Cultural Survival

Guarani man.
© Joaó Ripper/Survival

A community of Guarani Indians in Brazil has spoken of its ‘fear, despair and deep pain’, after being served with an eviction order requiring it to leave its land.

The Guarani of Laranjeira Nanderu community have been living on a small patch of their ancestral land since May 2011.

The Indians had previously spent one and a half years living in makeshift huts on the side of a main road, with little access to clean water and health care. At least three Guarani were run over and killed by passing cars.

The land of Laranjeira Nanderu was stolen from the Indians in the 1960s, to make way for cattle ranches. The Guarani have since suffered violence, intimidation, and various brutal evictions.

Since they returned to a part of their land last May, conditions have improved and the Guarani now have some access to clean water.

If the Indians are forced to leave, they could end up back on the roadside, or in an overcrowded reserve where violence, malnutrition, disease and suicide are rife.

The Guarani said in a statement, ‘We have already been through various decades of misery… any moment we could be evicted from our ancestral territory we are now occupying. We are sad and horrified to receive this news.

‘We want to survive culturally and physically here; we want protection and vital support from the Brazilian authorities to guarantee that future generations of Guarani in this country will not be victims of violence.’

Like many other Guarani communities, the Indians of Laranjeira Nanderu are waiting for the government to fulfill its obligation to map out and protect the land for their exclusive use.

Survival is urging the Brazilian authorities to cancel the eviction order and to recognize Guarani land rights now.

Today's photos are the closest sightings of uncontacted Indians ever recorded on camera
© D.Cortijo/uncontactedtribes.org

Survival International has released close-up pictures of uncontacted Indians, exactly a year after aerial photos from Brazil astonished the world.

The new photographs taken in south-east Peru show an uncontacted family from the Mashco-Piro tribe.

The Mashco-Piro are known to inhabit the Manú National Park, but sightings of them have increased in recent months.

Many blame illegal logging in and around the park and low flying helicopters from nearby oil and gas projects, for forcibly displacing the Indians from their forest homes.

The Mashco-Piro are just one of around 100 uncontacted tribes in the world.

Exactly this time last year, Survival’s release of pictures of a healthy community of uncontacted Indians in Brazil was widely reported.

Today’s photos are the most detailed sightings of uncontacted Indians ever recorded on camera.

This Mashco-Piro man is holding a wooden-handled knife tipped with a capybara tooth.
© D. Cortijo/www.uncontactedtribes.org

But the danger of contacting tribes who choose to remain isolated was reaffirmed by the recent death of an indigenous Matsigenka man.

Nicolás “Shaco” Flores was shot by an uncontacted tribe’s arrow near the Manú National Park in Peru. He had been leaving food and gifts for a small group of Mashco-Piro Indians for the last 20 years.

Glenn Shepard, an anthropologist and friend of the victim, wrote in his blog and in Anthropology News, ‘Shaco’s death is a tragedy: he was a kind, courageous and knowledgeable man. He believed he was helping the Mashco-Piro. And yet in this tragic incident, the Mashco-Piro have once again expressed their adamant desire to be left alone’.

Nicolás “Shaco” Flores was killed by an uncontacted tribe in Peru after attempting to contact them.
© D.Cortijo/uncontactedtribes.org

Beatriz Huertas, a Peruvian expert on uncontacted tribes, told Survival the case is ‘unusual, complex and extremely delicate’.

‘Contact could happen at any time,’ Huertas said, ‘we must implement preventative measures and a contingency plan with local authorities as soon as possible to ensure this does not happen again.’

Last year Survival wrote to SERNANP, Peru’s Ministry for Protected Areas, expressing its concern at a video showing tourists leaving clothes for the Indians on riverbanks.

The area was subsequently closed off to tourists and an emergency warning issued to local residents.

Many blame illegal logging in Manú National Park for displacing the Indians from their homes.
© G. Galli/uncontactedtribes.org

Indian Affairs Department INDEPA plans to set up a guard post to protect both local people and the uncontacted group.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today: ‘One year later these photos provide yet more overwhelming evidence of the existence of uncontacted tribes. It is no longer acceptable for governments, companies or anthropologists to deny this. First contact is always dangerous and frequently fatal – both for the tribe and those attempting to contact them. The Indians’ wish to be left alone should be respected.’

Boa Sr died exactly two years ago. She was the last member of the Bo tribe.
© Anvita Abbi/Survival

Two years after India’s Andaman Islands lost the last speaker of ‘Bo’, a leading linguist has warned the Jarawa could face a similar fate unless the road running through their reserve is closed.

