Not since 1742 has there been an Amazon Indian uprising on this scale resulting in so many deaths.

But the recent violent protests have left dozens dead and Alberto Pizango (pictured), the leader of Peru’s Amazon Indians, taking refuge in the Nicaraguan embassy in Peru.

For months, the protests had peacefully marked desperation at the government’s recent laws promoting the continued opening of indigenous land to oil companies and other groups hoping to exploit the rainforest’s many resources.

Of course not every supporter of the cause joined the demonstrations; Peru’s uncontacted tribes, who face the greatest threat from the government’s contested policies, remain far from the turmoil.

But they also make clear their desire to defend their lands, famously aiming arrows at passing planes.

Nevertheless, the movement has found support from across Peruvian society and beyond, as solidarity rallies gathered worldwide.

At this crucial moment many observers, including British newspaper The Guardian, stand with Pizango, noting that:

Peru’s president, Alan Garcia, is determined to parcel up the forest into blocks for commercial use, encouraged by a free trade deal with America signed three years ago.

More than 70% of the forest has been allocated for oil exploration and the consequences for the Amazonian ecosystem, and the people who co-exist with it, have been dire.

The protests turned bloody last Friday when clashes with the army and police, as they tried to clear a roadblock, left at least 30 people dead and perhaps many more.

The Indian spokesman, Alberto Pizango, who heads a human rights organisation that brings together Amazonian Indian interests from across the country and which has long fought peacefully to protect the forests, has been charged with sedition.

Survival’s Director, Stephen Corry, has said that the Amazon is facing its ‘Tiananmen’ unless its government changes course. There are glimmers of hope, with the BBC reporting that two highly controversial land laws have been suspended.

Now’s a good time to write a letter to President Garcia to join the growing global opposition to his government’s tactics.

Remember this?

This was the photo that sent the media dizzy last year and appeared on TV screens and in newspapers and magazines all around the world.

They are members of one of the world’s last uncontacted tribes, living deep in the remote Brazilian Amazon.

According to Google, news of these photos went to 190 countries. That’s to say, every country in the world bar two.

Does that make this the most famous tribe in the world? Could be.

Previously uncontacted members of the Paraguayan Ayoreo-Totobiegosode group the moment they were first contacted, in 2004. © GAT/Survival

To mark the ‘anniversary’ of the publication of this photo, released last year by Survival on May 29, we have written a report called ‘One Year On: Uncontacted tribes face extinction.’

The thrust of the report is simple. Despite all the media coverage last year and the wave of public outrage sparked by it, uncontacted tribes around the world still do not have their rights recognised.

Their lands are still being invaded. And the tribes themselves are still at risk of being wiped out by violence and by diseases against which they have no immunity.

You can read the report here.

And you can get involved – by writing to people in positions of power.

Tribal people do not just die out. They’re killed – and the people killing them have names and addresses.

For a number of months now, we’ve been monitoring the progress of a movie by the name of Hakani: A Survivor’s Story, which has stirred hate against tribal peoples.

The film apparently shows a tribal community in the Amazon ritualistically burying a child alive. We are told that this is because the child was thought not to have a proper human soul.

Only at the very end of the film does it explain that the footage is a ‘reconstruction’. This leads many viewers to believe that the scenes are real.

In fact, even the film’s makers have no proof that the events it shows ever happened.

It was made by David Cunningham, son of the founder of fundamentalist Christian missionary group Youth With A Mission. Now, it is being used by such groups to fight for a new law in Brazil, Muwaji’s Law, which will force government officials to take a child from its parents if somebody merely suspects that the child is at risk of being killed in this way.

This is an extremely sensitive issue, but it has reached the stage where tribal peoples in general are being targeted for an exceedingly rare practice, at a time when they are already threatened on all sides.

For more info, see our Hakani background briefing, download Survival’s reaction or read it at Scribd.

Only a few days to go until the beginning of Tea for Tribes, and Survival supporters have been busy arranging tea parties all over the world. So far Tea for Tribes will be making its mark in the USA, Australia, Ireland, Taiwan, Spain and India - and more people are registering their event every day.

