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Brazil: where Indian lives are not worth a traffic sign

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Damiana Cavanha, Guarani leader. Five of her relatives have been run over and killed.
Damiana Cavanha, Guarani leader. Five of her relatives have been run over and killed.
© Fiona Watson/Survival

Public prosecutors in Brazil have called on the government to pay 1.4 million reais (US$ 630,000) in compensation to Guarani Indians and to install road signs, after eight Indians from one community were run over and killed.

For decades the Guarani of Apy Ka’y community were forced to camp on the side of a perilous main road after they were evicted from their land, which is now occupied by a vast sugar cane plantation. Last year they reoccupied a part of their territory, but the road remains a serious threat.

Five of the hit and run victims were relatives of the community’s leader, Damiana Cavanha, who has been campaigning for the Indians’ ancestral land to be returned to them. The youngest victim was four years old.

Damiana believes they are being deliberately targeted by vehicles belonging to the ranchers occupying their land.

Public prosecutor Marco Antonio Delfino de Almeida went to court to force the state to install road signs and speed warnings on the road near the Guarani. The court rejected his request and the government declared the road “safe”. “Indians in this state are not even worth a traffic sign”, Delfino told the UK’s Sunday Times.

Public prosecutors have also recommended that the Brazilian government’s Indigenous Affairs Department, FUNAI, be fined 1.7 million reais (US$ 770,000) for its failure to map out and protect the land of Apy Ka’y and many other Guarani communities, as ordered by the constitution and an official agreement on Guarani land demarcation signed in 2007.

Forced to live in overcrowded reserves and roadside camps, the Guarani suffer alarming rates of malnutrition, disease and suicide, and their leaders are targeted and killed by gunmen employed by the ranchers occupying their land.

Delfino de Almeida said, “This is comparable to real human confinement… the Guarani live in terrible conditions, risking the most precious thing they have: life itself.”

Damiana Cavanha told a researcher from Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, “We are refugees in our own country… We have lost everything, except the hope we will return to our ancestral land.”

See Survival’s photographic gallery documenting Damiana’s community’s plight, and take action to help the Guarani.


Berlin: Peru President urged to protect uncontacted tribes' land

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It is thought that the uncontacted Indians who recently emerged in Brazil have been fleeing illegal logging and drug trafficking in Peru (picture taken in 2010).
It is thought that the uncontacted Indians who recently emerged in Brazil have been fleeing illegal logging and drug trafficking in Peru (picture taken in 2010).
© Gleison Miranda/FUNAI/Survival

Ahead of the visit of Peru’s President Ollanta Humala to Germany for a climate conference this week, Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, has written to the President urging him to protect the lands of highly vulnerable uncontacted tribes in the Amazon rainforest from illegal logging and drug trafficking.

The call follows alarming news that an uncontacted tribe has made contact with a settled indigenous community in Brazil. The Brazilian government believes that the Indians were pushed over the border from Peru due to the failure of the authorities to combat illegal logging and drug trafficking in their territory.

Uncontacted Indians in other areas of Peru’s Amazon also face threats from massive gas and oil projects on their land. Unless their lands are protected they face catastrophe from violence or deadly diseases to which they have no resistance.

In a letter to the President, Survival’s Director Stephen Corry wrote, “To ensure the survival and protection of uncontacted Indians, all legal and illegal work in their territories must stop immediately … I urge your government to act quickly to ensure the protection of the uncontacted Indians’ territories.”

Stephen Corry said today, “Satellite imagery proves that indigenous territories are the best barrier to Amazon deforestation. It’s why protecting tribal lands is key in the fight against climate change. We know tribal peoples are better at looking after the environment than anyone else. They are the best conservationists and guardians of the natural world. The best commitment Peru can make to the environment is therefore to ensure the borders of its indigenous territories are protected.”

Please support Survival’s petition for the urgent protection of uncontacted tribes’ land

Notes to editors:

- President Humala will attend a conference on international climate policy in Berlin (July 14-15) ahead of the UN climate conference in Peru in December 2014.
- Read the full letter to President Humala (233 KB, pdf, Spanish)

Major investment in 'human safaris' road sparks fears for tribe

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Major building works are planned on the illegal road notorious for human safaris to the Jarawa tribe. 
Major building works are planned on the illegal road notorious for human safaris to the Jarawa tribe. 
© Ariberto De Blasoni/Survival

Plans for a major building project on an illegal road notorious for its “human safaris” to the vulnerable Jarawa tribe have been condemned by Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, over fears that it will lead to a massive increase in travelers through the tribe’s protected reserve on India’s Andaman Islands.

Andaman MP Mr Bishnu Pada Ray, of the ruling BJP Party, recently announced the widening of the Andaman Trunk Road up to the Jarawa reserve, and the construction of two new road bridges.

The plans fly in the face of commitments by the Andaman administration to ease traffic along the controversial road by opening an alternative sea route by March 2015.

While the sea route would provide a cheaper, quicker and more comfortable journey, progress on its construction has stalled and officials recently revealed
that there are no boats available for the new route.

Both the United Nations and India’s Supreme Court have called for the closure of the Andaman Trunk Road, which brings hundreds of vehicles through the Jarawa reserve on a daily basis, treating the Jarawa like safari attractions and disturbing the animals which they hunt for their survival.

Andaman MP Bishnu Pada Ray has promised bridges and the widening of the Andaman Trunk Road, sparking fears for an increase in traffic through the Jarawa reserve.
Andaman MP Bishnu Pada Ray has promised bridges and the widening of the Andaman Trunk Road, sparking fears for an increase in traffic through the Jarawa reserve.
© Anon

The road project formed part of Mr Bishnu Pada Ray’s election pledges ahead of the Indian general election in May 2014, which further included controversial promises to bring the Jarawa “into the mainstream” and to remove a protective buffer zone around their Reserve.

“Mainstreaming” tribal peoples without their consent is illegal under international law. The Great Andamanese, the Jarawa’s neighbors, were decimated following forced settlement and only 53 survive.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, “Whole populations of Andaman tribes have been wiped out since outsiders stole their land – the Jarawa are just the latest victims of this colonization and they face catastrophe unless their land is protected. We can’t allow this self-sufficient tribe to suffer the same fate as their neighbors, who were decimated by disease and now depend on government handouts to stay alive. It’s time the illegal road was finally closed.”

Note to editors:

- Over 7,000 people have joined Survival’s call for a boycott of tourism to the Andaman Islands until the degrading “human safaris” are stopped.

'Violent attacks' caused uncontacted Indians to emerge

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Seven uncontacted Indians made contact with a settled Ashaninka community near the Brazil-Peru border in June. Authorities have treated them after an outbreak of flu.
Seven uncontacted Indians made contact with a settled Ashaninka community near the Brazil-Peru border in June. Authorities have treated them after an outbreak of flu.
© FUNAI

Highly vulnerable uncontacted Indians who recently emerged in the Brazil-Peru border region have said that they were fleeing violent attacks in Peru.