Professor Anvita Abbi specializes in endangered languages, and has recently published a dictionary documenting four of the oldest ones in the world.

She said, ‘unless we develop alternative sea routes, we cannot safeguard the life, culture, language and identity of one of the oldest civilizations on earth.’

Her stark prediction comes exactly two years after the death of Boa Sr, which led to the extinction of ‘Bo’, one of ten Great Andamanese languages.

The Great Andamanese were neighbours of the Jarawa, until the Indian government forcibly resettled them to Strait Island in 1970.

They once numbered 5,000. There are now 56.

Before her death, Boa Sr lamented the loss of her language to Anvita Abbi. She confided, ‘the Jarawa are lucky as they shun contact with city dwellers. It is so nice to see they’re not dependent on outsiders for food and shelter. Our boys know nothing about hunting and cannot feed themselves.’

To mark the two-year anniversary of her death, Survival has released unique video of Boa Sr talking about the importance of holding on to a language:


Lost Forever
The late Boa Sr talks in Bo (her native tongue) and Hindi about her dying language. © Anvita Abbi/ELAR

She said, ‘If they don’t speak to me now, what will they do once I’ve passed away? Don’t forget our language, grab hold of it.’

Anvita Abbi said to Survival that Boa Sr, ‘had no idea the Jarawa would soon face the same fate as the Great Andamanese.’

Jarawa girls in clothes given to them by outsiders who can enter the reserve through an illegal road.
© Survival

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘At a time when evidence of human safaris has prompted global outrage, it’s vital the Indian government closes the Andaman Trunk Road. Whilst Minister Chidambaram’s public statement not to ‘thrust or impose anything on the tribe’ is deeply encouraging, the only way to truly guarantee this is by closing the road. The legacy of Boa Sr’s death should be enough of a warning.’

A Samburu girl from Kenya. The tribe has suffered violent evictions.
© Adrian Arbib/Survival

The German travel industry has called on Kenya to find a solution to the recent evictions of the Samburu tribe, and warned its position as a tourist destination could be damaged. Germans currently spend more money abroad than any other nation.

In a letter to President Mwai Kibaki, the head of the German Travel Association (known by its German initials DRV) expressed his ‘great concern’ at the current situation in Kenya’s Laikipia district.

Read the letter to Kenya’s President (pdf, 442 KB)

A series of violent evictions by Kenya’s police have forced thousands of Samburu from the area known as Eland Downs. Houses were burnt, people assaulted and livestock stolen.

Samburu children from Kenya.
© Samburu Watch/Survival

The evictions follow the purchase of the land by two conservation charities – The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).

They have promoted the 17,100 hectares as a chance for Kenya to create its ‘newest national park’, and ‘stimulate tourism’.

DRV’s President Jürgen Büchy said its members considered Kenya ‘an important destination’, but that it was crucial tourism was carried out sustainably.

He said, ‘tourism development at the expense of human rights and local communities…does not find the support of the German travel industry’.

The DRV represents 80 percent of Germany’s tour operators and travel agents. In 2010 Germans spent over 60 billion euros on foreign trips, more than any other nation.

Büchy called on Kenya’s government to allow the ‘Samburu to reinstall in the Eland Downs and to give them a part in the preservation of the wildlife in Laikipia.’

Kenya’s government has not yet responded to The German Travel Association.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ’It’s really encouraging the German travel industry is taking the issue of human rights in Kenya so seriously. It’s a stark warning to the Kenyan government that the international community will not tolerate human rights abuses in the name of tourism. The Samburu should be allowed to return to their land, and any tourism that occurs on that land should happen with their consent.’

The burnt remains of Samburu homes in Kenya following police evictions
© Channel 4 Dispatches

Nísio Gomes, a Guarani shaman shot dead by gunmen
© Survival

Guarani Indians in Brazil have come under further threat since gunmen murdered their leader Nísio Gomes last November.

The Guarani of Guaviry community have reported that a non-indigenous man who claimed to be employed by a local rancher approached the Indians last week, threatening that they would be attacked by gunmen again.

Gomes was brutally killed after he led his community to reoccupy its ancestral land, which is now occupied by ranchers. The authorities are investigating the case.

Several other Guarani have since been intimidated by a hitlist of prominent leaders.

Many Guarani communities are living in appalling conditions since much of their land has been occupied by cattle ranches and soya and sugarcane plantations.

Guarani leaders who fight for the land to be returned to their communities are often subject to violence. Several leaders have been killed, and their assassins are seldom arrested.

In a recent statement, Guarani remembered some of Gomes’s words: ‘We must never give up fighting for our ancestral land… to save many lives and the future of our children. We must never abandon our land, because we belong to it.’

