Índios urbanos, o outro lado da aldeia

Entre aldeias e favelas, São Paulo abriga mais de 12 mil indígenas de 20 etnias

Heloisa Bio Ribeiro

de São Paulo (SP)

Com a responsabilidade de zelar pelas máscaras que representam os espíritos indígenas encantados, o líder comunitário Bino Pankararu venceu uma prova de fogo durante o último incêndio que se alastrou pela favela Real Parque, em São Paulo.

Entre o risco de perder os móveis da família ou as máscaras sagradas do ritual do Toré, ele não teve dúvidas e carregou, uma a uma, as pesadas peças da cerimônia para longe do barraco.

Apesar das precárias condições de vida, os pankararu ainda se reúnem para cultuar os Encantados na favela, entoam cantos, cobrem o corpo com os praiás – as máscaras que incorporam os espíritos – e dançam ao som do maracá. Para além do folclore, a expressão do Toré mantém viva sua cultura e ajuda a definir a identidade do grupo aonde quer que ele esteja.

O debate sobre os direitos indígenas fora de seu território original é cada dia mais atual. Estima-se haver mais de 50 mil índios vivendo nas cidades brasileiras, dentro do universo de 720 mil índios do país, segundo os dados do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE).

Os pankararu somam 1,6 mil pessoas em São Paulo, principalmente na favela Real Parque, no Morumbi, e compartilham a história da migração indígena com mais 19 etnias que se fixaram no município paulista e seus arredores.

Em meio à população urbana da metrópole, há mais de 12 mil indígenas, distribuídos nas comunidades de baixa renda e em quatro aldeias guarani. Nesse cenário, buscam reconhecimento a partir de características culturais próprias que os distinguem da sociedade nacional, afastando a imagem de que o índio pertence à mata e deve permanecer na aldeia, distante da sociedade não indígena.

Estabelecimento

Em sua maioria originária do Nordeste, chegaram a São Paulo após casos de invasão de suas terras, dificuldade de produção de alimentos, e, até, carência de oportunidades de educação e saúde nas aldeias. Coincide com a construção do estádio do Morumbi, por exemplo, o estabelecimento dos primeiros pankararu à margem do rio Pinheiros, ainda na década de 1950. A viagem de 2,2 mil km da aldeia de Brejo dos Padres, em Pernambuco, até o centro urbano, foi empreendida, primeiro, pelos homens, que sobreviveram da renda na construção civil, e foi seguida pela chegada de suas famílias e da fundação da Vila da Mandioca, hoje, Real Parque.

“A cultura não morre se não deixarmos, e aprendi com meu pai que precisamos brigar para sermos vistos”, expressa Dora Pankararu, filha de Bino e, hoje, presidente da Associação SOS Pankararu, que busca soluções para os problemas da favela, como moradia e saúde, mas, também, o tratamento diferenciado para os índios urbanos.

Essa resistência abriu as portas, em 2002, para que a Fundação Nacional de Saúde (Funasa), o órgão do governo federal que atende à saúde indígena, reconhecesse algumas etnias que vivem no meio urbano, tornando garantido seu atendimento básico, com oferta de medicação, consultas e cirurgia. A Fundação Nacional do Índio (Funai) também presta apoio aos estudantes e prevê assistência emergencial em casos de retorno à aldeia.

“Mas, muitos não entendem a dificuldade do índio em viver na favela. As garantias sociais se tornaram um jogo de empurra-empurra. Para outras etnias, como os krenak ou terena, a conquista de direitos vem sendo fruto de muita pressão”, afirma Dora. Segundo ela, o reconhecimento dos pankararu esteve ligado a alguns fatores como o nível de organização, a manutenção da história viva e a união em torno de uma causa única.

Ontem e hoje

Preservar os traços culturais é desafio mesmo para as etnias que ainda vivem em aldeias, como os guarani mbyá das aldeias Tekoá Itu e Tekoá Pyiaú, do pico do Jaraguá, e das aldeias Tenonde Porã e Krukutu, da região de Parelheiros. No Jaraguá, a menor aldeia do Brasil (2,7 hectares) sofre com as pressões por reintegração de posse, a construção do trecho oeste do Rodoanel e a inserção de projetos imobiliários na região.

