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ARTICLES |
THE
KISÊDJÊ |
| By
the Kisedje community leaders, translated by Marcela
Souza. Photos by Miguel Oliveira Jr |
The
Kisêdjê are the only people of the Jê
language family who live in the Xingu Indian Park
(Parque Indígena do Xingu ? PIX). They are
by tradition a warrior people. Their determination
helped them to survive all the hardships they suffered
over the last 50 years. Reduced to a population of
62 in the 60s, today they number 378, spread over
four villages. |
Kuissi
Suya, the Chief of the village |
The Kisêdjê are well known for their fight
to maintain the integrity of their lands, both with
regard to the environment, and in repossession of
their territory.
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The
demarcation of the Park, in 1961, two years after they were
first contacted, did not include some important sections
of their traditional territory. Despite representing at
the time an audacious initiative on the part of the Brazilian
Government, given the Park’s size and the existence
of legislation that approved the “dilution”
of the Indian population, it implied, in the context of
a ferocious process of regional land disputes, the reduction
of traditional Indian territory and the removal and transfer
of some ethnic groups, freeing land for colonization.
The
Kisêdjê never recognized the limits of
the Park, and were always returning to their land
to hunt and forage, thus closely accompanying the
process of regional occupation. At the start of the
90s, the proximity of the cattle ranches and the increased
destruction and burning of the forest, convinced them
that the white man was going to destroy everything
that was important to them. They started to mobilize
to save what was left of the forest in their territory.
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In 1996, they achieved official repossession of part
of the territory (Wawi Indian Land), adjacent to the
Park. They “inherited” however land that
had been degraded by the cattle ranches.
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In 2002 they moved back to the old village where they had
originally been contacted in 1959 (Ngôjhwêrê),
located in their recently regained territory, on the borders
of the cattle ranches, now being converted to soybean production.
The Kisêdjê are now located geographically at
the focal point of resistance to the perverse style of regional
occupation neighboring the Park. They face the challenge
of ensuring their sustainability and that of future generations,
and at the same time convincing their neighbors to preserve
the resources they consider fundamental.
The
Xingu Indian Park
The Xingu Indian Park, occupying 2.8 million hectares,
is located in a region of ecological transition between
savannah and drier semi-deciduous forest to the South,
and the Amazon rain forest to the North, where the
environment varies between savannah, open field, ciliar
bush, wetland forest and forest on firm dry ground.
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It was created in 1961 to protect an important and
socially diverse cultural unit, made up today of 14
ethnic groups, with a long history of wars, alliances,
exchanges and marriages, who speak different languages,
are distributed over 49 villages and posts, with a
total population of around 4,500. The bio-diversity
in the region is extremely rich, partly due to the
environmental management of the Indian tribes over
the hundreds of years they have lived in this region.
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The
Xingu river region has seen enormous changes over the last
30 years. The building of new roads encouraged the creation
and expansion of urban nuclei, the growth of enormous cattle
projects, large scale harvesting of lumber, settlements
of small farmers, and more recently monoculture projects
resulting from the expansion of soybean agriculture in the
State of Mato Grosso. This coalition of economic interests
has been responsible for one of the highest rates of deforestation
in the Amazon region, with a strong impact on water and
biological resources in the region of the headwaters of
the Xingu river. During this period the Indian population
continued to exercise some control over natural resources,
albeit less than before, but which nevertheless ensured
a significant level of conservation. However, the negative
impact of regional economic expansion is now being felt
inside the Park.
The
map showing the deforestation of the Amazon, published
every year from satellite pictures produced by INPE
(National Institute for Space Research), leaves no
doubt as to the strategic relevance of the Indian
Territories in the protection of biodiversity in the
Amazon region. The Xingu Indian Park emerges today
as the principal area of forest conservation in the
state of Mato Grosso. |
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It is becoming an oasis of natural resources, in the
middle of a devastating process of regional occupation.
Despite fulfilling an ever more important role in
guaranteeing the biological equilibrium and conservation
of the region, the Park faces powerful threats. The
fact that the headwaters of the main tributaries are
outside the Park has turned the Xingu River into a
sort of “regional drain”, receiving the
whole impact of the environmental changes occurring
in the headwaters of the rivers, seriously threatens
future sustainability.
