News-Letter Nr. 439

ABA criticizes Ministry of Envorinment and Wants Demarcation of Indigenous Area to be Completed urgently

The Brazilian Anthropology Association (ABA) rejected attempts of the Ministry of Environment to promote sustainable development projects in the Pascoal Mount Indigenous Land before the area is officially demarcated. According to a letter sent by the coordinator of the Indigenous Affairs Committee of the entity, anthropologist Silvio Coelho dos Santos, to the Public Prosecution Service in Brasília, "without even knowing the size and bounds of the territory traditionally occupied by indigenous communities, the information will be insufficient for self-sustainable projects to be implemented for their benefits."

ABA's public announcement is important at a moment when a systematic movement against the presence of indigenous communities in conservation units can be clearly perceived. Conflicts emerged around the Pascoal Mount between the Pataxó and the Ministry of Environment in August of last year, when the Pataxó decided to reoccupy their traditional land, from which they were expelled in 1961 for the establishment of the "Pascoal Mount National Park," managed by the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama). After the federal administration resumed control of the area, it set up a Technical Working Group to take care of the administrative procedure of demarcating the nine Pataxó areas. Because of pressures from politicians, however, the work of the group has not been completed.

During this period, Ibama repeatedly tried to remove the indigenous community from the Park, including through judicial measures, but because of the resistance of the Pataxó, it changed its strategy and began to propose the implementation of sustainable development projects in the Pascoal Mount area. According to ABA, these projects will cause disturbances, tension and internal conflicts among the Pataxó. Silvio Coelho agrees that the existence of a natural heritage of Atlantic forest in the Pascoal Mount area makes the presence and responsibility of the Ministry of Environment for its conservation imperative, but the formal control of the territory is not necessary for this purpose. "There is no reason to believe that this heritage has become more vulnerable or threatened because of the occupation of the Park by the Pataxó fourteen months ago. In reality, they are helping to preserve it."

The anthropologist asked general solicitor Maria Eliane Menezes de Farias, Coordinator of the 6th Coordination and Review Chamber, which is responsible for indigenous populations, and district attorney Roberto Monteiro Gurgel dos Santos, of the 4th Coordination and Review Chamber, which deals with environmental issues, to press the Office of the Attorney General to make sure Funai will carry out the necessary studies to identify and delimit the Pataxó indigenous area. He also wants the Attorney General's Office to instruct the Ministry of Environment to wait until the report on these studies is published, because "they can provide rational arguments for the desired allocation of ministerial funds" to support the subsistence of the Pataxó in the Pascoal Mount area.

Pataxó are Expelled from Camp in the State of Bahia

On Wednesday, the 29th, the Military Police expelled about 150 Pataxó families from a camp in a 20-hectare area called Fumaça Mount in the city of Curumuxatiba, municipality of Prado, state of Bahia. The Military Police took such action as a result of a preliminary order issued in connection with a Repossession Action filed by farmers Humberto Martins and Jean Perci. The Pataxó occupied the area after being expelled from the Barra do Caí indigenous area, located in the same village, in April of this year. They were waiting in the camp for the demarcation of Barra do Caí, invaded by farmer Vítor Dakeche, to be completed.

The Pataxó decided to leave the camp peacefully in order to avoid conflicts, and took advantage of the occasion to demonstrate in the city against the action of the police and the unacceptably long time it is taking for Funai to demarcate the Barra do Caí indigenous area. The Pataxó who were expelled from Curumuxatiba were taken to neighboring villages and said they will keep on fighting for the demarcation of their traditional territory.

Brasília, 30 November 2000.
Indianermissionsrat - Cimi



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