Nesse bairro, a presença indígena remonta ao século 16, e a língua guarani ainda é falada e ensinada no centro de educação bilíngue construído ali, pois existe dificuldade em se aplicar o modelo não indígena das escolas públicas no ensino dentro da aldeia. A religiosidade e a produção artesanal estão entre os principais elementos da resistência guarani, já que a terra não pode ser mais fonte de sobrevivência.

“Grande parte da sociedade reforça a ideia discriminatória de que a cidade grande não é espaço para as populações tradicionais. Mas os povos que vivem em área urbana não deixam de ser indígenas por esse fato”, defende Benedito Prezia, coordenador da Pastoral Indigenista de São Paulo e autor do livro Índios em São Paulo, ontem e hoje.

Inclusão

Ele participa de um importante programa para a inclusão de jovens no sistema de ensino superior no país. A semente foi lançada em 2001, numa parceria com a Pontifícia Universidade (PUC) de São Paulo e as comunidades indígenas da capital.

Hoje, o Programa Pindorama tem formado 38 indígenas de nove etnias em cursos como engenharia, direito, enfermagem, serviço social, ciências sociais, pedagogia e mídias digitais. “Traz perspectiva de futuro e é uma via de dupla mão, em que os formados devolvem o saber para a comunidade”, reforça Prezia.

Foi o caso da jovem Jaciara Augusto Martim, filha de pai krenak e mãe guarani, para quem o curso de serviço social oportunizou o trabalho na ONG Nossa Tribo, coordenada pela fotógrafa Rosa Gauditano, que desenvolve iniciativas para ampliar a comunicação entre os povos tradicionais e os não indígenas.

“Na ONG, aprendi a montar projeto, produzir relatório, entender os editais de cultura, sempre com a ideia de desenvolver uma ação na aldeia onde vivo”, diz Jaciara. Em 2009, seu projeto “Troca de Saberes” foi aprovado pelo Ministério da Cultura e ela conseguiu recursos para colocar em prática um sonho de intercâmbio cultural entre o povo do Pico do Jaraguá e outras etnias.

Jaciara levou as crianças guarani para conhecer os xavante no Mato Grosso, e se surpreendeu com o resultado. “Perceberam o quanto ainda são fortes culturalmente, mesmo próximos da cidade, e despertaram, com o xavante, para o espírito de luta em prol da identidade”.

Etnias da metrópole paulistana

Pankararu (vários bairros e cidades da Grande são Paulo)

Pankararé (vários bairros e Osasco)

Atikun (zona norte)

Guarani Mbyá (Jaraguá e Parelheiros)

Guarani Nhandeva (zona leste)

Tupi-Guarani (Guarulhos)

Kaingang (zona leste)

Pataxó (Guarulhos)

Potiguara (São Miguel, Santo Amaro, Guarulhos)

Fulni-ô (zona norte, Carapicuíba)

Xukuru (zona sul)

Xukuru-Kariri (Osasco)

Terena (Mogi das Cruzes, zona norte)

Kariri-Xokó (zona norte)

Kaimbé (Ferraz de Vasconcelos e vários bairros da capital)

Xavante (alguns bairros)

Tupinambá (zona leste)

Kapinawá (zona leste)

Kaxinawá (centro)

Karajá (zona sul)

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Prêmio

LA EMBAJADA DE ESPAÑA INFORMA:

CONCESIÓN DEL PREMIO “BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS” AL PADRE BARTOMEU MELIÁ.

El Jurado del Premio “Bartolomé de Las Casas” decidió el pasado día 14/12 otorgar por unanimidad dicho galardón, en su edición 2010, al sacerdote jesuita, escritor, investigador y lingüista, padre Bartomeu Meliá.

Los méritos esgrimidos por el Jurado han sido los siguientes:

– la entrega del padre Meliá a las causas de los Pueblos indígenas de Paraguay, Brasil, Argentina y Bolivia.