The Guarani have stated, ‘We want the authorities to arrest those responsible for the attack… If the Brazilian government does not act, we fear that Guaviry and other Guarani communities will suffer more violence’.

Survival is calling on the Brazilian government to fulfill its responsibility to map out and recognize all Guarani land for the Indians’ exclusive use.

An Awá man whose uncontacted relatives were victims of an alleged attack by loggers
© Survival

An investigation into the reported killing of an uncontacted Indian child by loggers, has uncovered disturbing ‘evidence of an attack’ deep in the Amazon forest.

The findings suggest loggers were operating 400 meters away from an uncontacted Awá camp where the burned remains of a child were allegedly found.

Brazilian NGO CIMI, The Order of Attorneys of Brazil and the Maranhão Human Rights Society, who jointly carried out the investigation, also found, ‘many indications that the Awá had been in the place of the reported incident.’

The team discovered the remains of four fires, as well as clear evidence of the Awá’s search for honey, and bindings used to help them climb trees.

However, CIMI says, ‘loggers’ tractors drove over the Awá’s camp, destroying everything. From the signs we can say that it was a large vehicle.’

The uncontacted Awá live in Brazil’s Amazon in an indigenous territory, but illegal logging is destroying much of their forest.

On the Edge

Brazil’s Awá tribe rely on their forest home for survival but intensive logging poses a serious threat to their future.

CIMI believes around four families lived at the camp, 6 kilometers away from members of the Guajajara tribe, who reported the body’s discovery.

Clovis Guajajara told the delegation he was, ‘very upset about the destruction’ and believed the Awá were scared away when they saw the loggers’ clearing.

A loggers' camp found by CIMI 400 meters from uncontacted Awá
© Gilderlan Rodrigues/CIMI MA

The Brazilian government’s Indian Affairs Department, FUNAI, is conducting its own investigation, and says the child’s death has not been confirmed.

The Awá have suffered brutal attacks at the hands of loggers who have threatened to kill them.

Survival is lobbying the Brazilian government to evict the vast numbers of illegal loggers who risk wiping out one of the world’s last nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes.

Note to Editors:

Google maps locating the uncontacted Awá camp, loggers’ clearing and the Guajajara village are available on request.

Vehicles queue to enter the Jarawa reserve along the Andaman Trunk Road
© G Chamberlain/ Survival

The Andaman authorities were alerted to the existence of human safaris two years ago by Survival International – but the problem has continued.

On January 11, 2010, Survival wrote to the Lieutenant Governor of the Islands, warning him that ‘a number of tour operators are promoting tours which include sightings of, or encounters with, the Jarawa tribe .’

Survival received no response to the letter or subsequent appeals, even after launching a boycott of the Andaman Trunk Road with local organization Search.

In July 2011, Survival wrote again as a matter of ‘great urgency’, in response to ‘severe international concern about the Jarawa’s predicament and the threat that tourists pose’, but still the problem continued.

Four months ago, a complaint was also lodged by social worker Arvind Rai Sharma, after he saw a tour company’s promotional video of Jarawa women and children being ‘humiliated in front of tourists’.

Speaking to Survival, he said, ‘I personally handed in the letter to the Andaman authorities, and met the Director of Tribal Welfare. But they still did not take my complaint seriously, even though it was such a sensitive matter’.

Tourist films Jarawa on the Andaman Trunk Road
© Survival

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘It’s extraordinary that the local government appears only now to realize the extent of these ‘human safaris’. Survival first wrote to the administration in 2010 to highlight the issue. If they’re serious about finally tackling this problem, they need to close the Andaman Trunk Road, ten years after the Supreme Court told them to. It’s the only real solution.’

Read Survival’s letters to the Andaman administration from 2010 (pdf, 294 KB) and 2011 (pdf, 229 KB)

Read Arvind Rai Sharma’s letter to the Andaman administration (pdf, 5.3 MB)

Tourist films Jarawa on the Andaman Trunk Road
© Survival

Any attempt to ‘mainstream’ the Jarawa by force would be a disaster, said Survival International, in a statement today. ‘By mainstreaming, what the authorities really mean is the assimilation of the Jarawa into national society,’ said Sophie Grig, Senior Campaigner with Survival.

In the wake of the controversy over ‘human safaris’, both the BJP and the Minister of Tribal Affairs, V Kishore Chandra Deo, have called for the Jarawa to be ‘mainstreamed’, with the Minister reportedly describing the lives of the Jarawa as ‘beastly’.

