NEWSLETTER 890: FARMERS EVICT INDIGENOUS TERENA WITHOUT COURT ORDER IN MS
Thursday, 19 November, a group of farmers accompanied by armed private security forces evicted, without court order, a community of 300 Terena who had retaken part of the land Buriti, in the municipality of Sidrolândia, in Mato Grosso do Sul. A battalion of approximately 50 Military Police participated in the action.
According to Terena leaders, the eviction was made by the Military Police in a joint action with the farmers and their security forces. “We asked to speak with the commander of the MP, but he said: ‘there is no conversation; leave from here”, stated the indigenous teacher Hanaiti. The indigenous people left the area because they have several children and elders in the group. Even so, two elders were attacked in the eviction. The community will remain camped at approximately 500 meters from the Querência São José farm – where they have been.
Coronel Bueno, the Commander General of the Military Police in Mato Grosso do Sul stated that there is constant ostensive policing of the area retaken “to prevent conflicts between the indians and the owners”. According to him, there was no order for the military police to disperse the indigenous people.
This morning, the Military Police 4th Company of Mato Grosso do Sul (PM-MS), received information that a group of 80 -100 armed farmers were headed into the region of the Querência São José farm to expulse the indigenous people from the land. “In fact, we see several pick up trucks going down there”, stated Major Rios – responsible for the 4th Company. He communicated the fact to Commander General of the PM-MS.
The Federal Police of Mato Grosso do Sul (PF-MS) confirm that there was no court order for reintegration of possession in the region of the Querência São José farm. By late afternoon, the FP-MS had not been to the area, what had occurred had not been officially communicated. According to the Terena leaders, the Military Police and the security forces of the farmers remain in the area. “We are not going to be intimidated. We are going to remain close by. But, for security, we are removing the elders and the children”, affirmed Hanaiti.
The farm Querência São José is located in the Buriti indigenous land, identified in 2001 as traditional indigenous land.
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NATIONAL CONFERENCE DISCUSSES INDIGENOUS EDUCATION
Circa 600 indigenous representatives of 210 peoples from throughout Brazil have been meeting since November 16 until the 20th in the 1st National Conference on Indigenous Education (CONEEI- Conferência Nacional de Educação Escolar Indígena), in Luziânia, Goias. The creation of a special education system and improvements in the formation of indigenous teachers are some of the proposals of the participants.
In addition to the indigenous representatives, there participated a number of non-indigenous organizations active in supporting indigenous education, Universities and state and municipal secretaries of education from throughout the nation. Before the national conference there were 17 state level conferences in several regions. These guided various proposals regarding administration and financing of indigenous education, indigenous pedagogical practices, participation and social control and other themes. The final document with the approved proposals will be delivered on the 20th to the various authorities responsible for indigenist policy and education.
The 1st CONEII is a victory of decades of struggle for specific, differentiated and quality education for indigenous peoples. “It is an opportunity for each people to evaluate the situation, because they no longer want the education as it is.”, assesses professor Joaquim Maná, of the Hunikui people of Acre. For him, the creation of a special system for indigenous education needs to be the primary demand of the CONEII. This opinion is shared by Agnaldo Xukuru, of the Commission of Indigenous Professors of Pernambuco (Copipe). The mode of implantation of the system however is still not a matter of consensus among the indigenous peoples. Some defend what occurs with the ethno-educational territories instituted by Decree 6.681 of May 27, 2009. Others note that, in the form as proposed, the ethno-educational territories do not correspond to the specificities of several regions and need to be better discussed. Because of this, indigenous professors of the northwest of Mato Grosso and of the Northeast published motions of repudiation on the publication of the decree 6.681 before the National Conference.
Formation of teachers and control
For Joaquim Maná and Agnaldo Xukuru, some of the principal problems in indigenous education are the inadequate formation of the teachers, the precarious infrastructure and the necessity for better pedagogical projects for the schools.
Maná believes that the courses do not fully form the teachers for working with the specific knowledge of each people and the universal knowledge that many peoples intend to incorporate in education. “It is not just reading and writing. The instruction, the writing is going to have an influence on coexistence in the village”, he notes. Agnaldo points to the lack of stability of the teacher in charge as a serious problem.
The two critique the installations of the school for the indigenous peoples. Besides being precarious and often times not assumed by the state, the installations of several schools have inadequate structures for indigenous specificities.
Social control over the construction of pedagogical projects also is difficult in some regions. According to Agnaldo, some municipal governments that are opposed to the indigenous peoples do not want to see indigenous education strengthen the sentiment of belonging to a people and the struggle for indigenous rights.
Brasília, 19 November of 2009
Indigenist Missionary Council
