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| Guarani man harvesting cane
© João Ripper/Survival |
Several Guarani-Kaiowá communities recently met to discuss the alarming
number of deaths from starvation among their children. They have issued
a statement appealing for some of their land to be returned to them:
The death of our children: starvation and our land
We, leaders of the Guarani-Kaiowá Indigenous Rights Commission who live
in Mato Grosso do Sul, met and talked about this issue which is being
discussed throughout Brazil – the death of indigenous children from
starvation. We are very sad about the deaths of dozens of our children
during the last few months. Whilst we are grateful for the all the
support and help which people are giving us, we feel angry that we are
not being heard or respected in many aspects to do with our way of life
and our rights.
At the root of the situation is lack of land, which is the consequence
of the history of theft and destruction of our traditional territories,
of the policy to confine us in reserves, of the loss our liberty and
even the loss of will to live. Here in Mato Grosso do Sul we indigenous
peoples were evicted from our lands, and killed so that first cattle
could take our place, and then huge mono-culture plantations of soya.
It was a violent process against our people and our ways of life. The
forests where we used to hunt were destroyed by loggers and the cattle
ranchers' tractors. It was there in the forests that we used to
collect foods like fruits and honey and raw materials to make our
houses and utensils.
Death and starvation are due to many factors, among which is the loss
of land, which leads to the break up of our economy, of our way of
producing food and feeding ourselves, and of our families.
This matter cannot be discussed as if it were simply a question of
'giving food to the Indians'. Nor can it be said that our culture
is responsible for the deaths. The solutions go far further than the
distribution of foods from the government's food rations. We were
a free people who lived surrounded by abundance. Today we live
dependent on the government's aid. We feel that this policy is
paternalistic and does not enable us to go back and produce our own
food. It is like having a gun cocked against our heads. We need to have
the right conditions to grow food in our own gardens once more, to
cultivate manioc, potato, sugar cane, banana, sweet potato, corn,
beans, rice… We need help to resuscitate our land. Our lands must be
legally ratified and recognised by the government and cleared of
invaders.
Without respecting the federal constitution and ILO Convention 169,
still today, public policies on indigenous peoples do not take into
account our way of being, of living, of thinking and of organising
ourselves. Government food aid is handed out to homes without
considering whether the food is suitable for our customs.
More than anything we must have our lands ratified and protected and
all invaders removed. These lands include Nhande Ru Marangatu
(municipality of Antônio João), Lima Campo (in Ponta Porã), Taquara
(Juti), Ivycatu (Japorã), Guyraroka (Caarapó) Kokueí (Ponta Porã),
Sucuriy (Maracajú), as well the revision of the boundaries of the
small areas demarcated by the SPI (government Indian Protection
Service) at the beginning of last century. Moreover we must be
able go home to cultivate our fields, produce our own food and
recuperate the lands of our old communities which have been
impoverished. These lands have been used without being rotated because
there is no other land to cultivate. We must have clean, drinkable
water in the communities, and sanitation and medical care which
respects our cultures.
But above all, we demand respect and justice. We don't want to be just
another object of charity or of paternalistic projects. We have
the right to be different and to be free, to exercise our autonomy and
to be heard during the formulation of the policies for our peoples.
Although we are wounded, we are not a defeated people and we have every
faith in our wisdom, and we believe that one day we shall rebuild the
Land without Evil.
Caarapó Indigenous Territory, 5 March 2005
Silvio Paulo, Anastácio Peralto, Nito Nelson, José Bino Martins, Ladio Veron, Rosalino Ortiz
Guarani Kaiowá Indigenous Rights Commission
