Brazil is home to hundreds of thousands of indigenous people. Most of these live in the Amazon rainforest – one of the most biologically diverse and ecologically important regions of the world that produces a considerable proportion of the planet’s oxygen. Over the dozens of generations they lived on this land, the indigenous people of Brazil developed highly sustainable economic practices of agroforestry, floodplain orchards, and poly-cultural fields. Moreover, the rainforest occupies a central place in the culture and beliefs of many indigenous Brazilian societies. However, the current policy of aggressive agricultural expansion based on non-sustainable practices taken by the Brazilian government threatens the deforestation of the region with potentially grave ecological consequences. Indigenous people of Brazil strive to protect the rainforest that is essential to their worldview and way of living alike, but, as of now, the threat of deforestation still shows no signs of abating.
The indigenous people of Brazil are a diverse group comprised of many distinct societies, which are often interrelated. The overall estimation is that there are approximately 250,000 indigenous people living in Brazil (Leitao et al., 1994). Although this number may look significant on paper, it is minuscule in proportion to the population of Brazil as a whole, which has already exceeded 200 million. As a result, the native dwellers of the Amazonas constitute but a small proportion of the country’s swiftly growing population, which reduces their significance in its politics and economy alike. Speaking of economy, most of the indigenous people tend to live in small communities in the Amazon rainforest and rely on the forest resources to provide for their subsistence through hunting, gathering, and traditional agriculture. Apart from that, the spiritual connection with the rainforest is also a paramount element of culture that many indigenous societies have maintained despite the attempts to assimilate them (Leitao et al., 1994). In other words, the livelihood, culture, and worldview of the indigenous population of Brazilian Amazonas largely revolve around the rainforest and the people’s connection with it.
The rainforest, though, currently goes through what probably is the hardest period in its entire history, mainly due to the economic policies enacted by the Brazilian government. In an attempt to foster the country’s economic development and combat the crippling poverty impacting a considerable proportion of its population, the government pursues an aggressive policy of agricultural expansion (Leitao et al., 1994). Almost inevitably, this expansion happens at the expense of the Amazon rainforest, which is not viewed as “productive” land, as opposed to pastures or soybean farms. The territories that are technically recognized as indigenous lands comprise roughly 23 percent of all rainforest areas in Brazil and, as such, should theoretically be off-limits for agricultural magnates (Lima et al., 2020). However, there are multiple legal loopholes in this prohibition, which result in continuing deforestation (Leitao et al., 1994). Moreover, a broad range of illegal activities, from non-sustainable agricultural practices to mining and woodcutting, ignores the governmental limitations altogether. As a result, the indigenous people of Brazil face the prospects of the utter annihilation of their way of life and the ecological system that makes it possible.
Historically speaking, the indigenous population of Brazil has long been struggling for the recognition of their rights and achieved some success. During the colonization period and for a long time after Brazil got its independence, the main government policy with respect to the natives was to baptize and assimilate them. It was only in the late 1970s when the indigenous population finally achieved noticeable agency. Since 1979, a Union of Indigenous Nations has worked to attract attention to the issues faced by the indigenous community (Leitao et al., 1994). In 1988, the constitution finally recognized the indigenous people’s right to maintain their culture and the way of life and forbade the assimilation policy that persisted for several hundred years (Leitao et al., 1994). Yet this development, while undoubtedly positive, remains a rather half-hearted attempt. While the Brazilian government recognizes the indigenous people’s right to maintain their culture, beliefs, and economy, its policies undermine them by continuing the deforestation of the Amazonas (lima et al., 2020). Consequently, the indigenous people are told they have the right to their way of life while being slowly deprived of the means to maintain it.