FUNAI, Brazil’s Indian Affairs Department, has announced that the group of uncontacted Indians has returned once more to their forest home. Seven Indians made peaceful contact with a settled indigenous Ashaninka community near the Envira River in the western Acre state, Brazil, three weeks ago.

A government health team was dispatched and has treated seven Indians for flu. FUNAI has announced it will reopen a monitoring post on the Envira River which it closed in 2011 when it was overrun by drug traffickers.

The emerging news has been condemned as “extremely worrying” by Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, as epidemics of flu, to which uncontacted Indians lack immunity, have wiped out entire tribes in the past.

Brazilian experts believe that the Indians, who belong to the Panoan linguistic group, crossed over the border from Peru into Brazil due to pressures from illegal loggers and drug traffickers on their land.

Uncontacted Indians face pressures on their land due to illegal logging, drug trafficking and oil and gas exploration (picture taken in 2010).
Uncontacted Indians face pressures on their land due to illegal logging, drug trafficking and oil and gas exploration (picture taken in 2010).
© Gleison Miranda/FUNAI/Survival

Nixiwaka Yawanawá, an Indian from Acre state, said, “This news proves that my uncontacted relatives are threatened by violence and infectious diseases. We already know what can happen if the authorities don’t take action to protect them, they will simply disappear. They need time and space to decide when they want to make contact and their choices must be respected. They are heroes!”

Uncontacted Indians in Peru suffer multiple threats to their survival as the government has carved up 70 percent of the Amazon rainforest for oil and gas exploration, including the lands of uncontacted tribes.

Plans to expand the notorious Camisea gas project, located in the heart of the Nahua-Nanti reserve for uncontacted Indians, recently received the government’s go-ahead, and Canadian-Colombian oil giant Pacific Rubiales is carrying out exploration on land inhabited by the Matsés tribe and their uncontacted neighbors.

Both projects will bring hundreds of oil and gas workers into the lands of uncontacted tribes, introducing the risk of deadly diseases and violent encounters, and scaring away the animals the Indians hunt for their survival.

Survival has launched an urgent petition to the Brazilian and Peruvian governments to protect the land of uncontacted Indians, and called on the authorities to honor their commitments of cross-border cooperation.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said, “This news could hardly be more worrying – not only have these people confirmed they suffered violent attacks from outsiders in Peru, but they have apparently already caught flu. The nightmare scenario is that they return to their former villages carrying flu with them. It’s a real test of Brazil’s ability to protect these vulnerable groups. Unless a proper and sustained medical program is immediately put in place, the result could be a humanitarian catastrophe.”

Brazil: Gunmen threaten to assassinate leading Amazon shaman

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Yanomami shaman and spokesperson Davi Kopenawa, who has led the struggle for the protection of their land, has received a series of death threats by armed men.
Yanomami shaman and spokesperson Davi Kopenawa, who has led the struggle for the protection of their land, has received a series of death threats by armed men.
© Fiona Watson/Survival

Davi Kopenawa, shaman and internationally renowned spokesman for the Yanomami tribe in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, has demanded urgent police protection following a series of death threats by armed thugs reportedly hired by goldminers operating illegally on Yanomami land.

In June 2014, armed men on motorbikes raided the Boa Vista office of Brazilian organization ISA, which works closely with the Yanomami, asking for Davi. The men threatened ISA’s staff with guns and stole computers and other equipment. After the assault, one of the men was arrested and reported that he had been hired by goldminers.

In May, Yanomami Association Hutukara– headed by Davi – received a message from goldminers that Davi would not be alive by the end of the year.

Davi said, “They want to kill me. I don’t do what the white people do, who go after someone to kill them. I don’t get in the way of their work. But they are getting in the way of our work and our fight. I’ll continue to fight and to work for my people. Because defending the Yanomami people and their land is my work.”

Since the attack, a climate of fear has surrounded the offices of Hutukara and ISA, as men on motorbikes intimidate the staff and repeatedly ask for Davi’s whereabouts.

Illegal goldminers operating on Yanomami land pollute the environment on which the Yanomami depend for their survival.
Illegal goldminers operating on Yanomami land pollute the environment on which the Yanomami depend for their survival.
© Colin Jones/Survival

In collaboration with Hutukara, Brazil’s government launched a major operation to evict hundreds of illegal miners and to destroy mining infrastructure in February 2014.

Davi, who has been called the “Dalai Lama of the Rainforest”, has been at the forefront of the struggle for the protection of Yanomami land for over 30 years. Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, supported the Yanomami’s successful fight for the demarcation of the Yanomami territory in Brazil, after an invasion of thousands of illegal goldminers in the 1980s decimated the tribe.

Davi has traveled abroad on many occasions to raise awareness of the urgent need to protect the Amazon rainforest from destruction. He has spoken at the United Nations and received the Global 500 award, among others, for his contribution to the battle of environmental preservation.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, “The rule of law means nothing on the Amazon frontier, which is as wild and violent as the American West used to be. Anyone standing in the way of this aggressive colonization risks being killed in cold blood. These are not empty threats – indigenous activists are frequently assassinated for resisting the destruction of their land. Davi Yanomami’s life is in danger. Those behind the threats and this latest attack must be brought to justice – the authorities need to act now to prevent the murder of another innocent man.”

Notes to editors:

- Brazilian NGOCIMI reported in July 2014 that over 600 indigenous people have been assassinated in Brazil over the last 11 years, and Global Witness reported that nearly half of all assassinations of environmental defenders in 36 countries recorded between 2002-2013 occurred in Brazil.
- Download Hutukara’s statement (pdf, 98KB, Portuguese)
- Contact Survival for pictures and video material of Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, who visited Survival’s San Francisco office in April 2014.
- Davi is scheduled to speak about his new book “The Falling Sky” at a Literary Festival in Brazil on Friday, and in London in September 2014. Please get in touch for interview requests in London.

"Massacre" reported by uncontacted Indians as rare video emerges

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The uncontacted Indians appeared young and healthy, but reported shocking incidents of a massacre of their older relatives.
The uncontacted Indians appeared young and healthy, but reported shocking incidents of a massacre of their older relatives.
© FUNAI

Rare video footage of the first contact with a group of uncontacted Indians near the Brazil-Peru border has emerged alongside new accounts of horrific violence against their community, prompting experts to call for the urgent protection of their land or risk their “extermination” and “genocide”. 

The video clip was released by FUNAI, Brazil’s indigenous affairs department, and first published by “Amazonia Blog” and shows several young and healthy Indians exchanging goods such as bananas. But disturbing reports by the Indians suggest that many of their elder relatives were massacred and their houses set on fire. 

Interpreter Zé Correia reported, “The majority of old people were massacred by non-Indians in Peru, who shot at them with firearms and set fire to the houses of the uncontacted. They say that many old people died and that they buried three people in one grave. They say that so many people died that they couldn’t bury them all and their corpses were eaten by vultures.”

The uncontacted Indians are thought to have fled violence in Peru, and made contact with the settled Ashaninka community and agents of FUNAI at the end of June. The Indians were treated for an acute respiratory infection, to which they have no resistance, and kept in “quarantine” for several days before returning to the forest.  

