Five years ago, there was nobody here. Now many, many people keep arriving. It's one ranch after another. We are not interested in cows because we don't eat meat. So these cattle ranches are of no use to us and we want nothing to do with them. These inuti are very different to us. They cut down the forest, pollute the rivers and mine deep into the earth. Then they throw away what they don't want. We do not want to sell or exchange our trees.
We have written so many documents to Funai and nothing is ever resolved. So our heads are tired. They hurt because we are thinking and worrying so much. If the authorities don't protect our land we will take strong measures.
The young Enawene Nawe say, "We will burn the bridges and set fire to the ranchers' buildings". This will cause a lot of damage. Then the ranchers will get angry and want vengeance.
Blairo Maggi is the governor of Mato Grosso State and he plants soya. This is very bad for us. First the soya people cut everything down in the forest and savanna and kill all the animals. Then they send in a plane that sprays poison. This governor is very bad because he doesn't care about the animals and plants and trees. He's only worried about money. What are all the government bodies doing about this? Nothing! They are deaf and blind.
We, the Enawene Nawe, will never destroy the forest. We want the animals alive and are longing for the earth to look beautiful forever. The inuti will take everything out so there will be no fish, no feasts and no ancestors and we will die.
We are very, very sad and very frightened. We want our words and pictures to be carried far away to other countries, so they can see and hear us. We need help from them.
RSS