Although there are different Guarani sub-groups, all share a religion which emphasises land above all. Land is the origin of all life, and is the gift of the 'great father', Ñande Ru.
How do they live? The Guarani were one of the first peoples contacted after Europeans
arrived in South America around 500 years ago. There are
around 40,000 Guarani in Paraguay, where Guarani is an official language along
with Spanish. In Brazil, there are around 30,000 Guarani, making them the
country's most numerous tribe. Other Guarani live in neighbouring Bolivia and
Argentina. They are a deeply
spiritual people. Every community has a
prayer house, and a religious leader, the cacique, whose authority is based on
prestige rather than formal power. The Guarani believe that the 'land without
evil' is the resting place of the soul after death - over the centuries many
Guarani have embarked on great journeys in an attempt to find the land without
evil in this life.
What problems do they face? The
Guarani in Brazil are suffering terribly from the theft of almost all their
land. They experience this theft as an offence against their religion as well as
a destruction of their way of life and livelihood. Thousands of them now live
crowded onto tiny plots of land increasingly hemmed in by ranches and
plantations - the land is not enough for them to support themselves as before
through hunting, fishing and farming. Instead they are exploited as cheap labour
by the ranchers and plantation owners. The Guarani-Kaiowá in Brazil suffer
particularly from this, and it has led to severe depression. Three hundred and
twenty Guarani-Kaiowá committed suicide between 1986 and the beginning of 2000,
the youngest being just 9 years old.
How can I help?
Click
here to donate to Survival.
Click
here for a sample letter to send to the Brazilian government.
Click
here to write to your MP or MEP (UK).
Click
here to write to the President, your senators, congressmen or other elected officials (US).
Write to your local Brazilian embassy, click
here to find out the address.
How does Survival
help? Survival is supporting the Guarani in their struggle to have
their land rights recognised, and to have the land that has been taken from them
by ranchers and others restored to them. Although Brazil does not
recognise Indian land ownership (despite its status in international law) its
own constitution does still oblige it to map, mark out ('demarcate') and protect
Indian land. Survival is calling on the Brazilian government to demarcate
Guarani land as a matter of urgency.