After first contact, the Indians contracted an acute respiratory infection. Experts believe that FUNAI lacks the resources to avert tragedy in the future. 
After first contact, the Indians contracted an acute respiratory infection. Experts believe that FUNAI lacks the resources to avert tragedy in the future. 
© FUNAI

According to experts, tragedy in the form of an epidemic was narrowly averted, but they warn that FUNAI lacks the resources and staff to respond to similar incidents in future. Guard posts in the area were closed after being ransacked by drug traffickers in 2011.

The doctor who treated the Indians warned of the possibility of more contacts in the region, and emphasized the crucial need to train more specialized health teams to deal with contact and post contact situations.

José Carlos Meirelles, who has monitored uncontacted Indians in this region for FUNAI for decades, said, “If they don’t make things secure for whoever turns up there, unfortunately we’ll repeat history and we will be jointly responsible for the extermination of these people.”

Peru has failed to adequately protect uncontacted Indians and their land, forcing them to flee over the border. The majority of Peru’s Amazon rainforest has been leased to oil and gas companies, which are allowed to operate in reserves dedicated to the protection of the world’s most vulnerable peoples.

Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, has called on the Brazilian government to immediately reinstate all its monitoring posts in the area as a matter of urgency and to allocate more funding for its uncontacted Indians unit, and on the Peruvian government to investigate the reports of a massacre and protect the land of uncontacted tribes. 

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the region’s foremost human rights body, called for the urgent protection of uncontacted tribes’ land on Wednesday. 

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, “It’s vital that Brazil and Peru immediately release funds for the full protection of uncontacted Indians’ lives and lands. Their economic growth is coming at the price of the lives of their indigenous citizens – now, their newfound wealth must be used to protect those few uncontacted tribes that have so far survived the ongoing genocide of America’s first people.”

Note to editors:
- The video footage of first contact, and accounts of the incident can be viewed here.
- More than 7,000 people have signed Survival’s urgent petition for the protection of uncontacted tribes’ land.

Bushmen 'poachers' cleared after two-year court battle

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Four Bushmen stand outside court after being cleared from poaching charges.
Four Bushmen stand outside court after being cleared from poaching charges.
© Survival

Four Bushmen accused of poaching on their ancestral land have escaped up to five years in jail after a Botswana court threw out their case last week.

The Bushmen were allegedly spotted on a hunting trip by Botswana’s President Khama as his plane flew over the Bushmen’s land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in April 2012.

The men – Mongwegi Gaoberekwe, Mohame Belesa, Thoama Tsenene and Dipuisano Mongwegi – were intercepted by the police; their spears, bows and arrows, and domestic animals were confiscated.

The men told police they were hunting to feed their families, and did not know it was wrong to hunt eland on their native soil.

In 2006, following violent evictions from their land, the Bushmen’s right to live and hunt in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve was recognized by Botswana’s High Court.

Despite the Court’s order, no hunting licenses have been granted since the ruling.

The Bushmen are widely recognized as inherent conservationists and have practiced sustainable hunting in the reserve for centuries.

In January 2014, President Khama imposed a nationwide hunting ban that could destroy the last hunting Bushmen in Southern Africa. The ban exempts private game ranches, where wealthy trophy hunters can pay up to $8,000 to hunt protected species, such as giraffes.

Scores of Bushman hunters have been arrested and violently intimidated by wildlife officers and police, and the government has now employed a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy against anyone suspected of ‘poaching’.

The Bushmen’s lawyer, Monamo Aobakwe, told Survival today, ‘The men are all overjoyed at the ruling. Thanks to Survival International for continuing to support the Bushmen to ensure they are properly represented and have freedom to justice. It really makes a big difference.’

India: Vedanta's public hearing declared a 'success' despite tribes' outcry

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Tribal peoples like the Dongria Kondh have spoken out passionately against the expansion of Vedanta's refinery at the foot of the Niyamgiri Hills.
Tribal peoples like the Dongria Kondh have spoken out passionately against the expansion of Vedanta's refinery at the foot of the Niyamgiri Hills.
© Survival

Tribal people in India have passionately spoken out against British mining giant Vedanta Resources’ plans to expand an alumina refinery at the foot of their Niyamgiri Hills during a large public hearing.

Company representatives, local authorities and media articles have heralded the consultation a “success” and in favor of the expansion, but people present at the hearing report that the majority of the people there were against it.

At least 1,000 people attended the meeting in Lanjigarh, Odisha state, on Wednesday, at which local tribespeople condemned Vedanta’s plans ahead of its Annual General Meeting in London on August 1. 

Dongria and Majhi Kondh told the hearing that the refinery is already causing them problems due to pollution, and that promises of compensation in the form of jobs, schools and healthcare never materialized. 

Tribal leaders resisting the company have been facing intimidation and arrests in recent months. Jilo Majhi, for example, told the crowd  that he had spent two months in jail because of Vedanta, and asked the company to drop charges against those who led the resistance against the mine. 

Vedanta’s refinery was built before the company received permission to mine the Niyamgiri Hills for bauxite, and in a landmark triumph for tribal rights, members of the Dongria Kondh tribe overwhelmingly rejected the mine in 2013.

Today, company executives will have to answer to shareholders at Vedanta’s AGM about the £670 million which has already been spent on the expansion, which was described as “a complete violation of the law” in a government investigation.

In May 2014 Vedanta officially announced that: "In deference to the sentiments of the community, Vedanta confirms it is not seeking to source bauxite from Niyamgiri bauxite deposit for its alumina refinery operations, and will not do so until we have the consent of the local communities."

Survival is investigating the misrepresentation of the public hearing by the local government and the media and is calling for an urgent review of the event.


Survival reveals 'five faces of genocide' for UN Indigenous Day

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Aché woman shortly after she was captured and brought out of the forest in 1972, Paraguay.
Aché woman shortly after she was captured and brought out of the forest in 1972, Paraguay.
© A. Kohmann/Survival

To mark UN Indigenous Day on August 9, Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, reveals five tribal peoples who have been victims of genocide during the 20th century – and warns of a potential genocide in the 21st.

Tribal peoples subjected to genocidal violence include*:

- The Aché, Paraguay: in a landmark case launched in April 2014, the Aché tribe took Paraguay’s government to court over the genocide they suffered. The Aché were decimated after colonists launched killing raids, captured tribespeople and sold them as slaves during the 1950s and 60s.

- The Akuntsu, Brazil: in 1985, government investigators uncovered an entire communal house which had been bulldozed – evidence of a brutal massacre by gunmen that killed most of the Akuntsu tribe. The five survivors are the last witnesses of this silent genocide.

Five Akuntsu are the last survivors of a silent genocide in Brazil.
Five Akuntsu are the last survivors of a silent genocide in Brazil.
© Fiona Watson/Survival

- The Jummas, Bangladesh: the Bangladesh military and a wave of settlers carried out a genocidal campaign of murder, rape, torture and the torching of Jumma villages. A peace deal in 1997 put an end to the worst atrocities, but killings, the burning of Jumma villages, the theft of their land and arrests remain rampant.