– su férrea e inquebrantable defensa del Pueblo Aché.

– su inapreciable labor sobre el terreno como defensor de la lengua guaraní.

– su aporte a la educación escolar de los Pueblos indígenas y por los estudios etnológicos y antropológicos de los Pueblos guaraníes.

El Premio “Bartolomé de Las Casas”, convocado por la Secretaría de Estado de Cooperación Internacional del Ministerio español de Asuntos Exteriores y Cooperación y la Casa de América, se concede desde 1991 para distinguir a aquellas personas, instituciones u organizaciones que hayan destacado a lo largo del tiempo en la defensa del entendimiento y concordia con los pueblos indígenas de América, en la protección de sus derechos y el respeto de sus valores.

El premio consiste en una dotación de 50.000 euros y en una medalla con la efigie de Bartolomé de Las Casas. La ceremonia de entrega tiene lugar en un solemne acto organizado en Madrid.

Esta Embajada recuerda que fue la impulsora de la candidatura del Padre y querría aprovechar la ocasión para agradecer públicamente el apoyo de todas aquellas organizaciones públicas y privadas que no solamente apoyaron la propuesta sino que trabajaron con esta Embajada para que esta iniciativa resultase exitosa.

Los medios de comunicación quedan cordialmente invitados al acto de homenaje a la figura y a la trayectoria del Padre Meliá que se celebrará en la Residencia de la Embajada de España (c/Rodó 225 y Avenida Mariscal López), el martes 21 de diciembre a las 19.00.

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Indigenous Peoples, development projects and conflicts in 2010

***

This article is part of the Report on Human Rights in Brazil 2010 (Portuguese)

________________________________________

by Rosane F. Lacerda [1]
 
In conflicts involving the energy sector, the call for “development” as justification for losses to be absorbed by the indigenous peoples hardly differs from those experienced during the military regime [1964 – 1985]. Then, the developmental boom devastated hundreds of indigenous groups, especially the isolated peoples. The difference is that Brazil today has a constitutional framework with important principles and instruments protective of indigenous rights.
 
To attempt to create an evaluation and analysis in a brief article on the human rights of indigenous peoples, a reality so rich and complex, is a matter requiring an immense effort of synthesis, in addition to the natural search for reliable data. Due to the strict confines of this collection of articles, we present only a general overview about the most relevant events of the year, the data sources being specialized publications and journalistic articles available on the Internet.
 
In 2010, in addition to the traditional, longstanding conflicts involving possession and demarcation of indigenous lands, another type of conflict started to gain more visibility: those related to major infrastructural projects associated with the Program for Acceleration of Growth (PAC), of the federal government, or with regional and local economic interests occurring on those lands.
 
1. Indigenous Peoples vs. major infrastructure projects
 
This year works in progress and the announcement of projects linked to the electrical power sector occurring on indigenous lands were responsible for much of the dissatisfaction expressed by indigenous leaders, and for tensions with government sectors. The year had barely begun and the Indigenous Land of Raposa Serra do Sol was surprised by the announcement of the release, by the federal government, of resources designated for the preliminary studies of the construction of the Contigo Hydroelectric Plant in the state of Roraima. In addition to calling attention to the anticipated environmental damage from the work, the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR) denounced the absence of consultation with the indigenous communities. A few days later, in February, the indigenous peoples were again taken by surprise, this time with the announcement of the construction of Small Hydroelectrics Plants (PCH-Pequenas Centrais Hidrelétricas) in the indigenous lands of São Marcos and Raposa Serra do Sol. This news has received harsh criticism from the CIR, as the prospecting was conducted without authorization of the indigenous communities [2].
 
