Under mars 2009 reste Ulf Rasmusson runt och besökte Miljöförbundet Jordens Vänners olika projekt i Sydamerika. Här är hans berättelse om Kanindé, Uru-euwau-wau och Mapuera.

Kanindé

Being with Kanindé is as always an intensive experience, as we rapidly cover a range of complex challenges which are continuously arising. I never cease to be amazed by Kanindés ability both to react to the problems which when they arise seem over-powering, and to proactively stake out new areas of intervention. Much is thanks to its charismatic, hard-driving, prestige-free leader, Neidinha. I take off my hat for this brave woman. She has built an outstanding team. Its key people working both in the field and at all kinds of meetings are, besides Neidinah, Israel, Edeson and Nete. Nete is a lady who was quite timid and only worked in Kanindé’s office previously, but is now a full-fledged Kanindé person. I didn’t see her as she was with a tribe. Edeson is rapidly growing too. Alcilene, who manages the accounts and financial reports, is another key person. Rogerio, Samuel and Mereto, who were previously full-time with Kanindé, now have other jobs but give crucial help to Kanindé from time to time as volunteers. Kanindé also has a number of people full-time in the field which I return to below.

Neidinha, Uru-Eu (in town for medical emergency for his child) and Israel.

Uru-eu-wau-wau

One big problem when I visited Kanindé last November was that a corrupt official of Funai, the government “Indian Protection Agency” had enticed one Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau man to sell timber. The latter has a difficult personality and other Uru-Eu are afraid of him. With a lot of effort, Kanindé managed to get a high-level meeting with Funai that included a boss from Brasilia and it was possible to get the official removed.

Kanindé has devoted time to help the Uru-Eu regain their culture, much of which was destroyed in the contact with the white society when most Uru-Eus died and they relocated to the edge of the reserve that was created. Rituals and traditional feasts have been taken up again, and the traditional burial grounds revisited. The success here has been counteracted by something that has gained strength recently: Some of the young Uru-Eu men who want the Western culture by going to the closest towns, drink and meet women there. Venereal diseases have already hit several young Uru-Eu men. Those Uru-Eu who do this tend to not want to work and not take part in the alternative production that is being promoted. The only way to earn money then is to sell timber to the logging company without having to do anything yourself. Most Uru-Eu oppose this so it has not happened yet but it is a big danger. For some reason more boys than girls are born by the Uru-Eu, so there is lack of young women which compounds the problem. A vicious cultural invasion occurred when loggers arranged for prostitutes to visit Uru-Eu villages and the Amondawa village which is also within the Uru-Eu territory. Despite intervention by Kanindé, Funai did not act until an Amondawa man committed suicide as a result.

Kanindé is very worried about this. The management plan for the Uru-Eu territory includes not only the alternative production – with products like farinha, copaiba, castanha (Brazil nuts) and acai – which is going well in some communities, but also vigilance and protection of the reserve. This is something all the young Uru-Eu like to do and they do it successfully. In a meeting in April with Funai inside the Uru-Eu reserve, again with participation of a boss from its head office in Brasilia, the problem will be raised. One solution would be to have Funai pay a small daily salary to those who participate in the protection patrols, as an alternative to the wish to sell timber. This way, the management plan will be upheld. At the meeting will also be representatives from the federal and state environment agencies (Ibama and Sedam respectively) to get them to assume their responsibility of protecting the Uru reserve. The plan is to have one full-time governmental coordinator for the Uru-Eu territory, preferably in Funai. So that not Kanindé is so alone. This is one vital aspect of Kanindés work – to get the government to do its part. Many of Kanindé are ex-government officials, including Neidinha. The Scandinavian support has enabled them to create a haven, Kanindé, where their dedication and competence can be used and developed. Something the stifling government agencies can’t provide.

Another solution is to have the young Uru-Eu men without women meet other indigenous women. The sub-tribe of the Amondawas has a surplus of young women and a few Uru-Eu have married Amondawas. But there are no more “extra” young Amondawa women available now. The Parintintin and Tenharim tribes in the southernmost part of Amazonas state speak the same language as the Uru-Eu, but in those tribes there is a strong custom that the man move to the village of his bride. This would be very negative since the huge Uru-Eu territory is so sparsely populated – there are only 120 Uru-Eu in total – and all Uru-Eu are needed there for its long-term viability. Two white and two black young women have married Uru-Eu and moved to Uru-Eu villages, posing all kinds of problems since the cultural integrity of the Uru-Eu is crucial for the long-term protection of the territory. It is important that these women get some kind of impulses or training on cultural sensitivity.