But forcibly assimilating tribal people into national society has been viewed as unacceptable by the international community for decades. Its catastrophic impact on tribal peoples has been widely acknowledged; no government in the Americas has advocated assimilation for more than thirty years.

Progress Can Kill, a report by Survival International shows that when tribal people around the world have been forced into the ‘mainstream’, rates of disease, depression, addiction and suicide soar.

Survival’s Campaigner Sophie Grig said today, ‘Minister Deo must move away from the idea that tribes will inevitably end up ‘mainstreamed’ or that their life is ‘primitive’ or ‘beastly’. The Jarawa have thrived in their forests for more than 55,000 years – they may be poor in monetary terms but their health and quality of life is visibly better than that of the Great Andamanese tribes who’ve been given the ‘benefits’ of the ‘mainstream’. The Jarawa’s land and its resources must be protected so that they can continue to live in, and from, their forest and only they must decide and control what, if any, ‘developments’ or changes they want’.

Vehicles queue to enter the Jarawa reserve along the Andaman Trunk Road
© G Chamberlain/ Survival

A secret recording of a tour operator in the Andaman Islands telling an undercover journalist to provide 10-15,000 rupees (£120-180/ $180-275) to pay off the police proves that the now notorious ‘human safaris’ are still happening, and provides fresh evidence of police involvement in the scandal.

The tape (mp3 audio file) was recorded last month by journalist Gethin Chamberlain.

Undercover recording from the Andaman Islands. Recording by Gethin Chamberlain.

Asked how much a trip to see the Jarawa tribe would cost, the Port Blair-based tour operator says, ‘For the trip, uh, vehicle and… all like 25 to 30,000 like that. Because the policeman take 10 to 15 like that. And vehicle and some gift to the tribals also… like fruits, biscuits…’

Stung by the international outrage that has greeted these disclosures, some in the islands’ administration have claimed that the video was shot ten years ago, before precautions were put in place – but the new audio recording proves that they continue today.

Survival International first revealed the existence of the ‘human safaris’ in 2010.

In response to the latest revelations, one of the leading experts on the Andaman Island tribes, Professor Anvita Abbi of Jawaharlal Nehru University, has said, ‘This happened in the knowledge of the authorities. How can the administration claim they have no knowledge of this?’

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘This recording provides concrete proof that human safaris are still occurring. The only reason that they are still occurring is because of the Andaman Trunk Road through the Jarawa reserve. Ten years after the Indian Supreme Court ordered the road to be closed, it’s shocking that the Andaman Administration is defying this order by keeping it open. The government could end human safaris today – by closing the road.’

Undercover Human Safari recording transcript. December 2011

Man: There is the, if you want, two procedure… one is, the illegal, you go on the… on the… way on the road Baratang, in the, in the vehicle four-wheeler. That time (if) the vehicle is less vehicle, traffic will be less, then easily you can meet and taking photograph (unclear).

If the traffic is more, back side also car, front also car, bus, then it’s not possible. ..(unclear) sit in the vehicle, go and come back from that place.

(Unclear… for easy one… now, not…) How many days you stay here?

Gethin: Three or four.

Man: Three or four days. Ah… visit in next time because we can arrangement with the police department. He taking some money. You can get duty on there.

Gethin: Is it safe? Am I going to get arrested? (laughs)

Man: No it’s a (unclear). No no not like that, we can safely… we can give the money safely. Because there that is the security man of that tribal.

Gethin: (noise – okay? Yeah?)

Man: You understand?

Gethin: Yeah.

Man: You can attach with that person, deal with that person, who are the… who will be the safeguard of tribal.

Gethin: Yeah.

Man: You can consult with them. You give… you take some money (loud car noise… unclear) give to the tribal…

Gethin: then?

Man: Then you ask, ask, 10,000 15,000 like that, money. That…

Gethin: It’s a lot of money.

Man: Then you can meeting, take your time, and come back.

Gethin: How long do you go for?

Man: You go early morning 4 o clock from this place and next day come back.

Gethin: How much (unclear)?

Man: For the trip, uh, vehicle and… all like (unclear) 25 to 30,000 like that. Because the policeman take 10 to 15 like that. And vehicle and some gift to the tribals also… like fruits, biscuits… you can take some gift items too.

Awá men travel down a road cut by loggers.
© Uirá Garcia

Loggers have invaded the Amazon home of uncontacted Awá Indians, one of whom has reportedly been ‘burned alive’.

Members of the Guajajara tribe, which also inhabits the area, have said that they came across the burned remains of an Awá child in the forest, following an attack by loggers, according to Brazilian NGO CIMI.

