AN INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE MBIA GUARANI PEOPLE
The Mbia Guarani, that live in the Guaraquesaba region, in the littoral of
the Parana state in Brazil, are in risk to be ousted to their lands.
The Mbia Guarani are tribesmen that belongs to the Tupi Guarani macroethny.
This macrogroup, historically inhabited, and its remaining members still
inhabit the interiors of the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina,
Parana and Mato Grosso (River Prata basin - in the south of Brazil). They
also occupied quit almost the whole Brazilian littoral and the margins of
the main Amazon rivers. Named as Carijo, Tupiniquin, Kayabi, Tupinamba,
Guarani and etc., were largely described in the national historiography.
Subgroups of this Macroethny where "reduced" - forced to live in villages
directed by non Indians - by Spanish and Portuguese Jesuits, between the
16th and 18th centuries.
The Tupi Guarani were, with no historical doubt, the most numerous Indians
in Brazil. They also were the Indians that most influenced the formation of
Brazilian culture. This can be identified by many Tupi Guarani words the
Brazilian Portuguese has, by the culinary and many geographical names. (Such
as Guaraquesaba). Although, it is the most sacrificed Indian group due to
the national society expansion. As a consequence, their land reduced near to
the inexistence and their population so. THE MBIA GUARANI AND
GUARAQUESABA
The Mbia Guarani subgroup which we reefer, arrived in the Guaraquesaba
region, near 1820, as the bibliography attests, due to internal messianic
movements, in witch they looked for the "No evils land". Due to the Tupi
Guarany world vision, the "No evils Land" might be an eminently preserved
place, in where there is no admitted any kind of cupidity relationship with.
We may affirm that the "No evils land" search is one of the main
characteristics of this culture. The respected Brazilian anthropologist
Darcy Ribeiro, have wrote about this in his memorable "Uira gets out looking
for god".
In 1985, the extinguished SEMA (Special Secretary of Environment)
stablished, by decree, the "Environment Protection Area - APA - of
Guaraquesaba" and the "Ecological Station of Guaraquesaba" in the
Guaraquesaba region. Latter, in 1989, once again a decree, this time from
the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Resources - IBAMA -,
created in some islands of this "lagunar" site, the Superagui National Park.
Those documents, failed to consider the presence of the Mbia Guarani in
there.
By the end of 1993, a technical multdisciplinary working group, directed by
FUNAI - Brazilian Indian Foundation - and created by a ministerial act,
proceeded to identify tardy, in fact and in law, the Mbia Guarani villages
from "Pescada, Superagui, Pegas and Barra do Ararapira, in the refereed
region.
THE EXPULSIONS TENTATIVE
Amazingly, since the FUNAI identifying acts were divulged, a significant
number of important NGOs, besides Miss. Guadalupe Vivekananda, the IBAMA's
administrator of the region, began to position their selves against the
permanence of the Mbia Guarani in that region.
By posting messages to the Brazilian Amazon and Renewable Resources
Minister, WWF, Boticario Foundation, Biodiversitas Foundation, Brazilian
Foundation to Environment Preservation, International Wildlife Preservation
Coalition and other NGOs, asked for the expulsion of the Mbia Guarani from
the Guaraquesaba complex.
Due to those institutions, the Mbia Guarani might be considered as dangerous
invaders, that put those reserve unties in risk. There is no doubt that the
Guaraquesaba complex is a important ecosystem and so ought to be preserved.
This region is one of the last areas of "Mata atlantica" in Brazil.
Recently, biologists described there the existence of a new specimen of
marmoset, the "Leontopithecus caissara", that the evidences seems to show
that it is restricted to that region.
The argumentation of those institutions, meanwhile, did not base in any
technical-cientifical research about the Mbia Guarani. The "Leontopithecus
caissara" by the other side, are far to be considered as a well known
specimen ( scientists do not know its number, inhabits and dispersion region
).
Each Mbia Guarani Village needs, in average, 2 or 3 ha of deforested land to
cultivate their back country. This means, that only 0,024 percent of the
decreeted complex are deforested for the Indians survival.
Another argumentation used against the Mbia Guarani, were the criterion
stabilished by the Brazilian constitution (article 231) that talks about
the necessity of traditionally and permanence of Indian communities in a way
their land may be recognized. Due to those institutions, the Mbia Guarani,
in question, are not specified in those two cases and so might be considered
invaders.
This construction, besides have no support in the ethnographic bibliography
about the Mbia Guarany in question, revels etnocentic judgments, once deny
to the Indians their constitutional rights ( "... there are recognized to
the Indians their social organization, inhabits, languages, credences,
traditions....") to conceive the territoriality and permanence by their own
diverse concepts - of course, to an Indian culture, those are so much more
elastic concepts than for the occidentals.
What also surprises, is that the NGOs ignore deliberately - and this is a
worrying position when we are talking about environmentalists - the
indigen ecological practices, marked by the rotational exploitation of their
big domains.
The NGOs are also using the same discourse of Brazilian reactionary upper
class, by saying the Mbia Guarani have no Indian rights, once they are
"acculturated" Indians, based on their external appearance. In the truth -
and different of those who sign the Ministry letters, we lived during 50
days among many villages of them - the Mbia Guarani is a so similar and rare
case of Indian Group, so described by many respected social scientists, once
they, as a minority, are living in one of the most populated regions of
Brazil (south littoral), have quite no land, suffer from all kinds of
occidental persons but speak their original language, are repulsive to
consumerism, practice internal matrimony, practice their own strong religion
(neither 3 centuries of Christianity forced them to abandon it), and are
proud of being Mbia Guarani intend of "Brazilians".
