Fighting a Low-Intensity War, Indigenous Tupinamba Recover Their Land in Brazil
Fighting a Low-Intensity War, Indigenous Tupinamba Recover Their Land in Brazil
Thursday, 16 April 2015 00:00
By Santiago Navarro F., Renata Bessi and Translated by Miriam Taylor, Truthout | Report
The extreme south of the state of Bahia in northeastern Brazil is a region of intense conflict over indigenous lands. A judge asked Rosivaldo Ferreira da Silva, a leader from the indigenous Babau tribe, about the actions the Tupinamba are taking in order to recover their ancestral lands from the hands of rich landowners.
"You said that your Enchanted One - the spirit of the ancestors of the Tupinamba - ordered you to take back your lands and that you will not return them, even if that means you have to die in a confrontation with the police," the judge said. Da Silva responded: "Exactly."
The judge, trying to change the idea that he had proposed, said, "But we can propose something that can mediate this situation. We can offer a basket of basic goods to families, something that they can live off of."
Da Silva, indignant, responded, "We the Tupinamba, this is how we are, judge. If food is lacking in our homes, we will eat wild plants; we will eat what the land gives us; we are not going to ask for anything from anyone. Because then we would be allowing others to govern our lives."
The Tupinamba were the first indigenous people to form a front against the Portuguese invasion in 1500 in Brazil. They are a great warrior people whose organizational structure uses tactics and strategies of war based on their worldview. In 2004, they started a process to recover their lands.
More:
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/30195-fighting-a-low-intensity-war-indigenous-tupinamba-recover-their-land-in-brazil
Environment & Energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112784136
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Tupinambá[/center]