Clovis Guajajara, who sometimes sees the Awá in the forest whilst hunting, has reportedly said that he has not seen them since the alleged attack, and he believes they have fled.

The Brazilian government’s Indian Affairs Department, FUNAI, has told Survival that it is conducting an investigation into the reports, and that the child’s death has not been confirmed.

At least 60 uncontacted Awá Indians are thought to live in this part of the north-eastern Brazilian Amazon – they are one of the last nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes in Brazil. The Awá rely on their forest to survive, but vast numbers of loggers are illegally invading their land, which now suffers one of the highest deforestation rates in the Amazon.

On the Edge

Brazil’s Awá tribe rely on their forest home for survival but intensive logging poses a serious threat to their future.

More than 30% of one of the Awá’s territories has already been destroyed.

Luis Carlos Guajajara told Survival today, ‘There are uncontacted Awá in the area and the loggers are pressurising them. The loggers’ presence is very dangerous. Indians in the area are scared.’

The Awá have recently suffered a series of brutal attacks, and loggers have warned that the Indians will be killed if they go into their forest.

Survival is lobbying the Brazilian authorities to evict the invaders from the Awá’s land before the devastation puts the Indians’ lives further at risk.

Awa man Takwarentxia and his pet monkey.
© Fiona Watson/Survival

Tourist films Jarawa on the Andaman Trunk Road
© Survival

British newspaper The Observer has revealed evidence of police involvement in ‘human safaris’ in India’s Andaman Islands.

The scandal, first exposed by Survival in 2010, involves tourists using an illegal road to enter the reserve of the Jarawa tribe. Tour companies and cab drivers ‘attract’ the Jarawa with biscuits and sweets.

The Observer has obtained a video showing a group of Jarawa women being ordered to dance for tourists by a policeman, who had reportedly accepted a £200 bribe to take them into the reserve.

One tourist has previously described a similar trip: ‘The journey through tribal reserve was like a safari ride as we were going amidst dense tropical rainforest and looking for wild animals, Jarawa tribals to be specific’.

In recent weeks the Islands’ administration has again ruled out closing the road, known as the Andaman Trunk Road revealed for the first time that it plans to open an alternative route by sea to bypass most of the Jarawa reserve.

Tourists arriving at the Andaman Islands take flyers about the trunk road boycott
© SEARCH/Survival

Survival has called for tourists to boycott the road, which the Supreme Court ordered closed in 2002. Working with a local organization, SEARCH, Survival has distributed leaflets to tourists arriving at the Islands’ airport warning of the dangers of using the road.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘This story reeks of colonialism and the disgusting and degrading ‘human zoos’ of the past. Quite clearly, some people’s attitudes towards tribal peoples haven’t moved on a jot. The Jarawa are not circus ponies bound to dance at anyone’s bidding.’

The reindeer is central to the lives and cultures of indigenous peoples across the sub-Arctic
© Joelle Taillon/Survival

The world’s largest reindeer herd has plummeted in size, with local indigenous people blaming the spread of massive industrial projects in the area.

The George River herd, which once numbered 8-900,000 animals, stands today at just 74,000 – a drop of up to 92%.

The herd roams the vast tundra of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada. Known as caribou in North America, the animals are central to the culture of the Cree and Innu people of the region.

However, in recent decades large parts of the herd’s range have been disrupted by a series of huge projects. Iron-ore mining, flooding vast areas for hydro-power and road-building have all taken their toll, according to Innu people.

A migrating caribou herd, who are making their journey in declining numbers
© Subhankar Banerjee/Survival

Innu Elder and Chief Georges-Ernest Gregoire told Survival today, ’The caribou (reindeer) is central to our culture, our spiritual beliefs and to our society as hunters that have lived on our homeland, Nitassinan [Quebec-Labrador peninsula], for thousands of years.

‘But all the massive industrial “development” projects that have been imposed on our land in the last forty years have undoubtedly had a cumulative impact on the size of the caribou herd. That is why we need real control over our territories and resources, and why we must be involved as equals in decisions that affect our lands and the animals that live there.’

Another Innu man, Alex Andrew, stated, ‘Our elders say that the animals will be the first to feel the effects of all this damage. The food chain cycle will be broken and many will suffer in the end.

‘And so much development like hydropower, mining, roads, forestry, will be only adding to the dilemma that is facing the animals’ survival.’

Survival International’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘If we really do care about the real impact the natural world has on us and vice-versa – rather than just watching it on television – it’s time to start listening to tribal peoples. They know what they’re talking about. For the Innu, reindeer aren’t just for Christmas.’