The Jummas have suffered a genocidal campaign at the hands of settlers and the military, Bangladesh.
The Jummas have suffered a genocidal campaign at the hands of settlers and the military, Bangladesh.
© Mark McEvoy/Survival

- The Yanomami, on the border of Brazil and Venezuela: in 1993, goldminers launched a brutal attack on the Yanomami village of Haximú, killing 16 Yanomami, including the elderly, women and children. In an unprecendented ruling, four of the culprits were subsequently convicted of genocide.

Survivors of the Haximu massacre, in which goldminers killed 16 Yanomami Indians, hold urns containing the ashes of their relatives.
Survivors of the Haximu massacre, in which goldminers killed 16 Yanomami Indians, hold urns containing the ashes of their relatives.
© C Zacquini/Survival

- The Awá, Brazil: Brazilian experts have described the violent invasion and destruction of the Awá’s rainforest by armed loggers as genocide. A Brazilian government representative said in 2011, “If rapid emergency measures are not taken, the future of this people is extinction.” In January 2014, the invaders were evicted from the key Awá territory, following Survival’s high-profile campaign.

Awá man Karapiru witnessed the massacre of his family by outsiders, Brazil.
Awá man Karapiru witnessed the massacre of his family by outsiders, Brazil.
© Survival

See Survival’s ‘5 faces of tribal genocide’ gallery.

Will history repeat itself?

In June 2014, a group of uncontacted Indians emerged in Brazil, having apparently crossed the border from Peru. They told interpreters that they had suffered a violent attack on their village in which most of the elderly were killed, and their homes burnt.

Uncontacted Indians who emerged near the Brazil-Peru border. Experts have warned of 'another genocide'.
Uncontacted Indians who emerged near the Brazil-Peru border. Experts have warned of 'another genocide'.
© FUNAI

“So many people died that they couldn’t bury them all and their corpses were eaten by vultures.” Brazilian experts have warned of “another genocide” if their territory is not protected from the loggers and drug-traffickers suspected of carrying out this atrocity.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, “Industrialized societies subject tribal peoples to genocidal violence, slavery and racism so they can steal their lands, resources and labor in the name of ‘progress’ and ‘civilization’. Since the dawn of the Age of ‘Discovery’, tribal peoples have been the innocent victims of an aggressive colonization of their land. By portraying them as backward and primitive, the invaders have justified a systematic and cruel annihilation, which continues to this day. It’s time the genocide stopped.”

Note to editors:

- *this is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all cases of genocide against tribal peoples during the 20th Century;

- Read the United Nations definition of genocide
- Download images of the gallery here.

More uncontacted Indians emerge in Brazil – fleeing attacks in Peru

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Several weeks after seven uncontacted Indians emerged near the Brazil-Peru border, more uncontacted Indians have made first contact with Brazilian government agents, reportedly fleeing attacks in Peru.
Several weeks after seven uncontacted Indians emerged near the Brazil-Peru border, more uncontacted Indians have made first contact with Brazilian government agents, reportedly fleeing attacks in Peru.
© FUNAI

Peru criticized for failing its most vulnerable citizens

A second wave of highly vulnerable uncontacted Indians has made contact with outsiders in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, just weeks after Brazilian experts warned of “genocide” and “extermination” of the tribe. The group of around two dozen Indians is believed to include men, women and children who reported fleeing attacks by invaders in Peru. 

According to Brazil’s Ministry of Health, the Indians are in good health and have been residing at the “Xinane” government monitoring post.

The contact follows a similar incident at the end of June 2014, when seven Indians from the same tribe made contact with a settled Asháninka indigenous community and agents of FUNAI, Brazil’s indigenous affairs department, in Brazil’s Acre state near the border with Peru. The Indians were given emergency medical treatment for an acute respiratory infection and briefly kept in “quarantine” before returning to their community in the forest.

Campaigners have criticized the lack of protection of uncontacted tribes’ land in Peru, following the Indians’ reports of being brutally attacked and their elder relatives “massacred” by invaders on their land, believed to be cocaine traffickers. While Peruvian and Brazilian authorities signed an agreement to work together to protect the land of uncontacted tribes in this area in March 2014, illegal loggers, drug traffickers and oil and gas companies continue to put uncontacted Indians at extreme risk of violence and diseases.

Uncontacted Indians made first contact with outsiders at the end of June, 2014, and were treated for an acute respiratory infection which could decimate their tribe.
Uncontacted Indians made first contact with outsiders at the end of June, 2014, and were treated for an acute respiratory infection which could decimate their tribe.
© FUNAI

An interpreter who accompanied the first contact said, “The majority of old people were massacred by non-Indians in Peru, who shot at them with firearms and set fire to the houses of the uncontacted. They say that many old people died and that they buried three people in one grave."

Nixiwaka Yawanawá, an Amazon Indian from Acre state, said, “I’m sad to see that my uncontacted relatives are threatened with extermination, and that Peru has failed to take responsibility. Both the Brazilian and Peruvian authorities must provide the necessary funds to protect them, while there is still time, otherwise one more innocent people will be wiped out in full view of the international public.”

Carlos Travassos, head of FUNAI’s Uncontacted Indians unit, told Amazonia Blog, “This may be the last time we see these youngsters, tomorrow they could be dead from diseases or from gunshots.”

Uncontacted tribes are the most vulnerable societies on the planet. They have little or no immunity to common diseases like the cold, flu, or measles and could be wiped out by epidemics or violence from outsiders on their land.

Over 11,000 people have sent an email calling on Peru and Brazil to protect uncontacted tribes’ lands as a matter of urgency.

Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, said today, “The accounts given by these Indians – of the killing of their relatives, and the burning of their houses – were incredibly disturbing. This appears to have taken place on the Peru side of the border, probably at the hands of the illegal loggers and drug traffickers whose presence has been known of for years. What will it take for the Peruvian government to actually protect these tribes’ territory properly?”

Note to editors:
- A video of the extremely rare encounter at the end of June was first published on Amazonia Blog.
- Download a timeline of sightings of uncontacted Indians in this region and actions to protect their land. (PDF, 639 kb)

Hunters Not Poachers: Botswana Bushmen to sue government over hunting ban

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Bushmen hunt for their survival, but are treated like poachers on their land. #HuntersNotPoachers
Bushmen hunt for their survival, but are treated like poachers on their land. #HuntersNotPoachers
© Survival International

Africa’s last hunting Bushmen have given formal notice of their intention to sue the Botswana government over its “unlawful and unconstitutional” attempts to starve them off their ancestral land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

The Bushmen rely on subsistence hunting to feed their families but face harassment, torture and arrest when found hunting for survival. Earlier this year, the Botswana government issued a nationwide ban on hunting without notifying the Kalahari Bushmen or offering any compensation.