(more…)

Whilst Damien Hirst’s piece for Survival is readied for auction, another group of artists have put forward their talents for tribal peoples.

Bruce Parry, star of the BBC series ‘Tribe’ and the forthcoming ‘Amazon’, has teamed up with some of the music world’s brightest stars to create a fundraising album for Survival.

Musicians on the album include KT Tunstall, will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas), Johnny Borrell (Razorlight), Tom Baxter, Mystery Jets, Jason Mraz, Yusuf Islam, Hot Chip, the Go! Team and Mike Oldfield. In addition, Guy Berryman from Coldplay, Jonas from MEW and Magne from A-ha have formed a new band specially for the CD called Apparatjik, and recorded a track that will also be used for the end credits of ‘Amazon’. Every track on the album is exclusive, and has been written especially for the project.

Parry spent months trekking through the jungle documenting the difficulties facing Earth’s largest rainforest and its people. His journey will air on the BBC from September.

The album will be released on double CD on 6 October, and you can pre-order it now at Amazon.co.uk or Play.com. It will also be available to download from iTunes on 22 September.

As British mining company Vedanta Resources ploughs ahead with plans to open a massive new mine on tribal land, we invite you to protest outside the firm’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) next week.

Vedanta (through a subsidiary named Sterlite) intends to build a huge bauxite mine in Niyamgiri, Orissa. The Niyamgiri Hills are the home of the Dongria Kondh tribe.

If the mine goes ahead it will destroy the Dongria Kondh and desecrate their most sacred site. Mining in this location risks polluting and drying up the many streams and rivers that flow from the mountain, which thousands of families depend on.

The battle to save Niyamgiri is currently being fought in the Supreme Court in Delhi. Although the company does not yet have permission for the mine, they have built a refinery which has already displaced some of a neighbouring Kondh tribe from their villages.

The Dongria have vowed to protect their forests and mountain. Two spokesmen from the area are traveling to London to protest at the AGM.

The Dongria Kondh need your help. Please join us on Thursday.

  Julie Christie at a Survival demonstration

Last year Survival asked me to narrate a short film about the plight of uncontacted peoples living in some of the most remote parts of the world. I’ve long been a supporter, and thought this would be one way that I could make a valuable and lasting contribution.

I was unprepared for just how deeply moved I would be by the footage Survival had put together, and the intimate stories of these vulnerable peoples struggling to survive. Amongst the remarkable scenes filmed by Survival researchers, one above all has stayed with me. A pitiful group of just six individuals, the last survivors of a once-proud tribe called the Akuntsu, sit forlornly in a forest clearing.

Having witnessed the massacre of all the other members of their tribe by cattle ranchers desperate for their land, their lethargy and utter despondency is hardly surprising. Yet still they rouse themselves to perform a shuffling dance of welcome. Heartbreaking.

Words seem woefully inadequate to convey their despair; but this short piece of film strikes at the heart of their story, helps us to understand and moves us to act. Survival is appealing for support to create a film unit, to ensure scenes like this reach many more people.

This need not be overly expensive; Survival researchers gather a wealth of video footage when visiting tribal communities, but it takes time and resources to edit, produce and distribute a film like Uncontacted Tribes.

Already this film has generated worldwide interest. For example, a newspaper in India recently gave one of our DVDs to all its readers. This has been one of many fantastic opportunities to get our message across using film, but of course there are cost implications.

With more resources, Survival could produce numerous films showing the reality of life for many of the world’s tribes; the deforestation of their homes, the sickness and disease they suffer as a result of invasions of their land, but also their dignity and endurance.

Survival’s goal is to get more people to see and understand more about tribal peoples. Such a groundswell of support will make it impossible for governments to sweep tribes aside and deny them what is rightfully theirs.

Tragically, it is too late for the Akuntsu; there simply is no way back for such a tiny group of survivors. But for every story like theirs, there are others – because of you – that are more encouraging.

Next year will be Survival’s 40th anniversary. I have been a supporter for most of that time and have seen just how many peoples Survival has helped. In the 1980s, the Yanomami were facing a bleak future, following invasions of their land by goldminers.

