The Brazilian government is planning to construct the Belo Monte mega-dam on the Xingu River in the Amazon.
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Kayapó Indians dance at an anti-dam protest, 2006
© Terence Turner |
The dam would be the third largest in the world and it would flood a large area of land, dry up certain parts of the Xingu river, cause huge devastation to the rainforest and reduce fish stocks upon which Indians in the area, including Kayapó, Arara, Juruna, Araweté, Xikrin, Asurini and Parakanã Indians, depend for their survival.
The livelihoods of thousands of tribal people who depend on the forest and river for food and water would be destroyed.
The influx of immigrants to the area during the construction of the dam threatens to introduce violence to the area and bring diseases to these Indians, putting their lives at risk.
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Arara Indian, Pippjt with pet monkey, Brazil.
© John Miles/Survival |
FUNAI has stated that there may be some uncontacted Indians near the site of the dam. These uncontacted Indians would be most at risk as they have very little resistance to outside diseases, which could be fatal for them.
Kayapó Indians and other tribes of the area have been protesting against the dam since it was initially proposed in the 1980s.
In a letter to President Lula, the Kayapó said ‘We don’t want this dam to destroy the ecosystems and the biodiversity that we have taken care of for millenia and which we can still preserve’.
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Sigourney Weaver demonstrates with indigenous people from around the world against Brazil's Belo Monte Dam. Brazilian Permanent Mission to the UN, New York, US.
© Amazon Watch |
The Indians say that they will oppose the dam at all costs, and that if construction proceeds, the Xingu river will become a river of blood.
Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, alongside numerous local and international organisations, have called for the license to be suspended, stating that the environmental impact studies were incomplete, and that the Indians and other people who will be affected were not properly consulted.
The world must know what is happening here, they must perceive how destroying forests and indigenous people destroys the entire world.Kayapó indigenous leaders
If the construction of this dam goes ahead, thousands of people will lose their homes, their livelihoods, and their lives. Indigenous peoples need their land in order to survive and, having lived there for centuries, they have a deep, spiritual link to it.
No amount of compensation or mitigation measures can replace their ancestral land.
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