Bringing a Xavante Healer's Dream to Life

Laura R Graham

In a session titled "Self-determination and conservation challenges for grassroots movements," Top'tiro spoke about the challenges the Xavante face as Indigenous inhabitants of the central Brazilian cerrado. He described his efforts to unite Indigenous and other traditional inhabitants to press the government to pass legislation, promote policies, and devote resources to protect this unique biome. The cerrado, an extremely rich and diverse area, is home to Xavante and numerous other Indigenous groups, the source of many Amazonian rivers, and the epicenter of Brazil's booming soy agroindustry. Xavante and other cerrado peoples now suffer the consequences of largely unregulated, multinational agribusiness and destruction of their land for export-destined soy cultivation. Environmental legislation and policy concerning the cerrado is inadequate, with significantly fewer protections than Amazonia, an ecosystem that relies on the health of the cerrado. On behalf of the Xavante Warâ Association, an organization Top'tiro founded in 1996, Top'tiro presented a proposal that is the current focus of his attention and object of his fundraising efforts. The Maränabödödi (Forest Pathways) project proposes a system of corridors to link disparate Xavante territories along tributaries of the Rio das Mortes. These pathways would allow Xavante to hunt, collect resources, and travel without fear of reprisal on lands that were formerly theirs but are now owned by private landholders. The areas in question primarily consist of protected zones; Top'tiro and other Xavante hope to enter into friendly agreements with farmers to establish these easements. Although they are on good terms with some farmers, relations with others are extremely tense. Top'tiro is grateful to Cultural Survival for its help connecting him with other organizations and noninterference in the ownership of his project. He said that in contrast to previous NGO-sponsored trips, where he sensed he had been enlisted to support another organization's agenda, on this trip he felt like a free agent. As he prepared for his voyage home to Brazil, Top'tiro said, "When I return, I am going to recount every detail of this trip. I am going to tell the young men who work with me in the Xavante Warâ Association...I will tell them about our relatives' presentations and about the activists who support us. We can't just say no one helps us. This isn't the way it is. There are [non-Indigenous] people who are dedicated to our cause. I noticed this and it touched me deeply."

Bringing a Xavante Healer's Dream to Life

Files and links (1)

Abstract

Details

Metrics