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The
14 ethnic groups that live today within the PIX, and
especially the Kisêdjê, are well aware
of this process and have mobilized in order to defend
their borders and maintain their natural resources
intact, organizing themselves, establishing partnerships
with various sectors of the government and with non-governmental
organizations, looking for new ways to manage their
lands and their resources. |
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At the same time, the peoples of the PIX keep alive
their cultural traditions and their political and
social organizations. They are communities that continue
strongly linked to a subsistence economy with limited
interface with the market economy. The future sustainability
of Xingu Indian Societies involves issues such as
the prospect of diminishing stocks of some of their
traditional resources, the preservation and reproduction
of their domestic genetic heritage and the nutritional
wellbeing of their communities. Nevertheless, these
communities have already incorporated some manufactured
products into their basic requirements, products that
they are still unable to fully obtain by themselves.
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The Kisêdjê today
After having rebuilt their population, recovered an important
part of their territory and moved to their original village
Ngôjhwêrê in 2002, the Kisêdjê
are now busy consolidating a strategy for the future, including
the following set of initiatives:
1) Protection and inspection of their territory: cleaning
and maintenance of placards, demarcation marks and stakes;
dialog with neighbors relating to conservation of their
ciliar bush area and legal forest reserves; control of environmental
crime in neighboring properties; monitoring of water and
fish quality in the Paca river (which supplies the village);
defense of the rivers against predatory fishing.
2)
Economic alternatives and expansion of subsistence
conditions: increase of the beekeeping activity; development
of the experimental fish farming project; recovery
and reforestation of degraded pasture areas; improvement
to family orchards.
3) Strengthening cultural heritage: development of
a bilingual school; maintaining the calendar of cultural
festivals and displays. |
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4)
Improve resources for project management: Computer and solar
energy equipment; construction of a small headquarters;
better management training.
5) Ensure the quality of health and sanitation services
in the village.
To guarantee the development of these activities and the
success of their strategy for the future, the Kisêdjê
have formed a series of important alliances with government
and non-governmental organizations such as FUNAI, UNIFESP,
Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), Associação
Terra Indígena Xingu (ATIX) and researchers from
various academic institutions. These organizations and people
are committed to helping with the strategy. Recently the
Kisêdjê created their Association to help in
the management of activities that interface with the white
world. Some members of the community are already trained
in project execution and financial management, with the
help of ISA.
The
Kisêdjê need financial support to build
an infrastructure that can support their planned activities,
such as transport and communication for territorial
protection and inspection, economic alternatives and
resource management, health services and equipment
for the association. Projects being developed have
the support of the entities named above, through technical
assistance and partial financial support, but they
need additional support as listed below. |
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One
important need of the Kisêdjê is to obtain a
farm tractor, which may initially seem a strange demand,
but which technically is fundamental and justifiable, as
it is part of the strategy for recovery and re-use of the
degraded pasture areas within their territory, making it
possible to till the now compacted ground, and the control
and propagation of grass without using fire. The success
of these activities depends on the use of a tractor.
Infrastructure needed
Equipment:
Cost (R$):
01 Tractor and tools R$ 95.000,00
01 4 X 4 Pickup truck R$ 75.000,00
01 Radio with Antena R$ 4.500,00
Construction of Association headquarters R$ 20.000,00
Complete solar equipment R$ 10.000,00
Computer and printer R$ 5.000,00
Fuel for transport R$ 7.000,00
01 outboard motor R$ 13.000,00
01 aluminum boat R$ 4.200,00
Restore PIV Wawi houses R$ 60.000,00
Equipment for mechanical workshop R$ 6.000,00
TOTAL R$ 299.700,00 |
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CAN
YOU HELP?
To make a donation to the Kisedje
simply contact your bank to arrange the funds
transfer directly to the Kisedje association account: |
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Associaçao
Indígena Kisedje
Branch - AG: 1319-6
Account no. - C/C: 13958-0
Banco do Brasil
Contact
Associação Indígena Kisêdjê
(AIK)
President: Hwinti Suyá
Contact Address:
R. Frederico Westpholen 304
Canarana - MT - Brazil
CEP: 78640-000
Tel: 55 66 4782953
E-mail:
kisedje@gmail.com
(in Portuguese)
For further information in English, you may also contact
Professor Dan Everett: dan.everett@manchester.ac.uk
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