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| Karapiru Awá, Posto Tiracambu, Caru, April 2000
© 2000 Fiona Watson/Survival |
Mebegokre Kayapó Indians
have vowed to oppose the building of five dams along the Xingu River in
Amazonia. Two hundred Kayapó met recently to discuss the dams, which
they fear will have a devastating impact on the environment and will
flood large parts of their land.
Many Kayapó expressed their concern and anger that the Brazilian
government and the electricity company Eletronorte had not been open
about the project, and had flouted Brazil's constitution by failing to
consult with the communities who will be affected if the project goes
ahead.
In 1989 the Kayapó organised a huge meeting in Altamira to protest
against a similar dam building project. They successfully stopped the
dams from going ahead by catching the attention of the world's media
and obtaining widespread international support.
Faced with a similar scenario, the Kayapó are now building local and
regional alliances. The organiser of the meeting, Megaron Txukarramãe,
said, We call on all the inhabitants of the Xingu Valley to join with
us in a great demonstration in Altamira against the Belo Monte dam and
the other dams that Eletronorte wants to build throughout our valley,
and for the protection and development of our own productive powers,
our cultures and communities.'
Below is a report on the meeting.
DECLARATION OF THE MEETING OF THE MEBEGOKRE KAYAPÓ AT PIARAÇU, MATO GROSSO, MARCH 28APRIL 1, 2006
200 representatives of 19 of the 21 communities of the Mebegokre
(Kayapó) people met for five days in the village of Piaraçu between the
28 of March and the 1 of April. The main subject of discussion
was the project of the Brazilian government to build the Belo Monte dam
and four other hydroelectric dams on the Xingu River and its main
tributary, the Irirí.
The participants in the meeting were unanimously opposed to the
construction of these dams, alleging that they would have catastrophic
effects on the ecosystem, and would flood large areas of indigenous
territory. Many speakers introduced their remarks by singing their
personal war-songs, and warned that if the government proceeds with the
construction of Belo Monte it would bring on war with the Kayapó. They
also denounced the failure of Eletronorte and President Lula da Silva
to disclose the true extent of the plan, noting that they regularly
present it in public as a scheme involving only the single dam of Belo
Monte, whereas the project as a whole actually includes five huge dams.
One point repeatedly emphasized by speakers was that Eletronorte and
President Lula, by not coming to Kayapó communities and those of other
regional people to explain openly the details of their plans, or
allowing for the Kayapó to discuss the project in the National
Congress, are in violation of national law, which requires that any
development project which involves potentially damaging effects on
indigenous territories should be discussed with the indigenous
communities likely to be affected, and those communities should have
the opportunity to discuss the project in the National Congress.
In addition to their intransigent opposition to the dams, the
representatives of communities situated on the banks of the Xingú
denounced the increasing pollution of the river resulting from
agricultural activities, such as the massive cultivation of soy beans,
and cattle ranching, in close proximity to the tributaries of the
river. They demanded that the state regulate these activities to
prevent the destruction of the riverine ecosystem.
A second major theme of discussion was the insecurity of the boundaries
of those territories that have already been legally recognized by the
state as Kayapó reserves. Invasions of Kayapó areas are currently
running at an all-time high, and FUNAI, according to the testimonies of
many speakers, is not dealing effectively with the crisis.
While demanding a more a more adequate response by the responsible
organs of government, such as FUNAI, the Ministério Público (Attorney
General's Office), and the Federal and State police, the
representatives reported on measures that they themselves are taking to
deal with the problem. The most important of these is the establishment
of guard posts along the frontiers of the several Kayapó reserves. Each
community has taken responsibility for the section of the border which
passes along its area of the reserve. To fulfill this responsibility
the communities found guard posts at strategic points along their
boundaries, assigning community members to stay at the posts,
patrolling and standing guard. According to the speakers at the meeting
there are now more than sixty such posts, each with a man designated as
in command.
The third main theme of the meeting was the promotion of projects for
the communal production of forest products. These projects attempt to
substitute sustainable productive activities for unsustainable
extractive activities such as logging and gold mining as sources of
community income. They are motivated in part by awareness of the
importance of protecting the natural environment by using sustainable
forms of production, and in part by a realization of the urgency of
developing foci of occupation and utilization of forest resources
along the frontiers threatened by invaders.
The new guard posts thus fulfill a double role as centers of
exploitation of forest resources, such as Brazil nuts (both in
unprocessed form and in the form of oil pressed by machines that have
now been installed in four villages), cupuaçú, copaíba, tree resin,
bacaba, cacao, genipapo, jaborandí, and honey (this last supported by
an excellent project of FUNAI). Several villages are also producing
normal agricultural crops, such as rice, beans, manioc, and banana for
regional markets. These activities have contributed to a general
turning against the contracts with Brazilian extractivists (miners and
loggers) that played a dominant role in the Kayapó economy in the 1980s
and early 1990s by virtually all Kayapó communities (there are still a
handful of minor exceptions involving sub-groups in a few communities).
In the words of the organizer of the meeting, Megaron Txukarramãe, We
Mebegokre Kayapó are aware that the problems that threaten the lives of
our communities in the Xingú Valley also threaten other peoples, both
indigenous and Brazilian, who also live in the valley. The solution of
these problems, and thus the effective protection of our river and our
forest, forms part of a common struggle, which we share with all the
peoples of the Xingú Valley.
'Eighteen months ago, we met together with the other indigenous peoples
of the Upper, Middle and Lower Xingú in Piaraçu to forge a common front
against these threats. Now, following upon the successful conclusion of
the meeting of all of our own communities, we are entering upon the
next stage of our struggle, contacting organizations of national
Brazilian settlers of the Lower Xingú and the Transamazonica to form an
alliance of all the peoples of the Valley of the Xingú to save our
river from the dams, from pollution, and all kinds of destructive
development, and to promote alternative forms of production based on
the productive powers of local communities using sustainable resources.
'We call on all the inhabitants of the Xingú Valley to join with us in
a great demonstration in Altamira against the Belo Monte dam and the
other dams that Eletronorte wants to build throughout our valley, and
for the protection and development of our own productive powers, our
cultures and communities.'
Colider, Mato Grosso, Brazil April 04, 2006
The costs of transportation and lodging for the meeting were born by
Conservation International, the Wild Foundation, the Moore Foundation
and the Brazilian National Foundation for the Indian (FUNAI).
Text prepared by Terence Turner, Megaron Txukarramãe, and Luis Carlos
Sampaio. Translation of original Portuguese, Declaração da Reunião do
Povo Mebengokre Kayapó, Piaraçu, MT, 28 Março a 01 Abril de 2006', by
Terence Turner.
