<p>The Akuntsu continue to live in fear of the threats that surround them. Please act to have their lands secured.</p>
<ul class="actionlinks">
<li><a href="/actnow/writealetter/akuntsu" onclick="new Effect.BlindDown('embedded_letter_akuntsu'); new Effect.ScrollTo('embedded_letter_akuntsu_container', {offset: -24}); return false;">Writing a letter to the Brazilian Government</a> is a quick and simple way to let them know of your concern.</li><li><a href="/donate">Donate to the campaign for the Akuntsu</a> (and other Survival campaigns).</li><li><a href="http://www.writetothem.com/">Write to your MP or MEP</a> (UK) or <a href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/">Senators and members of Congress</a> (US).</li><li>Write to your <a href="http://www.embassiesabroad.com/">local Brazilian high commission or embassy</a>.</li><li>If you want to get more involved, <a href="../../../../../contact.php">contact Survival…</a></li>
</ul>
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Tribe's last five survivors speak of genocide
true
The Akuntsu are a tiny Amazonian tribe of just five individuals. They are the last known survivors of their people and live in Rondônia state, western Brazil.
In a few decades the Akuntsu will become extinct, and our planet will have lost a unique people, language and culture.
The Akuntsu are a tiny Amazonian tribe of just five individuals. They are the last known survivors of their people and live in Rondônia state, western Brazil.
<strong>
How do they live? <br />
</strong>A group of five Kanoê were contacted in 1995 by field workers
employed by FUNAI, the government's Indian affairs department. Soon
afterwards, the Kanoê told FUNAI about another isolated group whom they
called the Akuntsu. Contact was made with the Akuntsu a few months
later in 1995.<br />
Then they numbered only seven individuals who had survived waves of
massacres at the hands of cattle ranchers and their gunmen during the
1970s and '80s. Today the Kanoê who number three people and the Akuntsu
occupy a patch of forest known as the Omerê area, which has been
legally demarcated, but is surrounded by huge cattle ranches and soya
plantations. They live in two separate villages, in small malocas
(communal houses) made of straw. They are keen hunters - peccaries,
agoutis and tapir are all prized - and cultivate small gardens where
they grow manioc and corn. They also gather forest fruits and sometimes
catch small fish in the creeks. The Akuntsu make wooden flutes which
are used in dances and rituals and wear arm bands and anklets made of
palm fibre. Shell necklaces have been replaced by necklaces of bright
plastic which the Akuntsu obtained by collecting the empty plastic
pesticide containers left as litter by the ranchers.<br />
<strong><br />
What problems do they face?<br /></strong>
Although their land has been legally recognised and FUNAI maintains a
permanent presence in the area, the Akuntsu and Kanoê are surrounded by
hostile ranchers. Both appear to be severely traumatised, having
witnessed the decimation of their people and suffered extreme violence
from gunmen employed by ranchers. Now they are fearful and mistrustful
of most outsiders. Nobody has mastered the Akuntsu language and it is
therefore difficult for the Akuntsu to express their needs and tell
their full story. As a very isolated people, they are extremely
susceptible to diseases transmitted by outsiders. Unless the Akuntsu
decide to marry in to other indigenous groups, this tiny tribe will
disappear from the face of the earth forever.  Another small group
of Kanoê who were contacted decades ago live in the west of Rondônia.<strong><br />
<br />
How can I help?<br /></strong>
Click <a href="http://survival-international.org/how_to_help.php?howto_help_id=1" target="_self">here</a> to donate to the Akuntsu and Kanoê campaign (and other Survival campaigns).<br />
Click <a href="http://www.survival-international.org/how_to_help.php?howto_help_id=297" target="_self">here</a> for a sample letter to send to the Brazilian government.<br />
Click <a href="http://www.writetothem.com/" target="_blank">here</a> to write a letter to your MP or MEP (UK).<br />
Click <a href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/" target="_blank">here</a> to write to the President, your senators, congressmen or other elected officials (US).<br />
Write to your local Brazilian embassy, click <a href="http://www.embassiesabroad.com/" target="_blank">here</a> to find out the address.<strong><br />
<br />
How does Survival help?<br />
</strong>Survival is lobbying the Brazilian government
to map out, legally recognise and protect the lands of all isolated and
uncontacted indigenous peoples in Brazil. They will cease to exist if
their collective human rights are not recognised and upheld.<br />
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The Akuntsu are a tiny Amazonian tribe of six individuals. They are the last known survivors of their people and live in Rondônia state, Brazil. The Kanoê number just three individuals. Both live in the Omerê area in Rondônia state, Brazil.
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the Akuntsu
http://bit.ly/KfsMN
akuntsu
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Akuntsu
2009-10-06T16:24:56+01:00