New wave of dam building threatens Amazon Indians
The Enawene Nawe live in an area of tropical forest in western Brazil. The state government has announced it will build a vast complex of hydroelectric dams upriver of the Enawene Nawe’s land.
The Indians oppose the dams because they will pollute the water and destroy the fish which are an essential part of their diet.
The Enawene Nawe are a small Amazonian tribe who live in the forests of Mato Grosso state, Brazil. They are a relatively isolated people who were first contacted in 1974, when they numbered only 97 individuals. Today their population is around 500.
The entire tribe lives in one village, in enormous communal houses – each of them home to up to 50 people. The houses are set around a circle in the centre of the village where ritual and communal activities are performed.
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| Enawene Nawe men perform the Yãkwa ritual, a four-month exchange of food between humans and the ancestral spirits, accompanied by dancing and chanting to the sound of flutes, Brazil. © Fiona Watson/Survival |
Now this tiny tribe is fighting for survival. The state government of Mato Grosso plans to build 80 hydroelectric dams in the Juruena River basin where their land is situated.
The Enawene Nawe have not been properly consulted about the project. They fear the dams will pollute the water and destroy the fish on which they rely almost exclusively, as they do not eat any red meat.
Moreover, their spiritual life revolves around the fishing rituals that take place throughout the year, according to the cycle of wet and dry seasons.
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| Enawene Nawe father and son, Brazil. © Fiona Watson/Survival |
Although most of their land was officially recognized by Brazil’s federal government in 1996, an important area they call Adowina, or Rio Preto, was not included.
This area is tremendously important to the Enawene Nawe both economically and spiritually – this is where they build their fishing camps and wooden dams to trap and smoke fish, and where many important spirits live.
Now it is now being invaded by cattle ranchers who are cutting down the forest to make cattle pasture. In recent years the ranchers have burned down the Indians’ fishing camps and threatened violence if they build their fishing dams here.
The Enawene Nawe are urgently demanding that the dams be suspended and for proper consultations to discuss the impacts of the dams. They are also lobbying for the Rio Preto area to be recognized as theirs and for the ranchers to be removed now before they destroy more forest.
Survival supports a land protection project run by the Enawene Nawe and the Brazilian non-governmental organisation OPAN.
We are urging the Brazilian authorities to suspend the dam project and order a full, independent environmental and social impact assessment, and to consult properly with the Enawene Nawe about its true scale and impacts.
We are also calling on the government to recognize the Rio Preto region as Enawene Nawe land. The Indians urgently need your support.