In fact more than a fifth of the tribe were wiped out. Decades of campaigning by Survival resulted in an historic victory, with almost 10 million hectares of rainforest secured for the tribe. In the words of Davi Kopenawa, Yanomami leader and shaman, ‘Without Survival, we’d all be dead’.

I’m proud to have been a part of the Uncontacted Tribes project, and I hope this film – and those that follow – will help make the world more aware, and help to secure the future of tribal peoples for generations to come.

Last Sunday saw the centenary of the London Marathon and another Survival team run one of the most famous races on earth, through rain and hail, for the lives of threatened tribal peoples everywhere.

Survival supporters go wild on the sidelines.

2008 has been a brilliant year for the Survival team. Not only did they smash all previous fundraising records by raising over £32,000, but each one of them struggled through months of training and injuries, ending up a hero.



Darren didn’t slow to a walk once and then helped a flagging stranger make it over the finish line.

Doug beat Olympic rower James Cracknell and his own 3 hour target by over five minutes.

Sam ran the hardest race of his life but raised more money for Survival than any individual ever has.

Tulls did a great time and sacrificed his i-phone to the marathon gods.

Rachel ran a brilliant race and passed a teetotal 25th birthday the week before because of her alcohol ban.

Rusty did 15 miles on crutches after having struggled through months of training with a knee injury but still finished with his head held high.


They made us all so proud and the money they raised will make a massive difference to the work we can do in the coming year.

If you’d like to take on the challenge of a lifetime, visit the Saa! Saa! Saa! Team section of the website and register your details for one of our Golden Bond places in the 2009 Flora London Marathon.

You don’t have to be Superman to do it and it isn’t going to be easy for anyone (except Doug perhaps, although we’re not sure he’s entirely human), but it really is a huge achievement and something you’ll always be proud of having done.

In the words of Darren, “it’s a world of pain… but totally worth it”.

Yesterday marked the grand launch of Survival’s brand new page on Facebook; another glorious digital Survival ship cutting majestically through the surf of the world wide web. I was all for smashing a bottle of champagne against Toby’s computer as he clicked ‘publish this page’ but the nearest we had to a bottle of champagne was my cup of tea, and for some reason Toby didn’t seem so keen on the idea.

The page increases Survival’s presence on Facebook, and keeps Facebook ‘fans’ of Survival up to date with our urgent campaigns. The ‘Share’ facility allows fans to post links on their profiles, and to encourage friends to get involved.

Survival has always believed that public opinion is the most powerful force for change. The page helps you to mobilise others to join the movement for tribal peoples, and best of all it’s a pretty nifty way for you to show your support for Survival for all your friends to see.

Take a look yourself at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Survival-International/19668531552

We’d love to hear any feedback from you, so do let us know what you think.

Time for a quick roundup of responses to Survival’s ‘Most Racist Article of the Year’ award. This year’s worthy recipient was Paraguay’s newspaper La Nacion for an editorial which compared Paraguayan Indians to a ‘dangerous cancer’ and described them as ‘filthy’.

The award triggered a firestorm of commentary at Ultima Hora, Paraguay’s largest daily newspaper website, currently running to six pages of heated discussion (in Spanish, of course).

The Independent’s Pandora noted the occasion…

Champagne flows and the awards season continues apace. Yesterday brought the Most Racist Article of the Year presentation. … Step forward (drum roll)… the Paraguayan paper La Nacion! I’d like to thank my parents, my editor…

… the award got an honourable mention at Racism Review, while over at IndyBlogs Jerome Bell cried foul:

Clearly the awards is a bit of a cheeky PR stunt by Survival but what the heck.

Cheeky PR stunts? Us?

Jerome wondered how the arrival of the award certificate would be received at La Nacion:

For their journalistic excellence the editors of La Nacion will be sent a certificate inscribed with a quotation from a Native American author who died in 1939. The inscription reads: “All the years of calling the Indian a savage has never made him one.”

I wish I could be a fly on the wall when the editor of La Nacion opens up that parcel.

Indeed.

And for your viewing pleasure, here’s the certificate that La Nacion will shortly be receiving:

Our news item is up on Digg and needs a bit of help, so please vote away.