Angelo, M. (2020, November 13). Surrounded by intruders, the last of Brazil’s Piripkura hold out in the Amazon. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/surrounded-by-intruders-the-last-of-brazils-piripkura-hold-out-in-the-amazon/ (Links to an external site.)
Three members of the Piripkura Indigenous Tribe remain and only two in their indigenous territory. The last remaining members are defending their land against illegal land grabbing and clearcutting that is destroying their ancestral homeland. The territory has seen deforestation of 10,000 hectares and has increased rapidly in the last three years. The regional government has encouraged further illegal occupation and harvesting of the indigenous land. The existence of the protected reserve is dependent on the lives of the two remaining members, and should they die before the September 2021 protected land renewal date, it will cease to exist.
The holding out of the last remaining tribesmen is heroic. Having survived a massacre, faced government oppression and negligence, and standing their ground to protect their land from criminals who attempt to destroy it is a difficult task. However, it is disheartening to see a tribe on the verge of extinction facing such massive opposition that seeks to steal their ancestral homeland. I can’t help but feel that no matter how valiant their efforts, they will eventually die off, and their tribe will go extinct, and their land will be destroyed by illegal logging as well as government encouragement of those illegal activities, if not outright legalization. The national and regional Brazilian governments have failed to protect natives and their land, clearly falling short of their duty to ensure the protection of and access to native lands for indigenous tribes, instead, treating them as second class citizens on their own land. Maintaining ecosystems is a vital aspect of environmental science and the destruction of native protected land is the subversion of that. It is a great injustice to continually attempt to remove individuals from their land and destroy it in the process, and the government is failing their commitment to fair and equitable environmental justice on behalf of the indigenous.
THis is crazy to read about and i think its important that the tribesmen hold out for themselves and stand their ground.
This is super inspiring they are willing to risk a lot of things to protect a way of life. Society has a way of conforming everything to their ways even though that might be the best option. Super cool and interesting abstract and article.
Wow, that is such an interesting article. It is disheartening to see that the native tribes face such opposition, especially when it is their original land. How could the government be helping them, instead of what they are doing now?
I definitely agree it shows tremendous courage on behalf of the natives. I also agree it is a tragedy how often native lands and peoples have their rights infringed on and hope Brazil is able to accommodate them more successfully. I think for the government to better help them a new government may be required that considers indigenous affairs important.