See Survival’s beautiful photo gallery on the reindeer-herding Sami people

Notes to Editors:

The results of the most recent survey of the herd’s size were announced here.

The body of Chigon Mila Chakma, who was killed on Wednesday
© Survival

A Jumma tribal woman, Chigon Mila Chakma, was killed in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh when settlers attacked Jummas at a market on Wednesday. At least ten Jummas, the indigenous inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, were injured in the attack.

Sources report that the death of Bengali settler Abdus Sattar triggered the violence, although there is no suggestion that the Jummas who were attacked were involved in his murder. The response appears to have been an indiscriminate attack against the Jumma community because Sattar was last seen carrying two Jumma passengers on his motorbike.

The government of Bangladesh has moved hundred of thousands of settlers into the region, home to eleven tribes, known collectively as Jummas. The settlers have displaced many of the Jumma tribal people, who have also been subjected to violent repression by the army.

The attack comes at a time when the government of Bangladesh has imposed restrictions on the activities of the Jumma peoples. According to new rules, foreign nationals are banned from holding discussions with any indigenous or religious groups in the region without the presence of a government officer.

Guarani man. The Guarani have been suffering increasing threats and violence in recent months.
© Joaó Ripper/Survival

A Guarani Indian from central Brazil has died of his injuries, two years after his community was attacked by gunmen.

Rosalino Lopes, 50, was shot in the abdomen and left paralyzed when his community, Pyelito Kuê, was attacked in 2009.

The gunmen were allegedly employed by the ranchers now occupying the Guarani’s land.

Before he died, Lopes said, ‘I am dying for the ancestral land where I was born. I wanted to return to Pyelito Kuê and live there with my family… Let all our indigenous relatives, and the authorities, know that the wound I received from the gunmen is killing me. I can’t go on any longer’.

The attack followed an attempt by Lopes’s community to reoccupy their land. A more recent attempt at reoccupation also resulted in violence: earlier this year, truckloads of armed men invaded the community, set houses on fire and left several people seriously injured.

The Guarani have been suffering increasing levels of aggression and threats in recent months, as gunmen are targeting prominent leaders who are reported to be named on a hit list.

Last month, gunmen executed a Guarani man in front of his community.

In recent decades, vast areas of Guarani land have been taken from the Indians, to make way for cattle ranching and soya and sugarcane plantations.

The Brazilian government is responsible for mapping out the Guarani’s land and returning it to them, but this process has come to a near stand-still.

Meanwhile, the Guarani are living in appalling conditions, with disease, malnutrition, violence and suicide rife.

Survival is lobbying the Brazilian authorities and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to ensure that urgent measures are taken to protect the Guarani.

Download Survival’s report to the UN, outlining the Guarani’s plight.

A displaced Samburu elder from Kenya's Laikipia district
© Samburu Watch/Survival

A Kenyan tribe living near the area famous for its links to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s engagement has been engulfed by violence after wildlife charities arranged to buy their land.

Kenya’s Laikipia district has been part of the traditional territory of the Samburu tribe for centuries until two US-based charities – The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) – agreed to pay $2 million for their land, which was officially owned by former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi.

Soon after, the Kenyan police began a series of brutal evictions of the tribe, burning their villages, killing and stealing their animals and assaulting men, women and children. Survival has recently received reports of an elder being shot ‘in cold blood’.

2,000 Samburu families now live in makeshift squats on the edge of the land and 1,000 others have been forced to relocate entirely.

Conditions are appalling, and resources scarce. A Channel 4 documentary caught on camera the extreme nature of these evictions in the Eland Downs.

Kenya is a popular safari destination, which attracted the attention of Britain’s most famous Royals: in 2010, William proposed to Kate at a ranch just 40 miles away.

Following waves of violence from the police, the Samburu began legal proceedings against AWF and ex-President Moi, to plead for their rights to the land. A subsequent court demand for no further harassment of the Samburu has been ignored. Survival has recently received reports that women and children have been sleeping in the bush, despite heavy rains, terrified of police violence.

The burnt remains of Samburu homes in Kenya following police evictions
© Channel 4 Dispatches

Although the case is still underway, AWF has recently ‘gifted’ the land to the Kenyan government in a move described by the Samburu as an ‘affront to the justice system’.

The Minister for Forestry and Wildlife said in Parliament, ‘this piece of land was donated to us … we accepted the donation. This is in keeping with the need to preserve our wildlife which is an economic cash cow to us.’

The land supports a wide variety of species, including rare zebras and black rhinos, and the head of AWF has described Laikipia’s protection as the perfect way to ‘stimulate tourism’.