This is the fourth time the Bushmen have been forced to resort to legal action against the government in their desperate wish to live in peace on their land. In a landmark victory in 2006, Botswana’s High Court ruled that the Bushmen have the right to live, and hunt, in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

Despite the High Court ruling, not a single hunting license has been issued to the Bushmen living inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Ironically, wealthy trophy hunters are exempt from the ban and continue to legally hunt giraffes and zebras on private ranches.

The Bushmen have hunted game sustainably for many generations, and pose no threat to the survival of wildlife in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
The Bushmen have hunted game sustainably for many generations, and pose no threat to the survival of wildlife in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
© Philippe Clotuche/Survival

Bushman Roy Sesana told the Botswana Sunday Standard, "President Ian Khama and his brother Tshekedi [Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism] decided to ban hunting without consulting us. It was a calculated move to starve us out of CKGR [Central Kalahari Game Reserve]. They know that we are dependent on hunting and they decided to ban hunting in CKGR.”

President Ian Khama, who sits on the board of Conservation International, claims the move is to protect the diminishing wildlife numbers in Botswana.

But tribal peoples like the Bushmen are better at looking after their environment than anyone else. They are the best conservationists of their lands, and the Bushmen’s methods of subsistence hunting with spears, bows and arrows pose no threat to the wildlife of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

Earlier this year, Bushman spokesperson Jumanda Gakelebone traveled to London to ask for Prince Charles’s support against the hunting ban.

The Prince of Wales has backed a new anti-poaching campaign by United for Wildlife, a coalition of conservation organizations including WWF, Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy, and supported by President Khama.

Many large conservation organizations fail to distinguish between illegal poachers and tribal peoples hunting for their livelihood – tribesmen are accused of “poaching” because they hunt their food. And they face arrest and beatings, torture and death, while fee-paying big game hunters are encouraged. 

The government continues to harass and persecute the Bushmen and last year even barred the Bushmen’s long-standing lawyer Gordon Bennett from entering the country to represent his clients. Bennett successfully led three cases for the Bushmen against the government.

Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, said today, "Tribesmen the world over are being accused of “poaching” because they hunt their food. They face arrest and beatings, torture and death, while fee-paying big game hunters are encouraged. It’s time we recognized that tribal peoples are the best conservationists. Until then, Survival International will continue to fight these abuses, and highlight the fact that tribal peoples’ lives and lands are being destroyed by the conservation industry, tourism and big business."

Note to editors:

- The notice was served by the Bushmen’s lawyers on the Attorney General on August 8, 2014.

Alarm over tourists’ encounters with uncontacted Indians in Peru

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Dozens of encounters between uncontacted Mashco-Piro Indians, tourists and settlers have been recorded in recent years.
Dozens of encounters between uncontacted Mashco-Piro Indians, tourists and settlers have been recorded in recent years.
© G. Galli/uncontactedtribes.org

Peruvian Indians have issued an urgent appeal for government action following a spate of encounters between highly vulnerable uncontacted Indians and tourists.

Dozens of encounters between uncontacted Mashco-Piro Indians, tourists and settlers have been recorded near the border of the Madre de Dios Reserve in south-east Peru in recent years. Tourists traveling through the area have taken photographs and left items of clothing on the riverbanks for the Indians, sparking fears that “human safaris” are spreading to the region.

Amazon Indian organization FENAMAD traveled to the Madre de Dios Reserve last week, and has issued a damning statement against government inaction.

FENAMAD President Klaus Quicque said in a press statement, “It’s high time the Peruvian government put words into action instead of these endless meetings about devising protocols and policies. The uncontacted Indians are coming out of the forest but the authorities say and do nothing.”

All over Peru, uncontacted Indians are being forced to flee from their Amazon homes as cocaine traffickers, loggers and oil companies invade their lands.

A group of uncontacted Indians believed to have fled from Peru across the border into Brazil made international headlines earlier this month after members of the tribe were filmed by Brazilian authorities for the first time.

Survival is urging the Peruvian government to protect the uncontacted tribes’ land. (Photograph taken in 2011)
Survival is urging the Peruvian government to protect the uncontacted tribes’ land. (Photograph taken in 2011)
© Jean-Paul Van Belle

Uncontacted Indians are the most vulnerable societies on the planet. Whole populations are being wiped out by violence from outsiders who steal their land and resources, and by diseases like flu and measles to which they have no resistance. Several members of the recently contacted tribe rapidly contracted respiratory disease.

All uncontacted tribal peoples face catastrophe unless their land is protected. Over 130,000 people have written to the Peruvian government urging it to protect uncontacted tribes’ land, but there has been no official response to the urgent situation. 

Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights and FENAMAD are calling on the Peruvian government to:

  • Man and equip guard posts to protect the Indians and prevent the intrusion of illegal invaders into their land.
  • Prevent tour operators from stopping their boats when the Indians appear; or allowing tourists to take photographs of the Indians; or leaving items as gifts for the tribes.
  • Expand the Madre de Dios Reserve to include the area initially proposed for the protection of uncontacted tribes (of two million hectares initially proposed, less than half has been included in the Madre de Dios Reserve).
  • Create an emergency contingency plan for cases of contact, and measures to prevent unwanted contact. 

    Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, “What we’re seeing with uncontacted tribes today is merely a continuation of the genocide that started with the arrival of the first European colonists in the Americas. Whole populations were destroyed when outsiders stole their land and resources, and spread diseases to which they had no immunity. It’s still happening. Peru must act immediately before more tribes are annihilated.” 
     
    Notes to editors:
    - New images of the Mashco-Piro can be seen here: FENAMAD
    - More than 12,000 people have signed Survival’s urgent recent petition for the protection of uncontacted tribes’ land.

Botswana government lies exposed as diamond mine opens on Bushman land

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In 2004, a Botswana Minister said there was no mining nor any plans for future mining anywhere inside the CKGR. In 2014 a $4.9bn diamond mine opens.
In 2004, a Botswana Minister said there was no mining nor any plans for future mining anywhere inside the CKGR. In 2014 a $4.9bn diamond mine opens.
© Gem Diamonds

A $4.9bn diamond mine will open on September 5 in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the ancestral land of Africa’s last hunting Bushmen, exactly ten years after the Botswana government claimed there were “no plans to mine anywhere inside the reserve.”

The Bushmen were told they had to leave the reserve soon after diamonds were discovered in the 1980s, but the Botswana government has repeatedly denied that the illegal and forced evictions of the Kalahari Bushmen – in 1997, 2002 and 2005 – were due to the rich diamond deposits. It justified the Bushmen’s evictions from the land in the name of “conservation”.

In 2000, however, Botswana’s Minister of Minerals, Energy & Water Affairs told a Botswana newspaper, "the relocation of Basarwa (Bushmen) communities from [the Central Kalahari Game Reserve] is to pave way for a proposed Gope Diamond Mine”; and in 2002, the Bushmen told Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, "Foreign Minister General Merafhe went to the reserve and told us we had to be moved because of diamonds.”

The mine opening has also exposed Botswana’s commitment to conservation as window dressing. The government falsely claims that the Bushmen’s presence in the reserve is “incompatible with wildlife conservation,” while allowing a diamond mine and fracking exploration to go ahead on their land.