The link between the indigenous ways of living and the Amazon rainforest becomes all the more important in the contemporary context of increased attention to environmental issues. The Amazon rainforest is “the most concentrated expression of life on Earth” and is crucial for mitigating the ongoing climate change (Bowman et al., 2021, p. 260). As mentioned above, the economic and, particularly, agricultural expansion leads to the deforestation of the Amazonas, which can reach the point of no return when the ecosystem would not be able to recover. At the same time, the traditional economic practices of the indigenous people, such as agroforestry, floodplain orchards, and poly-cultural fields, allow much more sustainable land use (Bowman et al., 2021). Moreover, non-sustainable agricultural practices, such as soybean farming, are driven by short-term concerns, such as increased demand for Brazilian soy due to the trade war between China and the United States (Bowman et al., 2021). In contrast, the agricultural practices based on indigenous knowledge offer a perspective of long-term sustainability, although at the cost of lesser profitability.
It is also important to mention that, apart from the willingness to maintain a sustainable economy, the indigenous people of Brazil fight for the preservation of the rainforest because of their cultural beliefs. Many indigenous communities in Brazil, such as the Guarani people living close to the Paraguayan border, literally consider the rainforest to be a divine gift (Leitao et al., 1994). Traditional indigenous knowledge encourages and re-enacts sustainable economic practices by assigning religious and cultural significance to the rainforest and the various species inhabiting it. The indigenous people recognize the impact of their economic activities on the forest but interpret it in terms of sustaining rather than exploiting it. As Guzy (2021) notes, they have developed “an understanding of the forest as owing its existence to past human activities” (p. 288). By doing so, they had incorporated the rainforest into both economic and cultural framework of their society. This perception of the rainforest as a hereditary obligation to uphold synergizes with the sustainable economic practices developed over multiple generations. The result is a virtuous cycle where culture and economy collaborate to reinforce sustainable yet productive economic practices.
Ultimately, the difference between the sustainable approach advocated and exemplified by the indigenous people of Brazil and the non-sustainable practices used by agricultural magnates comes to the core cultural beliefs. The route taken by Brazilian agriculturalists and generally supported by the government is based on the anthropocentric view of the world, which, as the name suggests, puts humanity at the center of the universe. From this perspective, non-human nature, such as the Amazon rainforest, is nothing but a resource to be efficiently exploited. On the other hand, the indigenous Brazilian perception of nature is rooted in the cosmological perspective. Unlike the strict hierarchy of the anthropocentric worldview, the cosmological perspective considers humanity to be one of the elements of the complex ecological and religious picture. It combines human, superhuman (godly), and other-than-human components, with the diverse nature of the Amazon rainforest being a prime example of the latter (Guzy, 2021). Yet, despite having proved to be a better way to achieve ecological sustainability, the cosmologic perspective of the indigenous societies seems to lose ground in the discussions of the future that awaits the Amazon rainforest.
As one can see, the indigenous people of Brazil are currently engaged in a hard struggle to save the Amazon rainforest from the annihilation caused by the economic policies of the Brazilian government. Agricultural expansion based on non-sustainable practices leads to the deforestation of the region, which plays a paramount role in producing oxygen and mitigating the effects of climate change. Although the indigenous people push for the preservation of the rainforest, they have only recently gained noticeable political agency, and their small share in Brazil’s overall population makes their concerns seem irrelevant. Thanks to the rainforest forming the cornerstone of their cosmological worldview, the indigenous people of Brazil are able to propose sustainable economic alternatives to the predatory exploitation of the forest massif. However, as of now, the situation shows few signs of changing for the better.
References
Bowman, K. W., Dale, S. A., Dhanani, S., Nehru, J., & Raboshaw, B. T. (2021). Environmental degradation of indigenous protected areas of the Amazon as a slow onset event. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 50, 260-271. Web.
Guzy, L. (2021). Indigenous shamanic worldviews as dialogical eco-cosmology. Lagoonscapes, 1(2), 281-294. Web.
Leitao, Araujo, N., & Valeeria, A. (1994. March). Indigenous peoples in Brazil: The Guarani; a case for the UN. Cultural Survival. Web.
Lima, M., Vale, J. C. E., Costa, G. M., Santos, R. C., Filho, W. L. F. C., Gois, G., Oliveira-Junior, J. F., Teodoro, P. E., Rossi, F. S., & Silva-Junior, C. A. (2020). The forests in the indigenous lands in Brazil in peril. Land Use Policy, 90, 104258. Web.