Rio+20: Indigenous Brazilians come to town.
You know how it is – you’re waiting on the platform for your morning train, when half a dozen indigenous people in full tribal dress wander past. I am talking about brightly coloured feather headdresses, body paint, spears, bows and arrows.
Índios, checking out the jewellery shop in the station.
As the train pulled in, it looked like around 30% of the passengers were indigenous, mostly dressed up and looking pretty amazing. I should point out that this is not the normal way of things – indigenous people (AKA Índios) make up just 0.4% of the Brazilian population. Clearly something was going on.
Rio+20 of course! The environmental conference has been a great opportunity for the índios to raise the profile of their causes in a variety of ways. A global gathering of indigenous peoples, ‘Kari-Oca’, has been held at the same time as Rio+20 (Kari-Oca means “white man’s house” in Tupí-Guaraní and gave rise to the term for a Rio local, Carioca). Kari-Oca is a chance for indigenous groups, traditionally dispersed and separate, to get together and form a strong alliance with a single voice.
Just hanging out on the metro.
One of the ways that they have generated interest has been through the Green Games, featuring contests in various different traditional skills such as archery:
A member of the Paresi Tribe of Mato Grosso (central-west Brazil) showing his skills with an arco e flecha (bow and arrow).
As well as the official organised events, indigenous people were also making headlines for some more direct actions/protests. One such action that caught the attention was the occupation of the grounds of the BNDES, the Brazilian Development Bank which also happens to be the major investor in the Belo Monte Dam project. Probably the most high profile cause célèbre of the environmental movement right now, this project is expected to eventually lead to the flooding of 6,200 square kilometres of Amazon rainforest.
On my way to work I have noticed that quite a few indigenous people are staying in my neighbourhood. Surely no coincidence that this graffiti appeared just 2 days ago! (text reads: Stop Belo Monte!)
The occupation of BNDES land was unauthorised and so security guards moved in… and then moved out again pretty quickly!:
Two BNDES security guards running for cover as an irate índio gives chase, bow drawn.
It’s a great picture isn’t it? As well as raising a smile, it seems pleasingly symbolic to see this guy in full tribal dress, chasing the men in dark suits – sides reversed for once.
Funny how a picture evokes different feelings to video, don’t you think? When you see video footage of this incident it seems a little less comical doesn’t it? I gather that after the amusement had died down, people started to look at this incident in a different light. In general we don’t smile and give a patronising chuckle to the idea of protesters threatening security guards with weapons do we?
Anyway, I’m all for these people coming to make their voices heard at a time when the world’s eyes are fixed on Rio. And if we’re talking about weapons, think of all the tribal leaders and environmental activists who have been murdered in the Amazon region over the last few years.
You may have already seen these amazing fish, made from recycled plastic bottles, but I couldn’t resist including this image. When lit up at night they look even better! Source: thezigzagger.com
Finally I have to tell you about a wonderfully ironic conversation that was overheard by a friend a couple of days ago. A woman was speaking on the phone:
“Hoje eu almocei com os índios! Tava cheio deles no restaurante! Parece que eu sou a intrusa nessa cidade!”
“Today I had lunch with the índios! The restaurant was full of them! It was like I was an intruder in this city!”
Tom,
O que você quiz dizer com 9%? “flooding of 6,200 square kilometres of Amazon rainforest (approx. 9%)”
Só a amazônia legal tem aproximadamente 5.217.423 km², 6,200km2 é mais ou menos 0,001% da área da amazônica legal, se você considerar a amazônia “real” a porcentagem é ainda menor.
E mesmo sendo a favor da demarcação de terra, a maneira como os índios usam o fato de serem ineputaveis por lei para atacar pessoas com facão, e nos ultimos meses expulsar fazendeiros com metralhadoras na Bahia, não é correto.
Mas nunca, em nenhum momentom se ouve uma palavra sobre isso no exterior, os indios sempre são considerados vitimas inocentes.
Eri
Errei na conta. Na verdade é aproximadamente 0,1% da area.
Eri
Ola Eri, voce esta certa. Eu estava quase dormindo quando escrevei isso. Desculpe
Mais um desculpa Eri! Meu fone morreu ontem a noite, antes eu pude responder completamente :(
Posso entender a frustração com pessoas que não compreendem a situação, mas fazer comentário e tentam dizer que coisas são muito simples (e.g. “Tadinhos! Os índios não podem fazer mal. Eles são sempre inocente porque eles são índios e parecem fofo.” – não quis dizer isso!).
Para ser claro, acho que é errado para qualquer pessoas roubar/tirar a terra ou a propriedade dos outros com força. Em geral, disputas da terra podem ser complicado e difícil né? A mesma coisa era acontecendo no Zimbabwe para muitos anos.
É o trabalho do governo gerir isso e é o trabalho da imprensa para divulgar. Não é justo, mas é um fato que journalistas (especialmente journalistas internaçionais) acham um historia sobre índios inocentes é mais interessante que um historia sobre índios mal e fazendeiros injustiçado.
Não sou um journalista então eu sofro disso lacuna na midia também – nunca ouvi nada sobre isso (ou talvez preciso ler mais! ;) ).
Obrigada por responder.
Eu acho que os indios tem que reividicar terras e direitos como todos os brasileiros, o que não é correto é eles não serem sujeitos as mesmas leis que todos nós.
Indios são pessoas normais com qualidades e defeitos como todo mundo. Não faz o menor sentido em pleno ano 2012 acreditar na idéia do “bom selvagem”.
Eri
Concordo completemente.
It appears that ‘Carioca’ means white person’s house in the Tupi language.
3. Carioca
O termo vem de duas palavras tupi: kara’iwa (“homem branco”) e oka (“casa”), que, juntas, querem dizer, obviamente, “casa do homem branco”. Os índios passaram a usar a expressão logo após a fundação do Rio de Janeiro, para se referir à cidade – mas como apelido para os moradores o termo só começou a ser usado a partir do século XVIII
http://mundoestranho.abril.com.br/materia/qual-e-a-origem-de-termos-como-carioca-e-gaucho
I wonder why the Indians focused on skin color when describing Europeans like the French and/or Portuguese when they first encountered them in Rio. Why not use other distinguishing features, like SmellyuptightlosewarsOka for the first, and NotsobrightOka for the latter.
Some Europeans are okay though: you should have invited one of those fellows to your MarmiteOka for some typical karaiwa beverages, like Hot Toddy and Brandy.
Ha ha! Typically enlightened take on the Europeans there Gritty – are you in International Relations by any chance? ;) As for introducing indigenous people to alcohol…
You could be on to something with the Marmite-Oka though. If Oka means “house” then Marmite-Oka would be a house made of marmite? Or simply very well stocked with marmite perhaps – that sounds like a recipe for diplomatic harmony! :)
Tom,
I really like your blog. All jokes aside: it is enlightening when read, and a pleasure to visit (probably why I don’t miss a post). That being said I wouldn’t be surprised if we were on opposite sides when it comes to many of the issues of our time. Now I would venture to say that there is a possibility of you changing my mind about some of them, as I try to challenge my belief system constantly (and I know that the human brain is keen on looking for confirmation to what it already believes – which makes this hard at times). I must state though that you will never be able to convince me that marmite is a recipe for harmony, of any kind.
Btw if you start using “Mi Oka es su Oka” when inviting guests to your home then give me credit . And yeah: that alcohol reference was unfortunate (and I wasn’t even trying, seriously).
Ha ha, thanks Gritty. We may not agree on everything, but it’s good to have you on board :)
amazing pics!!!