The 35th Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the State of Roraima brought together 720 leaders of eight peoples that live in that state between February 7 and 10. During the meeting, the presence of miners in the Yanomami land and the practice of municipalities of dumping their garbage in neighboring indigenous lands were reported. Another concern was the deadline for removing farmers who invaded the Raposa Serra do Sol land from it. “This is our priority,“ said the indigenous participants in the final letter of the Assembly. The date set in the decree which confirmed the bounds of the Raposa Serra do Sol land for the farmers to be removed from it was April 15. While the farmers stay in the land, the environment is being destroyed and pesticides are being used indiscriminately, threatening the lives of its dwellers.

 

“We are living a new phase in Roraima. The bounds of the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous land were homologated on April 15, 2005. However, there are still problems to be solved and the actual exercise of our constitutional rights continue to depend on the implementation of public policies and institutional obligations,” they said in the final letter, in which they reported the problems and proposed solutions for them.

 

The indigenous people said that the invaders are preparing the land to plant new crops and expanding the planted area “as part of a strategy of local authorities to keep then in the indigenous land” and that the pesticides used in the crops are affecting the health of the communities. “The areas were invaded in bad faith, because they were occupied after they were identified as indigenous lands and the invasion is affecting the health of indigenous people and degrading the environment. We have repeatedly reported that pesticides are being used indiscriminately in the crops and sprayed from airplanes and, depending on the direction of the wind, they fall directly on the Xiriri, Pedra do Sol and São Jorge areas. Sanitary authorities of the East Sanitary District of Roraima suspect that two people died already because of the intoxication caused by the pesticides. There was also an increase in cases of diarrheal and skin diseases and abortions. The silting up of rivers, garbage dumped in lakes, and the death of birds and fish are other consequences of this invasion,” they said.

 

Acacia plantations for producing cellulose in areas surrounding indigenous lands affected the Malacacheta, Tabalascada and Canauanim lands. “The few streams found in those lands are drying,” the letter says.

 

For ensuring the safety and environmental conservation of the lands, the indigenous people request support from federal agencies for indigenous communities and organizations to develop and manage surveillance and inspection projects in their lands themselves and the definition of a permanent protection policy through joint actions involving Ibama, Funai, the Federal Police and Funasa, ensuring the participation of indigenous organizations existing in the communities. The invasion and deforestation of the Morro do Quiabo area, located in the São Marcos indigenous land was other point of concern.

 

They also request the removal of miners from the Yanomami land and from the Mau River in Raposa. “We know for sure that mining activities have caused many social, environmental and health problems. The situation must be dealt with urgently. The authorities must act promptly to prevent it from getting worse,” they say.

 

Garbage

 

A serious report is that the city halls of the municipalities of Cantá, Pacaraima and Uiramutã have been dumping garbage in the Lage, Tabalascada, and Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous lands, contaminating the headwaters of the Miang river – from where the water used in many villages located in the São Marcos and Raposa Serra do Sol areas comes from – and also of the Mau river.

 

Education and health care were also discussed. An agreement between CIR and Funasa, which was signed in 1996, was praised. They also proposed that more training should be provided to indigenous health agents and other professionals, that the health care provided to indigenous people in the city should be improved through specific public policies, and that the city halls in charge of health care services should report their activities in Regional Assemblies and to the District Council.

 

With regard to the differentiated education they are entitled to, the indigenous people requested “the creation of mechanisms for supporting the implementation of actions for these rights to be exercised in practice,” and asked for material and human resources for this purpose.

 

FUNAI PUBLISHES REPORT ON TUPINIKIM AND GUARANI LANDS

 

A summary of the reports identifying the lands of the Tupinikim and Guarani peoples in the state of Espírito Santo as indigenous areas was published on February 20 in the Official Gazette, after they were approved by the president of Funai, Mércio Pereira Gomes. The reports cover three different lands: Caieiras Velhas and Pau Brasil, united as the ‘Tupiniquim’ area, with 14,227 hectares, and the Comboios land, covering 3,800 hectares. The reports clearly state that those lands are indigenous areas, which means that they can now be demarcated, and reaffirm the conclusions of Funai based on studies carried out between 1994 and 1998.

 

The new study was carried out in response to pressures from indigenous people, who claim the right to live in the whole land, which was donated to the Aracruz Cellulose multinational company under an illegal agreement signed in 1998. The Aracruz company announced that it will contest Funai’s anthropological report.

 

“Now, Funai should respect the 90-day deadline for the report to be contested, as well as other deadlines set for the process. If this process is delayed, as we see happening in most indigenous lands, the likelihood of conflicts will increase,” said Cláudio Luiz Beirão, lawyer of the Indianist Missionary Council.

 

The deadlines for demarcating indigenous lands are provided for in the Decree 1775/96, according to which there is a 90-day period for reports to be contested and a 60-day period for Funai’s legal department to analyze the arguments. The process is then referred to the ministry of Justice for the bounds of indigenous lands to be officially declared. Finally, these bounds are officially confirmed by the President of the Republic.

 

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office in the state of Espírito Santo filed a request with the Federal Court of Appeals of the 2nd Region in Rio de Janeiro on February 14 for indigenous people to reoccupy an area from which they were expelled by the police on January 20 until the federal administration issues a final decision on that area. If the request is accepted, the indigenous people will be allowed to stay in their villages without facing the threat of a new eviction (information provided by FASE).

 

Brasília, 23 February 2005.

 

Cimi – Indianist Missionary Council