Of the five Uru-Eu villages, conditions are best in the largest village, Alto Jamari, which has a competent full-time Funai person named Chicao, and in the village named 621 (after the road going to it), where there is a major interest in developing productive activities. Conditions are worse in the village 623, which is burdened by a missionary, Jamari, which is the smallest of all with only ten people of who two are deaf and one is the ex-leader Djuripe who now has a black wife, and Alto Jaru. Kanindé has two people working full-time with the Uru-Eu, to which is added frequent visits by others from Kanindé. Mauro, who speaks the Uru-Eu language and has very good relationships to the Uru-Eu, works full-time in Jamari since that is the weakest village and strategically important in terms of protection against invasions. A second Kanindé person, Leonardo, travels from village to village on alternative production and agricultural extension. He and Mauro stay for about 20 days with the Uru-Eu, after which they have a week of rest in their homes in Porto Velho.

Given Mauro’s excellent way of relating to the Uru-Eu and their respect of him, and the threat posed by the ways of some of the young men, it’s an obvious idea to have Mauro work in the other villages as well. It is planned to have Mauro give training to other villages in doing artisan work and in making soap. Before contact with the white society in 1984, the Uru-Eu made beautiful ceramics and this could be something to take up again. I encouraged Kanindé to explore further ways of involving Mauro outside of Jamari.

Besides the capable Chicao in Alto Jamari, Funai has one person in each of of Alto Jaru, Jamari plus the village of the Amondawas. The latter three persons have no training to accomplish their tasks. They know nothing about anthropology, they don’t know how to make a plan or a simple project proposal, how to use the GPS or find coordinates on a map, how to write a report, how to develop protection work and they treat the Uru-Eu as slaves. The Funai person in Jamari recently had to leave the village named 623, since he had made himself impossible with the Uru-Eu there. The more capable people who enter Funai have all chosen office work. The situation is worsened by the fact that Walmir de Jesus, the dedicated and hard-driving head of the regional Funai office, was sacked after intervention by certain politicians who felt threatened by his anti-invasion work. It would be great if Walmir could join Kanindé.

The good thing is that none of the three Funai officials are corrupt and, Kanindé tells me, that they are open to training. Kanindé will attempt to provide this, and will take up this at the meeting in April. The insatisfactory situation at the Bananeira post on the southeastern edge of the Uru-Eu reserve, manned by a single Funai person without means of transport or infrastructure, will also be taken up. Bananeria is at a key location to prevent invasions, and Kanindé will pressure Funai to locate two equipped persons there.

The uncontacted indigenous tribes

A sense of the urgency of this work is the recent report of an uncontacted Indian having been killed by a rancher.

We covered each proven or possible uncontacted tribe in Rondônia, Mato Grosso and the southern part of Amazonas state in turn. It is a fascinating and tough job against time, as deforestation and invaders are closing in. It is made all the more difficult because the department in Funai that is responsible for uncontacted Indians has not lived up the promises it has made, including that of providing transport for the personnel of Kanindé. So Kanindé has had to use its own meager transport. The problem is aggravated by the personnel policies of Funai itself and of the one other organization that works with uncontacted Indians, CTI. Funai and CTI treat their workers – the ones who spend weeks at a time of finding and proving the evidence of uncontacted Indians so as to secure their protection – inhumanely. E.g. they have to work up to 60 days at a time without rest, in the rain forest. Kanindé limits the time to a maximum of 25 days, which is the maximum practical length of a single patrol. Then Kanindé personnel take a well-earned rest at home in town. Funai has not kept its promise of patrolling and protecting the Massaco reserve, the first ever created for uncontacted Indians. Instead, Funai has concentrated its efforts on the Omere, with its small group of recently contacted Indians which Tessi and I visited a few years ago.

In the coming meeting with Funai, Kanindé hopes to make a common decision that Funai will “take care” of Mato Grosso state plus Omeré (which are really recently contacted) in Rondônia. Kanindé, with hoped for future funds from FoE Sweden, will protect all the uncontacted tribes in Rondônia plus the southern part of Amazonas state.

Mapuera

It is a testimony to the strength of Kanindé that they have managed to transplant their successful way of working with indigenous peoples from Rondônia to Mapuera in the Northern Amazon. There, a little over a thousand Indians live in a huge area of 50 000 square kilometers. Most of them live in a single big village, with the rest scattered in nine small villages. To be able to protect their lands, when the invasion front approaches, the prime task is to strengthen the Indians and their organization Ketakronomacho. Kanindé is nurturing the slow strengthening of this. Keeping the Indians in a “natural” state is not an option; they must get to know how to deal with outside society but on their own terms. As one example of what has happened, one hundred young men and women have received basic computer training.

Ernesto from Kanindé is working full-time with Mapuera. It is a very long journey to get there. Twice a year, Israel and Nete from Kanindé in Rondônia join him for a lengthy visit, to support him and the work there and assure that the Kanindé way of working is carried out.

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