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
