www.survivalinternational.org/news/4970

Overflight of uncontacted tribes' land by Peru's government

Survival International
3 October


 
One of the photos of logging camps in the Murunahua Reserve, released by Survival earlier this year. (c.) C. Fagan


Peru's indigenous affairs department, INDEPA, has announced it will carry out an overflight of an uncontacted tribes' reserve in the remote Amazon.

The announcement came after the publication of photos showing an illegal logging camp in the reserve, which were taken by the US-based organisation Round River Conservation Studies and released worldwide by Survival.

INDEPA said it would take action immediately after the publication of the photos, but until the recent announcement it was not clear what that action would consist of.

"If we find evidence of loggers or others engaged in illegal activities, we will take the relevant course of action to stop it," said INDEPA's president, Mayta Capac Alatrista.

The logging camp was spotted in the Murunahua Reserve, inhabited by at least one uncontacted tribe known as the Murunahua or Chitonahua. The reserve was created in 1997, but loggers have regularly entered it looking for valuable timber such as mahogany and cedar.

Some Murunahua have already been contacted - a catastrophic experience that led to an estimated 50% of them dying.

Brazil's state oil company, Petrobras, has a contract to explore in the reserve. Survival has written to the company urging it not to work there.


Act now to help the Uncontacted Indians
Your efforts are crucial in defending the Uncontacted Tribes. Writing a letter to the Peruvian government can make a real difference.

-- sample letter --

To: S.E. Alan Garcia
Presidente de la República del Perú
Palacio de Gobierno
Plaza de Armas
Lima 1
Peru

[insert Date]

Your Excellency,

I am extremely concerned about the future of uncontacted tribes in Peru. They are exceedingly vulnerable to outsiders' diseases and they make it clear they want to be left alone. They have the right to live on their lands and to remain in isolation. These rights have been recognised by international law.

I strongly urge the Peruvian government to protect uncontacted tribes by removing all loggers from their land, by stopping the entry of any other outsiders, and by prohibiting any form of natural resource extraction on their territories.

I also call on your government to set up an emergency medical plan in case of contact between the uncontacted Indians and outsiders, and conform to international law by recognising the tribes as the rightful owners of their land. At present these tribes are at huge risk and could well be wiped out.

Yours sincerely,
[+ your full name and full address]

-- end sample letter --

____
(c.) Survival International, 2009 Registered charity no. 267444 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit

www.survivalinternational.org/news/4977

Amazon tribe down to five as oldest member dies

Survival International
6 October


The Akuntsu tribe in the Brazilian Amazon has lost its oldest member, Ururu, leaving the tribe with only five surviving members.

Ururu was the oldest member of this close-knit, tiny group and an integral part of it.

Altair Algayer, head of FUNAI's (Brazilian government Indian affairs department) team which protects the Akuntsu's land said, "She was a fighter, strong, and resisted until the last moment."

Ururu witnessed the genocide of her people and the destruction of their rainforest home, as cattle ranchers and their gunmen moved on to indigenous lands in Rondônia state. Rondônia was opened up by government colonisation projects and the infamous BR 364 highway in the 1960s and 70s.

With Ururu dies a large part of the historical memory of this people. While we shall perhaps never know the full horrors inflicted on the Akuntsu in the last half century, today's survivors say their family members were killed when ranchers bulldozed their houses and opened fire on them. The two surviving men, Konibu and Pupak, have marks on their bodies where bullets entered as they fled.

FUNAI found the remains of houses which had been destroyed by ranchers who were clearing the forest for cattle pasture. The ranchers attempted to hide evidence of the crime, but wooden poles, arrows, axes and broken pottery were discovered.

When the Akuntsu were contacted by FUNAI in 1995 they numbered seven. The youngest, Konibu's daughter, died in January 2000 when a tree fell on her house.

Today they live in a territory officially recognised by the Brazilian government, where FUNAI protects their land from invasion by surrounding ranchers.

The story of the Akuntsu, their neighbours the Kanoê, and the elusive "Man of the Hole" is graphically told in a new film, Corumbiara. The Akuntsu also feature in Survival's short film, Uncontacted Tribes.


Act now to help the Akuntsu
The Akuntsu continue to live in fear of the threats that surround them. Please act to have their lands secured. Writing a letter to the Brazilian Government is a quick and simple way to let them know of your concern.

-- sample letter --

To: Dr Tarso Genro
Ministro da Justiça
Ministerio da Justiça
Esplanada dos Ministerios, Bloco T
Brasilia DF 70064-900
Brazil

[insert Date]

Dear Dr Genro,

I am very concerned about the situation of the Akuntsu tribe in Rondônia state. There are only five Akuntsu Indians. They are the survivors of massacres which occurred when their lands were invaded and cleared by cattle ranchers in the 1980s and 1990s.

Although their land, the Omerê territory is demarcated and ratified, various cattle ranchers maintain large herds of cattle there. Recently one rancher was illegally clearing land to create more pasture.

The presence of the cattle and the ranch hands who look after it is illegal and puts the Indians' health at risk. It also threatens to destroy more forest which is essential to the Akuntsu's survival. I urge you to ensure that all measures are taken to remove the cattle and ranch hands immediately.

Yours sincerely,
[+ your full name and full address]

-- end sample letter --

____
(c.) Survival International, 2009 Registered charity no. 267444 501(c)(3) registered