Peru/Brazil:
The right to self-determination of indigenous peoples living in
voluntary isolation
In late May, aerial photos taken during
a fly-over piloted by the coordinator of the Ethno-Environmental
Front of FUNAI (the National Indigenous Foundation of Brazil)
confirmed the existence of indigenous people living in voluntary
isolation on the border between the Brazilian state of Acre and
Peru. They are members of one of four indigenous ethnic groups
living in isolation in this area.
Newspapers around the world published
images of the indigenous warriors painted red with the natural
pigment annatto, produced from the fruit of the achiote tree,
aiming their bows and arrows at the plane. Other members of the
group are standing back, unarmed, their bodies painted black with
genipap fruit juice, while women and children can be glimpsed
hiding in the forest. The pictures give the impression that they
have had bad experiences in the past associated with airplanes,
and their reaction leaves no room for doubt: they want the intruders
to go away.
The photographs also captured two large
thatched huts built on wide areas cleared in the rainforest to
grow bananas, cassava, corn and other crops.
Anthropologist Beatriz Huertas of the
International Committee for the Protection of Peoples in Isolation
makes a distinction between groups living in “isolation” and those
living in a situation considered of “initial contact”. The former
are reluctant to establish sustained interaction with members
of the enveloping society while the latter have mainly been forced
to abandon isolation by external factors or agents, and are more
vulnerable to contagion of external diseases against for which
they have developed no immunological defences.
Both groups share one problem in common,
however: the invasion of their territories by oil companies, logging
companies, and more recently, soybean farming operations on the
Brazilian side of the border.
It is known that in many cases some
predecessors of these groups had “extremely traumatic” experiences
when coming into contact with outsiders, and as a result they
have chosen to remain in isolation.
In the case of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest
region, Huertas says there are 14 ethnic groups or segments of
ethnic groups living in isolation, with the majority concentrated
along the border with Brazil. She also pointed out that with few
exceptions, virtually all the Land Reserves created and proposed
to favour those peoples living in isolation are encroached by
hundreds of loggers, many of whom have harassed or murdered isolated
indigenous people who have come across them. Certain firms that
have been granted logging concessions in neighbouring areas to
those that are home to indigenous communities are also logging
in reserves and launder the timber through their concessions and
licenses.
In an interview with Terra Magazine
(1), Huertas stressed that there have been countless denunciations
of problems provoked by illegal logging on the Brazilian-Peruvian
border since 1998. “Since then both countries have set up commissions
to deal with the problem but they never reached any clear agreements,
nor did they undertake any firm actions to remedy the situation,”
she noted.
Despite the abundance of evidence and
complaints regarding this situation, some of the companies involved
are even able to market their wood with the added advantage of
certification. This is supposed to ensure consumers that the products
they purchase are made from wood produced through “sustainable”
logging practices, which would imply respect for the rights of
the aboriginal peoples living in the area.
The International Indigenous Committee
for the Protection of Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact
of the Amazon, the Chaco Basin and the Eastern Region of Paraguay
(CIPIACI) declared in a press statement: “The movement of isolated
tribes into Brazil seems to be the result of the constant aggression
and threats they have been facing on their land in Peru. Effectively,
this kind of displacement has been going on for the last few years
because of the invasion of their territories, mainly by loggers
or missionaries who follow them and want to contact and evangelize
them.” (2)
The photographic evidence of the “invisible”
indigenous peoples created a certain level of awareness that has
made it possible for the International Indigenous Committee for
the Protection of Peoples in Isolation to highlight the situation.
This month, after visiting the region on the Brazilian-Peruvian
border, accompanied by a FENAMAD (Federación Nativa del Río Madre
de Dios y Afluentes) leader and Ashaninka indigenous people from
the village of Apiwtxa, Huertas announced: “We are going to prepare
a report on this issue and present it to the governments of Brazil
and Peru and to international human rights organizations. To the
greatest extent possible, we are going to do everything within
our reach to ensure that this problem is addressed.”
The dissemination of the photographs
of the indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation on the
Brazilian-Peruvian border had positive repercussions, but as Huertas
pointed out, “Nevertheless, we have to be cautious about certain
journalists who expressed a great deal of interest in travelling
to the region to establish contact in order to capture images
of the uncontacted Indians. This could be catastrophic and could
result in the death of the entire group, because of contagious
diseases or even a confrontation that could possibly erupt.”
“We have always advocated the right
to self-determination, and this means the right of these peoples
to decide freely and voluntarily about the ways of life they want
to have, without the forced imposition of contact or actions that
threaten this right, and this desire. They are living in isolation
and it is necessary to respect this isolation. At the same time,
if they seek contact, we will have to respect the decision they
have made, but we cannot in any way force contact upon them,”
she concluded.
Sources:
(1) “Comisión hará informe sobre indios
aislados entre Brasil y Perú”, 12 June 2008
http://www.co.terra.com/terramagazine/interna/0,,OI2944081-EI8865,00.html
(2) “South American Indians demand ‘respect’
for uncontacted tribes”, 4 June 2008
http://www.survival-international.org/news/3368;
and personal comments of Beatriz Huertas.