Situated on the Tocantins river, the Estreito Hydroelectric Plant will affect the Apinayé and Kraho peoples in the state of Tocantins, and the Krikati, Gavião Pukobiê, Guajajara and Tabajara peoples of the state of Maranhão. According to the Estreito Energy Consortium (CESTE), the works “advance at an accelerated pace and have been completed over 85% of the physical construction schedule” [3]. A public hearing held in April of 2010 revealed tremendous tension involving the non-indigenous population affected by the work, which certainly points to problems also being experienced by indigenous people. The history of hydroelectric plant constructions has demonstrated that one of the primary impacts on indigenous communities has been the increasing pressure on their territories by non-indigenous populations also affected and in situations of abandonment. According to the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), this situation became very clear during the public hearing.
 
Put into operation in December of 2001, the hydroelectric plant of Lageado on the Tocantins river, has generated powerful impacts on the indigenous Xerente population. In April, 2010, the indigenous people detained, on their Indigenous Land, a group of five service persons of the National Foundation for Indigenous Affairs (FUNAI) and a member of the Xerente Program for Environmental Compensation (Procambix). According to press reports, the indigenous goal was to demand agility of the FUNAI “in the release of financing from federal programs in the areas of production and infrastructure originating from environmental compensation agreements” resulting from the hydroelectric [4].
 
In June, in Mato Grosso, the Enawenê Nawê reacted against the impacts of the eleven small hydroelectric plants in the Juruena river – various of them installed by companies of the former Governor Blairo Maggi [5]. The indigenous people camped in the town of Sapezal, where they denounced the compromised quality of the river water, which had become muddy and unfit for consumption, putting their way of life at risk.

Designated for the Aripuanã river in Aripuanã, Mato Grosso (MT), construction of the Dardanelos hydroelectric was started in September 2007. In July of 2010, approximately three hundred indigenous persons, from eight different ethnic groups [6] occupied the construction site, claiming “actions of reparation” for the damages caused to an archaeological site, as well as sustainability programs.
 
The conflict of major repercussion involved the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant. Planned at the Xingu River as the largest project of the PAC and the second largest hydroelectric in the country, it has been the target of intense protests and legal battles over the years. In April this year, two large marches against the work took place in Brasilia (DF), uniting indigenous and riverine peoples, social movements and even the filmmaker James Cameron and actress Sigourney Weaver (of the film Avatar). In an open letter, the caciques (chiefs) Bet Kamata Kayapo, Raoni Kayapo and Yakareti Juruna rejected the project saying: “Our butcher store is the forest, our market is the river. We no longer want that others fool around with the rivers of the Xingu (…)”. In June and August, in the city of Altamira, Pará, several demonstrations against the dam convened hundreds of people impacted and participants of social movements. Quite worrisome is the situation of isolated indigenous groups occupying the region of the Xingu and Bacajá, whose areas of perambulation will be affected by the construction [7]. Despite the gravity of the situation, the federal government subsequently stated that no indigenous land would be affected.
 
Another source of tension during this period was the construction of the Madeira Hydroelectric Complex (the hydro electrics of Jirau and Santo Antônio) in Rondônia. Besides the impacts on indigenous communities contacted around the 1970s (Kaxarari, Urueu-wau-wau and Pakaanova), the construction affects, in a particularly disturbing manner, several isolated indigenous groups. An expedition in December of 2009, with participation of the Federal Foundation for Indigenous Affairs (FUNAI), the Amazon Protection System (SIAN) and non-governmental organizations concluded that the works on the Jirau plant, so close to some isolated peoples (10 to 30km), would have caused their flight. The Basic Environmental Program (PBA) of the Jirau plant on the Indigenous Land of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau recognized “the presence of isolated indigenous peoples such as the Parakuara and the Jururei, as well as two groups whose names are unknown [8].
 
Finally, in the Northeast, the indigenous peoples of the already battered São Francisco River, besides continuing to confront the transposition project of its waters, are now faced with the construction of the Riacho Seco and Pedra Branca hydroelectric plants (in Bahia and Pernambuco respectively), with dams planned to be located, respectively, between the towns of Curaçá (state of Bahia) and Santa Maria da Boa Vista (PE), and between Orocos (State of Pernambuco) and Curaçá (Bahia), directly affecting the Truká people (Pernambuco) and Tumbalalá (Bahia). The indigenous peoples launched the campaign “Opará – Indigenous Peoples in Defence of the São Francisco”, and in July, at a seminar on the impact of PAC projects, held at the Indigenous Land of the Truká people (Cabrobó, Pernambuco), declared their dissatisfaction with the enterprise and voiced concern over yet another possible source of tension: the possibility of the installation of a nuclear power plant in the region [9].
 