Some of the refereed NGOs representatives, called the Mbia Guarani as "fake
Indians" and "destroyers", repeatedly, based on the example of the Pataxo
(a completely different ethnic tribe) Indians, that are accused to sell
timber in the "National Park of Monte Paschoal", located about 3.000 km far
from Guaraquesaba, in the northern state of Bahia. Some, also
mischievousnessly confused them with the Xokleng and Kaingang Indians (also
from completely different ethnic), which by a typical distortion of the
Brazilian indigenist policy, share some common small reserves in the south
states with the Mbia Guarani, and are also accused to sell protected Pinnus
timber. Due to Brazilian law, race prejudice like this, may put the
responsible in jail, with no "sursis" rights.
Another defended purpose of those NGOs, is to simply transfer the Mbia
Guarani villages from Guaraquesaba. This procedure, does not take in count
the mythical and cultural relationship that justify, for those Indians, the
actual placements of their villages. The environmentalists simply believe
that the Mbia Guarani are "nomadic", and so, there is no problem to push
them away. This is not what anthropologists have proved about them. Due to
the social scientists, that studied this ethnic, they conceive the world as
a circular island. During a life period each Mbia has to visit at least
once, all their parents land, traveling in a contrary clockwise direction,
due to live in harmony with the real Mbia Guarani "Teko" (In the Tupy
Guarani idiom, teko means way of life). Deeply miscalls, they believe that
an hecatomb would destroy the known world, if they do not do this. By the
other hand, any kind of transferring just could be possible with the
permission of Brazilian Congress, that should constitutionally hear the
Indians.
The Mbia Guarani are legally protected by the juridical institute of the
"indigenato", that has a large jurisprudence tradition, based since the
Royal charter of 1680, that recognized the Indian right to the land use.
Environmentalists and IBAMA, are afraid because as the Mbia Guarani are
under tutorship by FUNAI, they could not be processed, once they committed
any environmental fault. In the reality, this way of thinking reveals a
pernicious incapacity of the authorities to protect and support the Indian
lands. Historically, since the beginning of the European colonization the,
Brazilian natives are systematically submitted to all kind of vicissitudes
and privations - as an example, about the necessary resources asked for
FUNAI this year to satisfactory honor the assistance demands (health,
education and demarcations), just 9 percent were approved for the upper
authorities. This way, very often non Indians have corrupted some Indian
leaders, inducing them to sell their land's natural resources. We do not
mean to defend the "Good Savage Myth", but this is a reality that the great
majority of the Brazilian and international society ignores. At the same
time, the non Indians, that really manage this illegally and have excess
profit, stay in confortable liberty.
For an attempt indigenist, there is no knew to notice how environmentalists
and IBAMA consider the Indians - as if there where no difference between the
tribes - as a lost cause. In our opinion, by the reasons we are trying to
expose, it is an historical mistake. Brazilian Indian areas cover 11 percent
of the national territory, and globe almost all kinds of Brazilian
ecosystems. This is much more than the actually insufficient normal
established preservation unties. Instead of fearing the Indians and looking
for them as enemies, the rightist and more pragmactical thing to do, would
be the coalition of efforts with the Indians and their fights.
At any moment, we watched a conciliatory position by the NGOs, able to
propose actions to support or even try to understand the Mbia Guarani. No
value was give for their notorious etnobiologic knowledgement - the
Guaraquesaba region is few studied by science, as in general the whole
Brazilian ecosystems. Meanwhile, contrary to their own creation acts, the
Guaraquesaba preservation units, passed 5 years since their creations, still
do not have their management plans - that might consider the Mbia Guarany
occupation - and it means that it is possible to extinguish then by the
terms of the Brazilian justice.
THE ACTUAL REALITY OF THE MBIA GUARANY
An attempt traveler may notice in the roads of the south states of Brazil,
roaming Guarani families, as indigents. Frequently they are forced to
abandon their sites, by land's owners. Threatened as pariahs by the
Europeans descendants that settled those states, but by their radical
conviction, stay deeply peaceful. Called in a pejorative way as "bugres" (no
race horses), with no conditions to plant their back countries. Making
craftsmanship (baskets) of creeper and bamboo to sale for the tourists.
Even though, by the crepuscle of each day, they pray to their gods. Their
genuine hope is to become light enough to float over the ocean and finally
search the "no evils land".
CONCLUSION
When the segments of our confuse society, that were supposed to use the
science, knowledge and humanitarian felling to defend the nature and the
sons of the nature, turn their backs to the most weak and practice the
sectarism in the name of the preservation, something so wrong might be
happening.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
1 - Please, send respectable faxes or letters to the "Brazilian Amazon and
Natural renewable resources - Mr. Henrique Brandao Cavalcante - fax: 061
226.4345 (Brazil) ;" Brazilian Justice Minister - Alexandre de
Paula Dupeyrat - fax: 061 224.0954 (Brazil)" ;
"President of IBAMA - Miss. Nilde Pinheiro Lago - fax:061 224.5206
(Brazil)" ; asking for support to the Mbia Guarani.
2 - Please, send respectable messages, fax or letters to "WWF", "Fundacao
Boticario (AV. Rui Barbosa, 3450, Bairro Afonso Pena, CEP 83065-260, Sao
Jose dos Pinhais/Parana/Brazil)", "Fundacao Brasileira para a Conservacao da
Natureza" e para "International World Coalition, iwcbr , fax 051 - 222.3191
(Brazil)", showing your disappointment with their position and asking for
support to the Mbia Guarani.
3 - Try to get more information about the Guarani people from Brazil, in a
way to understand their problems, divulge and stablishing solidarity
alliances with them. Send positive messages to them by the CVII alternex
address or conferences.
Thanks a lot.