The Bushmen's sustainable methods of hunting are not incompatible with wildlife conservation, contrary to government claims.
The Bushmen's sustainable methods of hunting are not incompatible with wildlife conservation, contrary to government claims.
© Philippe Clotuche/Survival

And while conservation organizations have heralded Botswana President Ian Khama’s conservation efforts, they have remained silent on the persecution of the Bushmen and the mining activities in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. 

A Bushman whose family was evicted told Survival, “This week President Khama will open a mine in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Do those organizations who have been awarding President Khama for his work with the flora and fauna still believe he is a good example to the world? The residents of the Reserve are not benefitting anything from the mine. The only benefits go to communities living outside the reserve, while our natural resources are being destroyed. We strongly oppose the opening of the mine until the government and Gem Diamonds sit down with us and tell us what we will benefit from the mine. ”

The government continues its relentless push to drive the Bushmen out of the reserve by accusing them of “poaching” because they hunt their food. The Bushmen face arrest, beatings and torture, while fee-paying big game hunters are encouraged. The government has also refused to reopen the Bushmen’s water wells, restricted their free movement into and out of the reserve, and barred their lawyer from entering the country.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, “When the Bushmen were illegally evicted from their ancestral homelands in the name of ‘conservation’, Survival cried foul play – both we and the Bushmen believed that, in fact, diamond mining was the real motivation for kicking the tribe off their territory. Government and its cronies vigorously denied these accusations, but finally we have been proven correct. Meanwhile, organizations such as Conservation International continue to laud President Khama for his environmental credentials and turns a blind eye to his human rights abuses.”

Note to editors:

- Download a timeline of events leading to the opening of the Ghaghoo diamond mine (PDF, 639 kB)

Missionary contacts highly vulnerable uncontacted Amazon tribe

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Uncontacted Mashco-Piro have taken clothes and food from outsiders, putting them at extreme risk of contracting fatal diseases to which they have no immunity.
Uncontacted Mashco-Piro have taken clothes and food from outsiders, putting them at extreme risk of contracting fatal diseases to which they have no immunity.
© Jaime Corisepa/FENAMAD

A highly vulnerable uncontacted tribe in Peru’s southeastern Amazon has been contacted by a missionary, raising fears that the Indians have contracted fatal diseases which could wipe them out.

According to local reports, an Adventist missionary from a local indigenous community arrived on a boat – owned by tour company Expediciones Vilca – and left clothes and food for the uncontacted Mashco-Piro Indians on the border with the Manu National Park.

Images of the encounter last Saturday, September 6, have surfaced, which show the Mashco-Piro taking the clothes and food brought by the tour boat.

Only two weeks ago, Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, and local Amazon Indian organization FENAMAD, warned of the dangers of “human safaris” and increasing encounters between outsiders and the uncontacted Indians.

A boat carrying local people stops on the riverbank near the Mashco-Piro. The Mashco-Piro children have put on the clothes they have been given.
A boat carrying local people stops on the riverbank near the Mashco-Piro. The Mashco-Piro children have put on the clothes they have been given.
© Jaime Corisepa/FENAMAD

But the Peruvian government has failed to take action, and an emergency meeting between FENAMAD and Peru’s Ministry of Culture about this issue was cancelled last week by Viceminister Patricia Balbuena.

Tourist boats regularly pass along the Madre de Dios river where the Mashco-Piro have been spotted. Clothes, food, and even fizzy drinks and beer have been left for the Indians.

Uncontacted tribal peoples like the Mashco-Piro are the most vulnerable societies on the planet. Peru’s approximately 15 uncontacted tribes are threatened by violence from outsiders who steal their resources and diseases like flu and measles to which they have no resistance.

Last month, a group of uncontacted Indians thought to have fled from Peru made headlines when they made contact with a settled indigenous community in Brazil. The Indians immediately contracted an acute respiratory infection for which they were treated.

Like all uncontacted tribal peoples, the Mashco-Piro face catastrophe unless their land is protected.
Like all uncontacted tribal peoples, the Mashco-Piro face catastrophe unless their land is protected.
© Jean-Paul Van Belle

Survival and FENAMAD are calling on the Peruvian authorities to stop tourists and outsiders from entering this area; to implement an emergency health program to prevent the outbreak of a fatal epidemic among the Mashco-Piro; and to enlarge their protected territory as a matter of urgency.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, “Missionaries insisting on clothing ‘naked savages’ is the most enduring metaphor for the colonial destruction of tribal peoples. Clothes can not only carry disease, they can make illness worse for people with no tradition of wearing them. Indians too sick to hunt risk sitting around in perpetually damp and unwashed clothes which can exacerbate the infections which have already killed millions of Indians in the Americas. That this is still happening today is a crime which must be stopped. If Peru doesn’t ban tourists and people like this missionary from going anywhere near the uncontacted Indians, its government risks complicity in the annihilation of yet another Indian people.”

Note to editors:

- Over 12,000 people have sent an urgent email to authorities in Peru and Brazil urging them to protect the land of uncontacted tribes.

Amazon Indian leaders shot dead by suspected illegal loggers

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Ashéninka leaders Edwin Chota was murdered on 1 September 2014 by suspected illegal loggers.
Ashéninka leaders Edwin Chota was murdered on 1 September 2014 by suspected illegal loggers.
© Scott Wallace

Four Ashéninka Indian leaders, renowned for their work against illegal logging in the Amazon, have been murdered near their home in eastern Peru.

The men – Edwin Chota, Jorge Ríos Pérez, Leoncio Quinticima Melendez and Francisco Pinedo – were traveling from their community of Saweto on the Peruvian border to attend a meeting with other indigenous leaders in Brazil.

A search party reportedly found the men with fatal gunshot wounds on 1 September.

The widows of the men traveled for three days through the jungle, arriving in the regional city of Pucallpa late Monday night to demand immediate action by the Peruvian authorities to bring the killers to justice.

“The Ashéninka women of Saweto are now taking leadership of the community to continue fighting for territory for our children,” Ergilia Ríos told press.

Edwin Chota was a well-known indigenous activist who had dedicated his life to preventing rampant illegal logging from destroying his Amazon home.

Chota had received death threats from loggers in recent years, but the authorities “did nothing” to protect him, according to Amazon Indian organization AIDESEP.

Peru’s Ministry of Culture has said a government team will travel to Saweto to investigate the murders.


Stop importing Paraguayan beef: Russian restaurants warned

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The destruction of the Ayoreo’s forest for beef production threatens to wipe out the uncontacted Ayoreo-Totobiegosode.
The destruction of the Ayoreo’s forest for beef production threatens to wipe out the uncontacted Ayoreo-Totobiegosode.
© Survival International

Russia’s top restaurants have been urged to stop using beef from Paraguay, to prevent the rapid destruction of the forest home of an uncontacted tribe by cattle ranchers.

