto, and Shannon Sims. “Brazilian Judge Stymies Plan to Allow Mining in Amazon Region.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/world/americas/brazil-amazon-mining-temer-environmentalists-judge.html?_r=0. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.
Parenti, Michael. “History is a Weapon.” Imperialism 101, www.michaelparenti.org/Imperialism101.html.