Mining, ranching, and health care chaos threaten Yanomami
For thousands of years, the Yanomami have thrived in the rainforests of South America.
Now, they are struggling as the government fails to protect them from criminal invasions, attacks and disease.
The Yanomami are one of the largest relatively isolated tribes in South America. They live in the rainforests and mountains of northern Brazil and southern Venezuela.
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| Davi Yanomami in a Yanomami community, Brazil © Survival |
Like most tribes on the continent, they probably migrated across the Bering Straits between Asia and America some 40,000 years ago, making their way slowly down to South America. Today their total population stands at around 32,000.
At over 9.6 million hectares, the Yanomami territory in Brazil is twice the size of Switzerland. In Venezuela, the Yanomami live in the 8.2 million hectare Alto Orinoco – Casiquiare Biosphere Reserve. Together, these areas form the largest forested indigenous territory in the world.
Over 1,000 gold-miners are now working illegally on Yanomami land, transmitting deadly diseases like malaria and polluting the rivers and forest with mercury. Cattle ranchers are invading and deforesting the eastern fringe of their land.
Yanomami health is suffering and critical medical care is not reaching them because of corruption and incompetence in Brazil’s National Health Foundation (FUNASA).
The Brazilian congress is currently debating a bill which, if approved, will permit large-scale mining in indigenous territories. This will be extremely harmful to the Yanomami and other remote tribes in Brazil.
The Yanomami have not been properly consulted about their views and have little access to independent information about the impacts of mining.
Davi Kopenawa, a leading Yanomami spokesman and President of Hutukara Yanomami Association, warns of the dangers.
‘The Yanomami people do not want the national congress to approve the law or the president to sign it. We do not want to accept this law.’
‘Our land has to be respected. Our land is our heritage, a heritage which protects us.’
‘Mining will only destroy nature. It will only destroy the streams and the rivers and kill the fish and kill the environment – and kill us. And bring in diseases which never existed in our land.’
Yanomami have reported seeing uncontacted Yanomami, whom they call Moxateteu, in the Yanomami territory. The Moxateteu are believed to be living in the part of the Yanomami territory with the highest concentration of illegal goldminers.
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| A Yanomami boy paddles his canoe back to his village in the Brazilian Amazon. © Survival |
Contact with the miners could be very dangerous for the Moxateteu, as violent conflict could erupt. The miners also spread malaria and other diseases, which could be fatal for the Moxateteu who will not have built up immunity to common diseases.
FUNAI, the Brazilian government’s indigenous affairs department, has placed a new team in the area to ascertain where the Moxateteu are and how many they are, without making contact.
Davi Kopenawa said, ‘There are many uncontacted Indians. I don’t know them, but I know they are suffering just like we are… I want to help my uncontacted relatives who have the same blood as us. It is really important for all Indians, including the uncontacted Indians, to stay on the land where we were born.’
Survival has supported the Yanomami for decades. We led the international campaign for the demarcation of Yanomami territory, along with the Brazilian NGO, the Pro Yanomami Commission (CCPY). We have also supported their health and medical projects.
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| Yanomami family
© Victor Englebert / Survival |
Despite repeated requests from the Yanomami, the Brazilian authorities have failed to remove the illegal gold-miners and failed to sort out the health crisis.
The Yanomami’s health is now at risk as malaria and other diseases are spreading.
Please join us in pushing for the Yanomami’s land rights and their protection from outsiders’ disease and violence.
Your support will help the Yanomami keep control of their lands, lives and futures. There are many ways you can help.