Russia is the principal importer of beef from Paraguay. Brazilian ranching company Yaguarete Pora S.A. which exports to Russia, has repeatedly been captured on satellite imagery illegally bulldozing vast tracts of Paraguay’s Chaco forest.

The Chaco is home to the uncontacted Ayoreo-Totobiegosode tribe, one of the most vulnerable societies on the planet. The Indians rely on the forest for their survival, but according to a recent study by the University of Maryland, the Chaco has the highest rate of deforestation in the world.

If contact between ranch workers and members of the tribe occurs, uncontacted Ayoreo could be wiped out by diseases like flu and measles to which they have no resistance. Like all uncontacted tribal peoples, the Ayoreo face catastrophe unless their land is protected.

Yaguarete Pora S.A. has refused to stop clearing the forest, despite being warned of the extreme danger its work poses to the lives of Paraguay’s most vulnerable citizens.

In June 2014 Survival launched an advertising campaign in Russia, warning consumers of the dangers the beef industry poses to the lives of uncontacted Ayoreo.

This week, top restaurants Bizon, Café Pushkin and Turandot, amongst others, have received letters asking them to stop using beef imported from Paraguay until the Paraguayan government upholds the Ayoreo’s right to their land.

Survival’s ad urges Russia to stop beef imports from Paraguay until the Ayoreo’s land is protected.
Survival’s ad urges Russia to stop beef imports from Paraguay until the Ayoreo’s land is protected.
© Survival International

Survival International’s Director Stephen Corry said today, “The genocide which annihilated North America’s tribes continues on its path of destruction. Entire peoples are being eradicated as industrialized society continues its fatal march forward, stealing the land and resources of Indians across South America and leaving death and disease in its wake. We have to act now if the Ayoreo aren’t to become the latest sacrifice to ‘progress’ and ‘civilization’.

Amazon Indian 'army' takes on illegal loggers

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Ka'apor Indians have formed an indigenous 'army' to combat illegal logging in their forest
Ka'apor Indians have formed an indigenous 'army' to combat illegal logging in their forest
© Survival

Ka’apor Indians in the Amazon rainforest have formed an indigenous “army” to combat illegal invasions of their land, following the government’s failure to protect their territory.

The Ka’apor men track down and detain gangs of illegal loggers, set fire to their trucks, and confiscate their chainsaws.

Images of their latest expedition show the Ka’apor, armed with bows and arrows and wooden batons, detaining one group of loggers in their territory in the north-eastern Brazilian Amazon.

One Ka’apor spokesman said, “We have decided to take on the loggers because nobody else is helping us. We are doing what the authorities should be doing.”

Illegal loggers have long subjected the Ka’apor to violent attacks, and are devastating the forest on which the tribe, and the neighbouring Awá Indians, depend for their survival.

Illegal loggers are threatening the Ka'apor's lands and lives
Illegal loggers are threatening the Ka'apor's lands and lives
© Bruno Kelly/Greenpeace

Earlier this year, following Survival’s 2-year global campaign, the Brazilian authorities launched “Operation Awá” which removed the illegal loggers operating on land of the Awá, Earth’s most threatened tribe.

But the government has failed to take successful action on the Ka’apor’s land, despite a series of desperate appeals by the Indians in recent years.

Survival is lobbying Brazil’s Minister of Justice to uphold the Brazilian constitution and remove the loggers from the Ka’apor’s forest, and to allocate the resources required for the protection of the Awá territory, to prevent the loggers from returning.

Survival announces winners of 45th anniversary photographic competition

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Striking portrait of an Asurini do Tocantins man, the winning entry of Survival International's 45th anniversary photo competition.
Striking portrait of an Asurini do Tocantins man, the winning entry of Survival International's 45th anniversary photo competition.
© Giordano Cipriani / Survival International

Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, is delighted to announce the twelve winning entries of its first-ever photographic competition, held to mark the organization’s 45th anniversary. The winning photograph by Giordano Cipriani is a stunning portrait of an Asurini do Tocantins man in the Brazilian Amazon.

The winning entries give an insight into the incredible diversity and unique ways of life of tribal and indigenous peoples around the world. The photographs feature, among others, the long-distance running Tarahumara in Mexico, the bull-jumping Hamer in Ethiopia, and the mountain-dwelling Igorot in the Philippines.

One of the runners-up: a Hamer man in Ethiopia's Omo Valley skilfully jumping over a row of bulls as part of a wedding ceremony.
One of the runners-up: a Hamer man in Ethiopia's Omo Valley skilfully jumping over a row of bulls as part of a wedding ceremony.
© Salvatore Valente / Survival International

The eleven runners-up are: 
- Fabien Astre (photo of Mentawai, Indonesia);
- Una foto una sonrisa (photo of Surma, Omo Valley Ethiopia);
- Arman E Barbuco (photo of Igorot, Philippines);
- Christian Declerq (photo of Willoq community, Peru);
- David Ducoin (photo of Tarahumara, Mexico);
- Nicolas Marino Arch (photo of Tibetan, Tibet);
- Andrew Newey (photo of Adi, India);
- Partha Pratim (photo of Santhal, India);
- Johann Rousselot (photo of Kondh, India);
- Sarah Sandring (photo of Innu, Canada);
- Salvatore Valente (photo of Hamer, Omo Valley Ethiopia).

View a slideshow of the winning entries.

The twelve winning photographs will feature in Survival’s annual calendar and will be exhibited at The Little Black Gallery in London from December 2-16, 2014, and in other countries where Survival has offices.

Open to amateurs and professionals alike, the competition called for entries in the categories of lands, human diversity and ways of life, and aimed to celebrate photography as a powerful medium for raising awareness of tribal peoples.

The judging panel included Survival’s Director Stephen Corry, actor and Survival Ambassador Gillian Anderson, the BBC’s Human Planet photographer Tim Allen, The Little Black Gallery’s Co-founder Ghislain Pascal, Survival’s Editorial consultant Joanna Eede, and Survival Italy Coordinator Francesca Casella.

This stunning image shows a Santhal fisherman in West Bengal, India, casting his net.
This stunning image shows a Santhal fisherman in West Bengal, India, casting his net.
© Partha Pratim / Survival International

Stephen Corry said: “An important criteria when selecting the winning images was that they convey a fair and accurate picture, and do not falsify the appearance or behavior of their subjects. The range of high-quality entries from around the globe shows that it is possible to take stunning photographs of contemporary tribal peoples without resorting to portraying them as either ‘brutal’ or ‘noble savages’.”

Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, celebrates its 45th anniversary this year. It was founded in 1969 following an article by Norman Lewis in the UK’s Sunday Times Magazine about the genocide of Brazilian Indians, which featured powerful images from the acclaimed photographer Don McCullin.

Notes to editors:

- Please note that the credit for the photo of the Surma, Omo Valley Ethiopia, has been corrected.
- Survival’s 2015 calendar is now on sale featuring the winning image on the cover.
- The overall winner receives an Olympus camera E-PM2, donated by Olympus.
- Survival International would like to thank Chau Digital for printing, and John Jones for framing the photographs for the upcoming exhibition at The Little Black Gallery.

