Eviction of the Kayapo

The Kayapo have lived for centuries along the Xingu River in the Amazon River basin; a fragile ecosystem in Brazil's tropical rainforest. For over two decades, the Kayapo tribe has been fighting to save not only their homeland, but their lives. Their fight is Para Belo Monte - Stop Belo Monte. A dam proposed in the 70s and designed in the 90s, the devastating construction began in 2010. It will be the world's third-largest hydroelectric dam. The Belo Monte Dam will not only destroy thousands of acres of rainforest, but will flood several hundred thousand acres and displace approximately twenty thousand Kayapo. Without a census, it is hard to know the exact number that live in the rainforest, but some estimate the various tribal populations to be as high as forty thousand.

The Xingu River, Home to the Kayapo

International conservation groups, environmental and human rights organizations, and celebrities have stepped up and fought alongside the Kayapo to save this unique tract of the Amazon rainforest.

The World Bank has denied that they provided funding for the dam with the US $1.3 billion loan they approved for Brazil. The loan's disclosed environmental protection terms were very vague; raising concern among opponents that a portion of this money could be used for the Belo Monte dam.
(Photo at right courtesy of International League of Conservation Photographers)

Xingu Basin Indigenous Lands

In August 2012, a Brazilian court ordered an immediate halt to the construction which had begun in 2010 after former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a $17 billion contract with Norte Energia, a consortium comprised of eighteen companies responsible for the implementation of the project.

Judge Souza Prudente ordered the 2010 halt after ruling "lawmakers erred in not seeking input from the indigenous communities beforehand." The cease and desist was considered a major win for the Kayapo, but their victory was short-lived. Norte Energia and the Brazilian government are determined to construct the Belo Monte Dam and with a multi-billion dollar price tag at stake, it is easy to comprehend their partnership. Within weeks of the halt, and with current President Dilma Vana Rousseff's blessing, work proceeded on the dam even though study after study has arrived at a similar conclusion: the dam will be ineffective in producing energy-efficient electricity to the Brazilians. These studies lead oppositional groups to believe the real intent of the dam is to assist mining.

The Kayapo are in danger. The plan is to relocate them to an urban housing area where they will be assimilated into modern society. In recent years they have been introduced to processed sugar and alcohol, which their bodies cannot tolerate or metabolize, and diseases which they have no immunity against. American Indians will recognize the strategy that is being used to destroy a traditional culture and cause an independent environmentally sustainable society to become dependent on the government for food and shelter, weakening them with the insidious afflictions of diabetes and alcoholism.

Kayapo and Brazilian militia conflict

The websites below offer insight and facts surrounding the destruction of the rainforest and the plight of the Kayapo. Donations to these non-profit organizations are legitimate and worthwhile. I have been a member of RAN - Rainforest Action Network for many years, but The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, and Greenpeace are all excellent organizations. These organizations, through advocacy, education, and awareness are both directly and indirectly responsible for a major decrease in deforestation of the rainforests in the past several years, but it is a continual battle that must never cease.


http://www.amazonwatch.org
http://conservation.org
http://nature.org
http://ran.org
http://wild.org