Day 238 - 22 Apr 96 - Page 17


     
     1
     2   MR. MORRIS:  "They were first expelled from their lands in the
     3        Pantanal by a rancher Miguel Gatass in 1925.  Those that
     4        were not prepared to act as labour on the ranch were forced
     5        to seek refuge further in the Pantanal (CIMI/Sul 1993)
     6         'Jose Grande was the first one to expel the majority of
     7        the Indians ..... some years later when he died the farm
     8        passed on to Milton Pessoa and until now he is the owner of
     9        the Bella Vista do Norte cattle ranch.  He rents some of it
    10        to the military and the Indians who still live there are
    11        persecuted by the farmer and his cattle' (testimony of
    12        Mauba, Guato Indian to CEDIN - the State Council of Indian
    13        Rights, Mato Grosso do Sul 1986).
    14
    15        "The Ofaie Xavante were expelled from their land by the
    16        Fazenda Boa Esperanca and reduced to living under
    17        tarpaulins in Brasilandia where many work as part time
    18        labourers on ranches.  (CEDI 1990).  Totalling about 25
    19        families they continue to press for the recognition of
    20        their land."
    21
    22        Do you know where that is?
    23        A.   That is 461.
    24
    25   Q.   Continuing to read:  "Since the end of the 1950s Kadiweu
    26        land was leased out by the Brazilian government to 123
    27        farms within the reserve".  Do you know where this reserve
    28        is?
    29        A.   That is 154 in the west of the map.
    30
    31   Q.   That is just north of Porto Murtinho?
    32        A.   Yes.
    33
    34   Q.   "The Indians receive no benefits.  In 1990 they set up
    35        their own organization and there have been a number of
    36        court cases to try and remove the ranchers off Kadiweu land
    37        so that the Indians can control their lands themselves.
    38        (CEDI 1990).  There are still about 90 ranchers on Kadiweu
    39        land.  Ranchers who wish to annul the demarcation of the
    40        Kadiweu reserve have taken a case to the Supreme Court.
    41
    42        Conclusion
    43
    44        In my opinion the development of the cattle ranching
    45        industry as a whole in Mato Grosso do Sul has had a
    46        negative impact on the indigenous peoples of the state.  In
    47        the last two decades, the industry in Brazil has benefited
    48        from government tax incentives, which it has used to expand
    49        its frontiers and thus has progressively appropriated
    50        indigenous peoples' lands.  ('The future of Amazonia - 
    51        Destruction or Sustainable Development?' eds Goodman and 
    52        Hall, 1989", and also, "'The Fate of the Forest', Hecht and 
    53        Cockburn, 1989).
    54
    55        "In the case of the Guarani Indians, many are reduced to
    56        living on reserves which constitute a fraction of the area
    57        they occupied at the turn of the century.  Local
    58        authorities including the government's own Indian
    59        organization FUNAI have sided with ranchers to
    60        systematically deprive the Guarani of their land and

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