Amazon Indian protests outside Jimmy Nelson photo exhibition in London

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Nixiwaka Yawanawá protested against the 'outrageous' exhibition of Jimmy Nelson's work at London's Atlas Gallery today, wearing his ceremonial headdress.
Nixiwaka Yawanawá protested against the 'outrageous' exhibition of Jimmy Nelson's work at London's Atlas Gallery today, wearing his ceremonial headdress.
© Sophie Pinchetti/Survival

An Amazon Indian protested outside the exhibition of controversial photographer Jimmy Nelson’s work “Before They Pass Away” at London’s Atlas Gallery today.

Nelson’s work has been attacked by indigenous peoples around the world, as well as Survival International – the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights – for portraying a false and damaging picture of tribal peoples.

Nixiwaka Yawanawá from Acre state in Brazil handed a letter to the gallery and said, “As a tribal person I feel offended by Jimmy Nelson’s work ’Before They Pass Away’. It’s outrageous! We are not passing away but struggling to survive. Industrialized society is trying to destroy us in the name of ‘progress’, but we will keep defending our lands and contributing to the protection of the planet.”

Read the letter to London’s Atlas Gallery (pdf, 10MB)

Famed photographer Jimmy Nelson's work 'Before They Pass Away' has been attacked by tribal peoples around the world.
Famed photographer Jimmy Nelson's work 'Before They Pass Away' has been attacked by tribal peoples around the world.
© Jimmy Nelson/teNeues

While Nelson claims his work is “ethnographic fact”, Survival Director Stephen Corry denounces it as a photographer’s fantasy which bears little relationship either to how the people pictured look now, or how they ever appeared. Nelson’s subjects are supposed to be “passing away”, but no mention is made of the genocidal violence they are being subjected to.

The photos of Waorani girls from Ecuador, for example, portray them shorn of the clothes that contacted Waorani routinely wear, and wearing “fig” leaves to protect their modesty, which they have never done (previous generations of Waorani women wore a simple waist string).

Nelson portrays Waorani girls unclothed with a 'fig' leaf.
Nelson portrays Waorani girls unclothed with a 'fig' leaf.
© Jimmy Nelson/teNeues

The Dani of West Papua are wrongly called the “the most dreaded head-hunting tribe of Papua”. But no mention is made of the killings, torture and intimidation they have suffered under the Indonesian occupation since 1963.

Papuan tribal leader Benny Wenda said, “What Jimmy Nelson says about us is not true. My people, the Dani people, were never headhunters, it was never our tradition. The real headhunters are the Indonesian military who have been killing my people. My people are still strong and we fight for our freedom. We are not ‘passing away’, we are being killed by the brutal Indonesian soldiers. That is the truth.”

Nelson’s work has also received fierce criticism from tribal peoples in North America and New Zealand. A Maori blogger wrote, "Maori people are not part of a dying breed and we don’t need to be portrayed as such, for a book, ” and Cowlitz Indian Elissa Washuta wrote in Salon magazine, “Nelson’s mission is built on a horrifying assumption: that these indigenous peoples are on the brink of destruction. He couldn’t be more wrong.”

Davi Kopenawa, spokesman of the Yanomami tribe in Brazil and known as the “Dalai Lama of the Rainforest”, said during his recent visit to London, “I saw the photos and I didn’t like them. This man only wants to force his own ideas on the photos, to publish them in books and to show them to everyone so that people will think he’s a great photographer. Just like Chagnon, he does whatever he wants with indigenous peoples. It is not true that indigenous peoples are about to die out. We will be around for a long time, fighting for our land, living in this world and continuing to create our children.”

Notes to Editors:

- Download images of Nixiwaka Yawanawá at the Atlas Gallery in London

Nixiwaka Yawanawá protested against the "outrageous" exhibition of Jimmy Nelson's work at London's Atlas Gallery, wearing his ceremonial headdress.Nixiwaka Yawanawá protested against the "outrageous" exhibition of Jimmy Nelson's work at London's Atlas Gallery, wearing his ceremonial headdress.
Download hi-res image

Credit: © Sophie Pinchetti/Survival
 
Nixiwaka Yawanawá protested against the "outrageous" exhibition of Jimmy Nelson's work at London's Atlas Gallery, wearing his ceremonial headdress.Nixiwaka Yawanawá protested against the "outrageous" exhibition of Jimmy Nelson's work at London's Atlas Gallery, wearing his ceremonial headdress.
Download hi-res image

Credit: © Sophie Pinchetti/Survival
 
Nixiwaka Yawanawá protested against the "outrageous" exhibition of Jimmy Nelson's work at London's Atlas Gallery, wearing his ceremonial headdress.Nixiwaka Yawanawá protested against the "outrageous" exhibition of Jimmy Nelson's work at London's Atlas Gallery, wearing his ceremonial headdress.
Download hi-res image

Credit: © Sophie Pinchetti/Survival
 
Amazon Indian Nixiwaka Yawanawá handed a letter to London's Atlas Gallery stating 'We are not passing away, we are struggling to survive.'Amazon Indian Nixiwaka Yawanawá handed a letter to London's Atlas Gallery stating 'We are not passing away, we are struggling to survive.'
Download hi-res image

Credit: © Sophie Pinchetti/Survival
 

- Read Survival Director Stephen Corry’s full exposé about Jimmy Nelson’s work in US journal Truthout
- Jimmy Nelson’s exhibition at London’s Atlas Gallery opened on September 25, 2014

Ayoreo Indians protest at government inaction over illegal deforestation

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Ayoreo Indians protest against Yaguareté Porã S.A. which is rapidly destroying their forest home for beef production.
Ayoreo Indians protest against Yaguareté Porã S.A. which is rapidly destroying their forest home for beef production.
© GAT

Relatives of the last uncontacted Indians outside Amazonia held a protest on Wednesday to demand the urgent protection of their land, which is being destroyed by cattle ranchers.

Brazilian firm Yaguareté Porã S.A. is destroying the last refuge of the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode Indians in Paraguay to make way for cattle that is sold for beef to European and Russian markets.

Uncontacted members of the tribe have been living on the run as their homes are bulldozed by the ranchers.

Many Ayoreo have already been forced out of the forest, and are now being wiped out by diseases like flu and measles to which they have no resistance.

Members of the tribe arrived outside the Attorney General’s office in Filadelfia in northern Paraguay to demand official intervention to stop Yaguarete from continuing its destructive work.

Satellite images have caught the company red-handed illegally clearing the Ayoreo’s forest home in the Chaco. The area now has the fastest rate of deforestation in the world.

The Ayoreo handed in a document to the Attorney General urging it to uphold Paraguay’s constitution that guarantees the Ayoreo ownership of their ancestral land.

Yaguarete owner Marcelo Bastos Ferraz has refused to return the land to its indigenous owners, or to stop his rapid deforestation.

Survival has launched an advertising campaign warning Paraguay’s biggest beef market, Russia, of the dangers its imports pose to the lives of the vulnerable uncontacted Indians.

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