Entire Brazilian Tribe Threatens Suicide Over Land Eviction

This story caught my attention and I'm not exactly sure how to feel about it. Firstly I do not condone suicide but I am not judging these people as they are from a different culture and this land is very important to them and they rather die than have it taken from them so I admire their courage on this issue but there is also the possibility that this is a publicity stunt. I'm not saying it's a stunt but it certainly is a possibility.

A entire tribe of 170 Indians have vowed to commit mass suicide after a court in Brazil ruled they must leave what they believe is sacred land, it was reported today.
The community of 50 men, 50 women and 70 children from the Guarani-kaiowa tribe are camped inside a ranch in Brazil's southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

The Indians claim the land has been the graveyard of their ancestors for centuries, according to Brazil's Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI).

Protest: An ethnic Guarani-Kaiowa Brazilian Indian from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul fixes a cross into the lawn at the Esplanade of Ministries in Brasilia yesterday. His entire tribe of 170 Indians have vowed to commit mass suicide after a court ruled they must leave what they believe is sacred land

A Guarani Indian family ride a horse-drawn cart in southern Brazil in 2004. The Indians claim the disputed land has been the graveyard of their ancestors for centuries


But this week, Judge Henrique Bonachela upheld a petition made by the ranch's owner to have the tribe evicted from the land.

He decreed a fine of £150 for every day the tribe remains on the land, on the banks of Brazil's Joguico River.
A spokesman for the tribe today said they do not intend to fight the judge's decision but would rather die on the land than be made to leave.

It does not look good for this tribe because they do not actually own the land as it is a ranch that is owned by someone else. It pains me to see the native people of the world being systematically pushed away from the land their ancestors called their own. This happens all over the world including in my country of Canada.

Another example is Palestine and of course it also happened in the United States ands many other places. I have heard that the Brazilian government has made some significant progress in the treatment of their native tribes who have lived there for thousands of years so I'm not criticizing the Brazilian government as whole as it is a lone judge who upheld a petition put forth by the owner of the land.

I hope some kind of resolution can be reached because it would be very sad for a whole tribe to commit suicide. I wonder if this includes their children...I sure hope not!

And in a letter the tribe called on the Brazilian government to respect their wishes to be buried there along with their ancestors.

It read: 'Because of this historic fact, we would prefer to die and be buried together with our ancestors right here where we are now.
'We ask, one time for all, for the government to decree our extinction as a tribe, and to send tractors to dig a big hole and there to throw our dead bodies.

'We have all decided that we will not leave this place, neither alive nor dead.'

A spokesman for CIMI described the development as of 'exceptional seriousness'.
And Federal Deputy Sarney Filho warned of the 'extremely worrying' situation.
In a letter to Brazil's Justice Minsitry, he wrote: 'This tribe has had its culture and lands attacked for centuries. They could now go down in history as being the tribe which wiped themselves out by committing collective suicide.
'We must take the necessary measures to avert the worst.'
Indian tribes in southern Brazil have for years been fighting for the country to recognise their traditional lands, many of which now belong to farmers and rich landowners.

They seem pretty serious but I hope this is just a stunt due to their desperation.

Let's all hope this has a happy ending versus the other option.

Daily Mail

If this tribe has been there for centuries as stated, the ranch owner is living on THEIR land and should never have been allowed to purchase it in the first place.

Or the sale agreement should have had a clause to allow these people to remain on it.

Either way, it seems corrupt to me.

Peace

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


You had me there and then you just HAD to go and throw in the "palestinians". While you were at it why didn't you throw in the Irish, the Armenians and Greeks who were kicked out of Turkey or for that matter the Jews who were kicked out of Arab countries after the '48 war.









Full quote removed, reply to function used - Jak

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


I have to wonder how much they know, or are part of, the Brazilian government's constitution (if there is one, I'm not very knowledgeable about Brazil's government). I see it as a line drawn, and a powerful statement of refusal to be pushed off their homeland, and with that I can sympathize.

You're right, when native peoples' homelands are usurped and then taken control of by "powers" that those people probably had no part in appointing.... (do the Guarani get to vote? Are they sophisticated? Are they consumers?) ... and they say, "Erm, no. No way", do they have any chance at victory?