One community leader said AWF’s actions go ‘against the very interests of Kenya’s children, who ironically, remain the best wildlife conservationists

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘That the Samburu have been driven from their homes in the name of conservation should be vigorously opposed by all who believe in fairness and justice. They simply want to live on and protect this land.’

Survival has written to the UN appealing for urgent action to be taken to put an end to the violence and provide assistance to the Samburu (Download letter, pdf, 75KB).

Survival has invited AWF to comment on the contents of this release, but has received no reply.

Enxet child in the Chaco region of northern Paraguay.
© Jonathan Mazower/Survival

The Paraguayan government has this week signed an agreement with Enxet Indians to hand back 1,000 hectares of their ancestral land.

The decision comes after a long legal battle between the indigenous people and state before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR).

The Enxet community of Kelyenmagategma in northern Paraguay has been fighting for its land for over a decade and has been subjected to a barrage of forced evictions, intimidation and violent threats.

After the case was brought before the IACHR the Enxet received 8,748 hectares of their ancestral land in August this year.

Under this week’s agreement the government should provide the community with new homes, health posts, schools and up to $500,000 for community projects.

Enxet leader Celso Benítez Zavala has welcomed the decision but warned he would remain vigilant to ensure the government keeps its promises, after ‘years of the state’s profound disinterest’.

Xoroxloo Duxee died of dehydration after the Bushmen's water borehole was disabled.
© Survival

Survival is releasing ten tribal rights abuses ahead of UN Human Rights Day this Saturday, to expose violations that still pass largely unnoticed.

Signed 63 years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the first global expression of the rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled.

Yet despite its creation in 1948, systematic abuses against the rights of tribal peoples have remained hidden, or continue to occur far from the public eye.

Here are ten examples, some of which are addressed in Stephen Corry’s, ‘Tribal peoples for tomorrow’s world’, which is now also available to buy on Amazon.

1. Aboriginal Australians only gained voting rights at both federal and state level in 1965. It took another two years to include them in the national census.
2. Australia’s ‘Stolen Generation; children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent were forcibly removed from their families by authorities, until as recently as the 1970s.
3. In 2010 tourists in Botswana relaxed around a swimming pool in the middle of the Kalahari Desert, whilst Bushmen were refused access to water, despite having secured historic rights to their land.
4. Uganda’s Batwa pygmies never hunted gorillas, but were evicted from their forest in 1991, under the pretense of protecting the primates. The pygmies are now refugees.
5. The stuffed body of a Bushman, known as ‘El Negro of Banyoles’, was displayed in a Spanish museum until 1997, when widespread protests led to its removal. The remains were buried in Botswana in 2000.
6. Gunmen with hit lists are executing high-profile Indian leaders in Brazil. Cattle ranchers employ them to stop the Guarani returning to their land.
7. Massacre and disease killed one in every five Yanomami in Brazil during the 1980s, until international pressure forced Brazil to evict gold miners.
8. In what are now recognized as ‘Human Safaris’, tourists treat the indigenous Jarawa of India’s Andaman Islands like animals by throwing them food.
9. ‘Potlatch’, a gift-giving custom practised by indigenous peoples in Canada and US, was outlawed as ‘contrary to civilised values’ in 1884. It took until 1951 for the law to be repealed.
10. Under Stalin’s Soviet rule, Siberian shamans were actively persecuted. By 1980, some believed they had disappeared altogether.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘One of the reasons for the continuing human rights abuses of tribal peoples is that the UN’s Declaration is not legally enforceable. That’s why all those who oppose these crimes against humanity should vigorously campaign for the worldwide ratification of the international law ILO 169, which is binding.’

Stephen Corry's 'Tribal peoples for tomorrow's world' is now on sale on Amazon.
© Survival

Fish are a crucial part of the Enawene Nawe's diet
© Fiona Watson/Survival

An Amazonian tribe’s fishing ritual has been recognized by UNESCO as one of humanity’s priceless treasures.

The UN body has added the Yãkwa ritual of the Enawene Nawe Indians to its list of ‘intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding’.

The Enawene Nawe, who live in the southern Brazilian Amazon, practice the Yãkwa ritual every year, as an exchange of food between humans and spirits.

Enawene Nawe men and boys build intricate wooden dams across rivers to trap fish, which are then smoked and sent back to the tribe’s village.

When the Indians return from the fishing camps, food is ritually exchanged with the spirit world in elaborate ceremonies.

The ritual is now threatened as deforestation and the construction of a series of dams in the Juruena River basin, where their land is situated, are drastically reducing fish stocks.