2. Indigenous peoples and territorial conflicts
 
According to CIMI, the legal and administrative situation of indigenous lands in the country was as follows in November 2009:
 
Situation of Indigenous Lands                                                   number
Registered                                                                                366
Ratified                                                                                     35
Declared                                                                                   60
Identified                                                                                   20
In identification                                                                          146
Without provision                                                                       323
Reserved / Domains                                                                       36
Total                                                                                         988
 
In total, the year 2010 began with circa 489 lands still awaiting the administrative act of recognition of traditional indigenous occupation. This number alone indicates that the issue of demarcation of indigenous lands in Brazil is still far from resolved. In the interim waiting period prior to completion of the constitutional provision that determines that these territories are to be objects of demarcation, conflicts arise, multiply and drag on for years. Those drawing greatest attention throughout the year to date, involved the Tupinambá of Indigenous Land Serra do Padeiro, in Buerarema (Bahia), the Terena of Indigenous Land Cachoeirinha, in Miranda (Mato Grosso do Sul) and the Guarani-Kaiowá in Paranhos and Douradina both in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
 
On February 19, reacting to aggressive acts committed by ranch owners occupying the Indigenous Land of the Tupinambá in Bahia, these indigenous occupied buildings of these ranches, which resulted in the intensification of the criminalization against their leaders. Some hours before sunrise on March 10, the Federal Police (PF), with charges of trespass and conspiracy, arrested the brothers Babau (chief of the community) and Givaldo, who were subsequently transferred to the Mossoró federal maximum security prison in the state of Rio Negro. On June 3, their sister, Glicéria, was also arrested by the Federal Police and taken with Eruthawã, her baby of two months, to the jail in Jequié, Bahia. Gliceria was returning from a meeting with President Lula in Brasilia. The three siblings and the baby were not released until the 16^th of August. The case of the aggressions committed against the Tupinambá was filed by CIMI and Global Justice to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples, Mr. James Anaya [10].
 
In the municipality of Miranda in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), the climate of tension increased during the month of May when the judge Gilmar Mendes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), granted an injunction for repossession to the family of former Governor Pedro Pedrossian for the lands of the ranches Petrópolis and Paratudal. The Terena people, who revindicate recognition of traditional indigenous occupation of that area, had retaken the area in October 2009. On 18 May, seventy men of the Federal Police and sixty Military Police, using dogs, tear gas and rubber bullets, carried out the eviction of eight hundred indigenous persons, who denounced that “the police arrived already shooting and throwing [tear gas] bombs into the midst of the women and children. Then they gave us only twenty minutes to collect all that is ours and disappear”. The Terena pleaded, in vain, for enough time to harvest cassava, corn and beans they had planted at the site [11].
 
In August, conflicts involved the Guarani-Kaiowá. A group of about fifty indigenous, including women and children, retook their tekohá (as they call the place where conditions exist for the Guarani way of being) located on the land of the fazenda São Luiz, in Paranhos (MS). On August 23, indigenous leaders began to report that armed men had surrounded the camp, firing shots into the air in an attempt to intimidate and force the indigenous people out. Three days later, the camp was reinforced with the arrival of over two hundred indigenous persons to the region. In the month of September, CIMI and the British NGO Survival International [12] reported that the indigenous people were kept surrounded at the site, without access to water, food and medical care, and under constant threat of armed men hired by landowners. In September, also in Mato Grosso do Sul, a group of about eighty indigenous Kaiowá retook one of the lots comprising the area revindicated as tekohá in the municipality of Douradina. The fazenda owners set fire to the indigenous encampment and said they would remain on site and expulse the indigenous people again in case they returned [13].
 