Do they have lawyers? Judges of their own?
Reservations? (A disgraceful displacement of people who have thrived in their homelands forever.....for what? Power and money.) Rights?

This makes me sad.
I don't know how you'll resolve to feel about it, but it makes me very sad, and kills a smidgen more of my faith in humanity. What happened to good old-fashioned respect?
*sigh*

reply to post by pacific_waters

You had me there and then you just HAD to go and throw in the "palestinians".

Take your racism elsewhere.

If you would have bothered to read the whole OP you would have noticed that I even criticized my own country and made sure to point out this happens world wide...I did not have time to list every example of this type of situation. I used the Palestinian example as it is a modern issue that is relevant to the situation.

Read the whole OP before posting as it may save you some embarrassment.

Is this not illegal?
..

I'm sure with good enough legal aid they could keep the land without killing themselves.. if they are serious I sure hope they don't kill the children................

This is messed up I hope it all gets resolved without any bloodshed :/

I'm sure the Brazilian government wouldn't want bad publicity like this especially with all the humanitarian efforts they've put in as of late with tribes and land ownership squabbles. I'm sure it'll be fine..

help is just a phone call away

www.suicidehotlines.com...

I second the idea that the ranch owner shouldn't have been able to purchase the land since the natives were already living on it.

This may come across as a bit callous, but in the eyes of the ranchers isn't this kinda "problem solved"? I feel like they might have a better outcome by fighting for their land, but I could be underestimating the hearts of the people in the govt.

Pretty tragic though, and indicative of the whole area except instead of just destroying wildlife they are destroying people. Vice did a story on Zé Cláudio Ribeiro and Maria do Espirito Santo who were killed for trying to protect their land from loggers in Brazil. Very moving story, and why I think the Natives are doing the greedy people a favor by killing themselves.

Edit: www.vice.com...

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


I don't know if you remember but this is not the first time this plight has been raise AND it has previously been carried out. These righteous people have done this before.

Remember.................

When the Brazilian government tried to move a tribe of Brazilian Indians out of the rain forest, the tribe committed mass suicide rather than leave their home. This tragedy inspired Sepultura’s song "Kaiowas," which the band recorded in a castle to achieve just the right sound. They also incorporated Brazilian instruments like the tamburin and cuica. "Kaiowas" was the first of several songs to reflect the band’s rising social sense.answers.com

These people will do it - mark my words.

Sad - very sad.

reply to post by Sublimecraft


I was not aware of the incident so I thank you for sharing. I was unaware that the Sepultura song you mentioned was about so I will listen to it when I get home and see how it sounds.

You may be right about this tribe being serious but for their same I hope you are wrong, and yes it is very sad indeed

Peace.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


Tribal peoples should be treated as sovereign nations and given the same rights of protection..

this is one of the topics that should matter here at ATS. well done

Originally posted by purplemer
reply to post by Corruption Exposed

 

Tribal peoples should be treated as sovereign nations and given the same rights of protection..

I agree, especially with the deforestation and development of South America...it's always depressing to come across stories like these. I like to think as humans as civilized but it's more difficult each day now to believe so.

These people deserve protection.

reply to post by Sublimecraft


Man that song kicked ass!

I thought I had heard it before but this is one of their tracks I have never heard

I like the last minute or two especially. It's good to see musicians taking the time to expose issues such as this, and I never knew this band had ever developed a social conscience as my understanding was that they were a regular death metal band.

Kudos to these guys for putting it out, I hope all the participants in this thread give it a listen.

I actually read a bit about this region a few years ago- and yes, it is a VERY sacred and special place of great antiquity. I am shocked that anyone would want to displace these people.

Based on the geological evidence that we have, there seems little doubt that tropical South America includes some of the most ancient land on the Earth's surface that was never submerged by the ocean nor ground under the tremendous glaciers of the Ice Age. This has led archaeologists to speculate that this now mysterious heartland may very well have been the cradle of the Earth's civilization from which it later spread outwards to Europe and Africa on one side, and Asia on the other. (By comparison, at this period some 60,000 years ago, our European ancestors were living in caves in the regions of what are now Pyrenean France, Cantabrian Spain and Lacustrine Switzerland.)

source:

www.holloworbs.com...