The Indians have not been properly consulted about the dams project.

The Enawene Nawe report that in recent years they have been unable to practice the ritual as normal, because the fish disappeared.

An Enawene Nawe man told Survival, ‘If the fish get sick and die, so will the Enawene Nawe’.

Fish is a crucial part of the Enawene Nawe’s diet, as they do not eat red meat.

Last year, Yãkwa was officially recognized as part of Brazil’s historic and cultural heritage by Brazil’s Ministry of Culture.

Guarani leader Nísio Gomes was murdered by gunmen. © Survival
© Survival

Gunmen in Brazil are brazenly intimidating indigenous communities with a hit list of prominent leaders, following the high profile murder of Nísio Gomes last month.

Reportedly employed by powerful landowners in Mato Grosso do Sul state, the gunmen are creating a climate of fear to prevent Guarani Indians from returning to their ancestral land.

The tactics employed in recent incidents have been almost identical. Gunmen encircle vehicles transporting Guarani, force them to stop, and then verbally abuse and interrogate passengers about the names on the hit list.

One Guarani leader told Survival, ’They’ve pinpointed us and they’re set to kill us. We’re at great risk. Here in Brazil, we have no justice. We have nowhere left to run.’

On Sunday, around 100 Guarani returning from a meeting in the district of Iguatemi were targeted. Guarani witnesses told Survival one of the four men involved was a local mayor.

The Guarani said the men shouted insults such as, ‘We’re going to burn these buses full of Indians!’ Members of a government team were also present at the scene.

Continued threats have also forced the son of an assassinated leader to flee his community. Ranchers killed Marcos Veron in 2003 after he repeatedly tried to recover a small piece of his community’s ancestral land – his son Ladio is now being targeted.

Marcos Veron was killed in 2003 during an attempt to return to his land.
© Joaó Ripper/Survival

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘This is yet another tragedy in a determined campaign to exterminate all Guaraní opposition to the theft of their land. The ranchers will stop at nothing to protect their interests, and it’s utterly shameful that the Brazilian government can’t stop these gunmen from acting outside the law.’

Gomes’ killers have yet to be arrested, but last week Brazil’s Public Ministry said six men had been charged with the murder of two Guarani teachers in 2009.

The accused include a notorious Brazilian rancher who held the teachers’ community hostage, and local politicians.

Pro-independence protesters march in t-shirts bearing the 'Morning Star' flag
© West Papua Media/Survival

Pro-independence Papuans are planning widespread rallies this Thursday to mark 50 years since they first raised their symbolic ‘Morning Star’ flag. A climate of fear surrounds the anniversary as Indonesia continues to brutally suppress any opposition, and hands derisory sentences to security forces implicated in the violence.

It is now a treasonable offense to carry the flag, which has become an emblem of West Papua’s struggle for independence since it was first flown on 1 December 1961.

As recently as October, West Papuans were left critically aware of the risks still involved in proclaiming independence. Up to ten people were killed when Indonesia’s security forces broke up an independence rally. The main officers involved have reportedly received reprimands.

Thursday’s peaceful protests aim to show there is still a strong appetite to end almost half a century of occupation and flagrant human rights abuses.

Since 1963, an estimated 100,000 civilians have been killed under Indonesian occupation.

A Korowai girl in West Papua, which has been occupied by Indonesia since 1963
© Survival

One of the main rallies will be held in the city of Jayapura, by the grave of former Papuan leader, Theys Eluay. He was killed in 2001 by the Indonesian military. The seven men convicted of his murder were only given paltry jail terms.

The disproportionate use of force by Indonesia, and the clear lack of justice, leaves Papuan protesters fearful ahead of Thursday’s anniversary, says Reverend Benny Giay.

Speaking to Survival from West Papua, he said, ‘Most of the businesses will close down so people are stocking up on essentials…(and) in Jakarta lots of students are leaving their hostels to go back to their families, as they fear the military. The situation is very tense.’

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Indonesia’s illegal occupation of West Papua is almost unparalleled in its brutality. It’s outrageous that the international community is turning a blind eye on almost half a century of ruthless oppression and unbridled violence against the Papuan people.’

There are growing calls for Australian monitors to enter West Papua ahead of Thursday’s rallies, and for Indonesia to allow foreign journalists back in.

Note to Editor

• West Papuan independence activist Benny Wenda is available for interview in connection with this press release.
• Wenda set up Free West Papua after being granted asylum in the UK. The Indonesian government wants him to return and has asked Interpol to arrest him. Wenda says the charges against him are made up and politically motivated.