The Makuxi
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The peoples of Raposa-Serra do Sol are under attack from violent farmers.
Vicious attacks have shaken their communities as the state government refuses to uphold the law.
The Makuxi, Wapixana, Ingarikó, Taurepang and Patamona peoples inhabit a land called Raposa-Serra do Sol in the north of Brazil, on the border with Venezuela and Guyana.
It is a spectacularly beautiful region of mountains, tropical forest, savanna, rivers and waterfalls. The territory is about 1.7 million hectares and is home to approximately 18,000 – 20,000 Indians.
Despite having had contact with outsiders for over two centuries, the Indians maintain their languages and customs.
Many communities run their own education and health projects and have set up several organisations to defend their rights and help run their projects.
After years of campaigning led by the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), Survival and many NGOs in Brazil and elsewhere, Raposa-Serra do Sol was signed into law by President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva on 15 April 2005.
There was much jubilation at this milestone as the territory had been the object of a sustained and violent campaign by local ranchers and settlers to stop the Indians winning it back.
In the last three decades over twenty Indians had been killed and hundreds injured during the Indians’ tireless struggle to reclaim their ancestral land.
Whilst most ranchers and some rice farmers have now left the territory on receipt of compensation from the government, a small group of rice farmers refuse to leave despite various attempts by the police to remove them.
Their illegal actions are supported by a group of powerful local politicians.
Since April 2008, they have resorted to increasingly violent tactics, shooting and wounding at least 10 Indians, burning bridges to prevent Indians entering or leaving their land, and throwing a bomb into one community.
Warning: this video contains images of violence and injuries which some may find upsetting.The government of Roraima state lodged a petition in Brazil’s Supreme Court contesting the federal government’s official recognition of the Raposa-Serra do Sol and demanding that it be reduced in size.
Nearly 20,000 Indians live there and rely on the land and rivers for their livelihood, yet the six farmers and local politicians claim that they are obstacles to the state’s development.
On 10th December 2008 the majority of Supreme Court judges upheld the Indians’ rights to their land, saying it had been demarcated according to the constitution and that its size and borders should be maintained.
The judges also affirmed the importance of maintaining indigenous territories as single, continuous areas and stated that territories on Brazil’s borders do not pose a risk to national sovereignty.
However, whilst agreeing that the rice farmers must leave the indigenous area, they did not reach an agreement about when this should happen.
The Supreme Court is likely to finish ruling on the case in early 2009 when the last three judges give their rulings. The majority verdict will stand.
Survival is calling for all the rice farmers to be removed as soon as possible to avoid further risk of violent conflicts.
Survival campaigned in support of the indigenous peoples of Raposa-Serra do Sol during this hugely significant case which could have had wide repercussions.
If the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of the farmers, the Indians would have lost some of their most fertile land and would have been permanently surrounded by hostile, armed outsiders.
Furthermore, if Raposa-Serra do Sol had been reduced in size and carved into tiny islands it would have set a precedent meaning that other indigenous territories, such as the Yanomami territory in the west of Roraima state would have been open to challenge.
Whilst the final ruling has yet to be made, the judges who have ruled so far have set out some clear guidelines for the demarcation of other indigenous lands facing continued land conflict, like the Guarani.
Your support is vital if the Indians of Raposa Serra do Sol are to survive. There are many ways you can help.