The Mato Grosso area is pretty well known in both alternative archaeology and occult circles. There are legends of ancient cities (quite probably true), supernatural and UFO phenomenae and the famous British explorer, Fawcett, disappeared without a trace. That's just a quick summary- it's a fascinating place.

I would hate to see this place desecrated. I hope the tribe can hold onto it.

reply to post by pacific_waters


Apparently, one must ask permission of everyone in order to post their own thoughts.

On topic: I do not agree with suicide but this almost seems (to me anyways) that this a publicity ploy...I would say it has been a success in getting the word out.

I found this interesting from Wikipedia:

Survival

The Guarani-Kaiowá had no contact with the European settlers before the late 1800s. Today their land is occupied by loggers and miners, and FUNAI, the national organization responsible for protecting and supporting the indigenous peoples in Brazil did little to help the Guarani[citation needed]. The Guarani are forced to leave their land and seek work on plantations, where they work as underpaid labourers. Over the decades hundreds of Guarani-Kaiowá natives, including children, have died.

On october 2012, a group of 170 Kaiowás (50 men, 50 women and 70 children) camping for almost an year at the Cambará farm, near the Joguico River in Iguatemi, Mato Grosso do Sul, at the border with Paraguay, declared they were ready to accept their extinction.[2] According to a letter sent to the Conselho Indigenista Missionário (Cimi, Missionary Indian Council) and to the national management of Fundação Nacional do Índio (Funai)[3]:
“ We are already going to and want to be killed and buried along with our ancestors here where we are today, therefore, we ask the Government and the Federal Justice not to decree our eviction, but instead we request them to decree our mass death and to bury us all here.

We ask them, once and for all, to decree our total decimation and extinction, besides sending many tractors to dig a large hole to drop and bury our bodies. This is our request to the federal judges. We already await this decision of the Federal Justice. Decree our mass death Guarani and Kaiowá of Pyelito Kus/Mbarakay and bury us here. Given that we fully decided it and won't leave this place dead or alive.
”
The eviction order was given by federal judge Henrique Bonachela. According to his order, the daily fine for ignoring the order is of R$500.00 (some US$ 250.00).

Parts of the Brazilian press understood the letter as a mass suicide announcement,[2][4], but Cimi later denied that possibility.

en.wikipedia.org...

Other than finding this interesting, I really don't know what else to say. If they kill themselves it won't change anything, just solve the problem for the land owner. If they don't kill themselves they will be forced to move or perhaps force-relocated. Like the USA it seems they set up the government in such a way as to not recognize the rights of the indigenous peoples but rather the rights of the people who steal land from them.

In the "New World", to my knowledge there was no such thing as "land ownership" when the Spanish and others first arrived. The whites/westerners are the ones who introduced land ownership and then traded trivial things like knives and foodstuffs in exchange for land. The people mostly didn't know what was going on because it was a new concept.

Over time, the westerners created/manipulated governments to "buy" or take land from the natives. Now we look today and can see with hindsight how messed up things are.

Where I live now was "conquered" by the Americans with a cross and a bible, no violence. In the other parts of the Philippines, about 300+ years ago, the average Filipino was enslaved/taught to serve the westerners as superior, along with their Christian God. The average Filipino still lives like this today, except that the Philippine leaders now emulate their Spanish predecessors and rule over their countrymen like the Spanish did.

During the Marcos martial law era, this president decided with his signature and a piece of paper to sign most all of the Northern mountain areas to logging and mining corporations. They are still owned by the corporations on paper, but will have a very hard time fighting the natives (untouched by the Spanish) that the land they have been living on is not theirs. Of course this never happened because access to the resources is very difficult to get.

Also, the military went around to the villages with guns, taking the peoples food and treating them like crap. Now all of the villages have at least 1 gun per household and the military hasn't been back since the 80s. =)

I guess they just need to think "progressive" and move "forward" like good little sheep, rather than holding onto their "conservative" beliefs. If suicide is what it takes, then who am I to criticize their "pro choice" views? Geez.

Who cares? They are probably just talking bull# anyways. Times have changed.