Day 238 - 22 Apr 96 - Page 12


     
     1        Cattle ranching and indigenous peoples, Mato Grosso do Sul
     2        State, Brazil.
     3
     4        Mato Grosso do Sul State:
     5
     6        There are six indigenous peoples living in Mato Grosso do
     7        Sul:  Guarani (divided into 3 sub groups: Kaiowa, Mbya and
     8        Nadeva) -- I cannot read the rest.  They total about 30,000
     9        people living in 37 reserves (CEDI Terras Indigenas no
    10        Brasil 1990).  What is CEDI?
    11        A.   That is the Centre Ecumenical for Information and
    12        Documentation which is the Brazilian non-governmental
    13        organisation run by a series of anthropologists who
    14        specialise in indigenous peoples.
    15
    16   Q.   Are they an authoritative body?
    17        A.   They are most definitely.
    18
    19   Q.   Continuing to read:
    20
    21        "Prehistoric rock paintings and human fossils testify to
    22        long human occupation of the land?
    23        A.   Could I draw to the Court's attention the map that was
    24        circulated this morning which shows where indigenous
    25        peoples in Mato Grosso do Sul have lived since prehistoric
    26        times and that will give an idea of how much of Mato Grosso
    27        do Sol has been inhabited, and still is inhabited, by
    28        indigenous peoples.  In other words, these are historic
    29        ancestral lands, and I think that the crucial point here is
    30        that with the advent of the cattle ranching industry,
    31        particularly at the turn of the Century, many of these
    32        indigenous lands have simply been taken over by ranching.
    33
    34   MS. STEEL:  That was the map that was handed up this morning.
    35
    36   MR. MORRIS:  Can you translate what the heading of the map is?
    37        A.   It says: "An actual map of Mato Grosso do Sul with the
    38        indications of indigenous occupation in the transitional
    39        phase from prehistory to the present historical epoch".
    40
    41   Q.   That is the map with the little "14" in the bottom
    42        left-hand corner.  I continue to read:
    43
    44        "The progressive opening up and occupation of the state by
    45        farmers and settlers has led to the reduction of Indian
    46        lands:  eg 200 years ago the Guarani occupied 40 percent of
    47        the Mato Grosso do Sul, now they occupy less than 1 percent
    48        (Povos Indigenas no Mato Grosso do Sul, CIMI/MS 1993).
    49        What does CIMI/MS that mean?
    50        A.   CIMI is the Catholic Indigenous Missionary Council 
    51        which is the church body that worked with indigenous 
    52        peoples.  It is directly linked to the CNEBB which is the 
    53        Catholic Bishop Conference in Brazil.  It is a very old and
    54        well respected Human Rights organisation.
    55
    56   Q.   Continuing to read:
    57
    58        "Although some Guarami lands have been legally recognised
    59        in practice a number are still occupied by cattle ranchers
    60        and squatters.  It is proving very difficult to recover

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