Concluding Remarks
 
In disputes involving the energy sector, the appeal to “development” as justification for the losses to be borne by the indigenous peoples differs little from that experienced during the period of the military regime. At the time, the development boom devastated hundreds of indigenous groups, especially the isolated peoples. The difference is that today Brazil has a constitutional framework with important principles and instruments protective of indigenous rights. Brasil is also subject to international commitments regarding their protection. Convention 169 of International Labor Organization (ILO), for example, professes that indigenous people always be consulted “through their representative institutions” in cases of “legislative or administrative measures which may affect them directly” (art. 6. , § 1, “a”). However, the breach of the “prior consultation” principle with indigenous communities has been the keynote in the cases highlighted here, under the false claim that their land would only be affected if the works were located within that territory.
 
Like this the environmental, social, economic and cultural impacts that these communities are forced to absorb are ignored. Conflicts concerning the ownership and demarcation of indigenous lands occurred in various regions of the country, but the data indicate that they have been particularly severe in Mato Grosso do Sul, where the indigenous population, confined to miniscule reserves throughout the first half of the 20th century, has persistently struggled to regain their places of origin. These communities have been run over, now, through the ever greater assault by the agribusiness and its project of exclusion and death.
 

Further reading:

Amazon Watch international  petition to stop Belo Monte 

Survival International  a series of mega dams is being planned

________________________________________
[1] Rosane F. Lacerda is an indigenist attorney. She served as legal advisor of the Indigenous Missionary Council from 1987 to 2005. She holds a Master in Law, State and Constitution from the University of Brasilia (UnB), is doing a PhD in Law at the UnB and is Indigenous Rights researcher and assistant professor of public law at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG) – Campus Jataí (CAJ) and a member of the research group “O Direito Achado na Rua” (Rights found at Street / UNB).

[2] Folha de Boa Vista (RR), 02/02/2010.

[3] , accessed on 09/21/2010.

[4] Folha.com, 27/04/2010.

[5] “Hydroelectric Complex of Juruena threatens the survival of Enawenê-Nawê” in . Accessed 09/15/2010.

[6] UHE Dardanelos in Aripuanã will be the largest hydroelectric plant in Mato Grosso”  at . Accessed 15/09/2010; Diário MS, Dourados,26/7/2010.

[7] Belo Monte will inundate an area of 516 km², forcefully displace thousands of families of the city of Altamira and the final diversion of the water of the Big Bend of the Xingu will dry out a stretch of 100 km of river, forcing the displacement of riverine and indigenous communities. (Cf. CIMI, report “World Around Us, No 902 of 25.02.2010). Porantim, Brasília, April 2010, p.2; June-July 2010, p.5; August 2010, p. 12 and 13. Telma Monteiro, “Isolated Indigenous peoples threatened by dams in the Amazon: Santo Antonio, Jirau and Belo Monte” at . Accessed 18/09/2010

[8] Telma Monteiro, “Isolated Indigenous Peoples threatened by dams in the Amazon,” cit.

[9] Jornal do Commercio, Recife, 26/11/2008. Porantim, Brasilia, January-February 2010. CIMI, report No. 925 of 08.05.2010. According to Eletronuclear, the Development Committee of the Brazilian Nuclear Program presented to President Lula, as part of the National Energy Plan (PNE) for 2030, “the proposed construction of four nuclear power plants in Brazil (…), two in the Northeast and two in the Southeast “(, accessed 25/08/2010).

[10] Porantim, Brasilia, march 2010, p.4; August 2010, p.11.

[11] Caarapó News, 18/05/2010. Folha.com, 17/05/2010.

[12] Campo Grande News, 8/19/2010. At this place another retaking ended in an attack on the indigenous encampment in October 2009 by security personnel from the fazenda São Luiz. As a result the teachers Rolindo and Genivaldo Vera disappeared. The body of Genivaldo was found. Rolindo remains missing. Diario MS, Dourados, 18/08/2010, 23/08/2010, 26/08/2010. Campo Grande News, 13/9/2010 and Capital News, Campo Grande, 15/9/2010.

[13] A Gazeta News, Amambai, 08/09/2010

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