| READ IT
HERE
Within the
next few decades Peru's jungle tribes may cease
to exist as independent cultural and racial
entities in the face of persistent and
increasing pressure from external colonization.
The indigenous people of the Peruvian jungles
are being pushed off their land by an endless
combination of slash-and-burn colonization, big
oil companies, gold miners, timber extractors
and coca-growing farmers organized by drug-trafficking
barons and, at times, "revolutionary" political
groups.
All along the main rivers and jungle roads,
settlers are flooding into the area. In their
wake, forcing land title agreements to which
they have no right, are the main timber
companies and multinational oil corporations. In
large tracts of the jungle the fragile selva
ecology has already been destroyed; in others
the tribes have been more subtly disrupted by
becoming dependent on outside consumer goods and
trade or by the imposition of evangelical
proselytizing groups, and the Indian way of life
is being destroyed.
The first Law of Native Communities , introduced
in 1974, recognized the legal right of
indigenous peoples to own lands that were held
collectively and registered as such with the
Ministry of Agriculture. Despite this
recognition, however, the military government of
the time wasn't trying to stop colonization.
Such land titling as did occur was a two-edged
sword - whilst it guaranteed a secure land base
to some communities, it implied that land not so
titled was unavailable to them, effectively
making it available to colonization.
However, as the most significant legal tool they
had in the 1970s, land rights legislation was
adopted by the indigenous communities to help
protect their territory, even if the creation of
native communities as legal entities represented
the imposition of a non-indigenous socio-political
structure. New self-determination groups sprang
up throughout the 1970s and 1980s, such as the
Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of
the Peruvian Amazon (AIDESEP) and the Coalition
of Indigenous Nationalities of the Peruvian
Amazon (CONAP). Since then more regional
political structures have been established,
usually based on natural geographical boundaries
such as rivers. These function as intermediaries
between the community and the national levels of
Amazonian political organization.
In 1999, a new law was drafted claiming to be
for the conservation, sustainable development
and respect for indigenous communities. Received
with dismay by all the major organizations
working in these fields, there were immediate
strikes and protests throughout the Amazon
region. However, it actually seemed to sidestep
these basic issues and appeared to encourage
investment in large-scale developments without
regard for environmental issues, introducing tax
breaks for private investors while failing to
give the same benefits to locals. There appeared
to have been no consultation with the regions
involved, let alone with conservation
organizations or the political organs of the
indigenous population
Indian resistance
Since the early 1970s, the indigenous rainforest
nations, in particular the Campa Ashaninka from
the much threatened central jungle area, have
been co-ordinating opposition to these threats.
Representatives, sometimes working in
conjunction...
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Ashaninka projects
There are a number of projects working with the
Ashaninka to rebuild their communities and
strengthen their territorial and economic
position. Contact the Rainforest Foundation in
London (Suite A5, City Cloisters, 196 Old Street,
London EC1V...
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>>
An Amarakaeri Indian of Madre de Dios speaks
for himself
Below is an account by a local Amarakaeri Indian
from the southeast province of Madre de Dios, a
witness to the way of life that colonists and
corporations are destroying. Originally given as
testimony to a human rights movement in Lima, it
is reprinted...
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>>
Poison gold and black gold
At least as serious a threat to the indigenous
peoples of the Peruvian rainforest are oil
exploration and gold mining , which are an
enormous potential threat to the rainforest in
Peru. As the danger from terrorism...
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>>
Survival for Tribal Peoples
Survival for Tribal Peoples is a worldwide
organization supporting tribal peoples, standing
for their right to decide their own future and
helping them protect their lives, lands and
rights. Survival have been active in campaigning
against the...
read more
>>
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