Beloved Land,
amongst a thousand others
art thou, Brazil,
O beloved homeland!
-- Brazilian National Anthem
Paruá is a Kaxinawá village near the city of Feijó, oabve the Paraná do Ouro River in Acre. The Kaxinawás are a shy people with a simple social organization. The women take care of the roçado (home), that is, they take care of the kids, cook, weave and make clothes. The men hunt, fish, and make baskets, kakan large ones for carrying wood and kuku, smaller ones to carry bananas and macaxeira (an edible root).
Here in the village of Paruá, many collect seringa (rubber latex) in the traditional manner, that is, with a patrão (boss), who was a seringalista (rubber-merchant), along with the exploitation of the workers in the barracão (rubber factories). So life follows its own course.
Later the Funai conceded to the Kaxinawás the right to occupy the area. They gained autonomy and to this day colect seringa (rubber latex). Unfortunately, seringa has lost its value and its collectors are poorly paid. Their principal form of income comes from weaving and selling the wares – nets and capangas (woven bags) for women.
Raimundo, an Indio, was born along the upper Envira River, grandson of the tribal chief at the time. In Feijó, since childhood, the menino helped his father in the collection of seringa. Growing-up, he received a respect from his brothers and sisters and cousins in the village he never fought for and which he received naturally. The other moços (boys or young men) always brought their problems and questions to him before going to the cacique (chief). In the end, his word was always respected. And for the cacique who was aware of everything, even without being warned, this was just fine.
As he and his father walked the seringal (rubber-tree laden forest) during the cold mornings, Raimundo enjoyed listening to his father’s stories of the brancos (whites). He imagined that the “city” was filled with things that made life easier and he has a secret desire to go there. One day, his father “acabou-se” (completed his life, passed) – the indians don’t say “died” when they talk of close relatives, but rather “acabou-se.” Raimundo remained at home para tomar conta (to take care) of his mother and seven younger siblings.
A long time later, as happened every so often, a branco came to the village bringing along articles from the city to trade for goods of the earth. The branco was the Prefect from Feijó and asked if he could take back with him, one of Raimundo’s sisters (twelve years old) to help around the house. The elders of the village were consulted and gave their consent, and so she went. The menina grew up and remained with the family of the Prefect’s family even after it moved to Porto Velho.
Family ties are very strong among the indigenous people. When they talk of their relatives, they say my father, my brother, my uncle, emphasizing the possessive “my” with pride. Raimundo missed his sister greatly. He continued to be very curious about the city and the life of the brancos, who invented electricity and came-up with such wonderful things as a refrigirator.
He gained the courage, talked to the village, told them that he wished to dar um passeio (make a visit) to the city to see his sister. They gave him permission and he went to Porto Velho.
The city was bem mais bonita (much prettier) than he could imagine. All the houses had lights. Even at night the plazas were as lit as if during the day. He saw his irmã and decided to stay there. Later came the surprises. The land had a dono (landlord). All the land had a dono. He had no place to stay... The cantina had all the things that he needed, but he needed buy and pay for them.
In a short while, Raimundo learned the white men’s code. He worked as much as he could: here he made a roçado (clearing), there he dug a little, getting paid some money, and with the money, he would buy his food. Finding a piece of abandoned land, he built casinha (little house, shelter) on it our of cardboard. And he stayed. With time, he came to have a mulher (wife) and kids as well. If it was their wish to help their father in the city wasn’t clear. However, with them, life was even even more diffiecult.
The dream of living like the brancos disappeared. He now misses his village, his relatives, the sounds and smells of the forrest, the simplicity of bringing back what one caught or collected in the forest and simply depositing it in the casique’s cantina (storehouse) – and simply taking what one needed, be it food, be it a tool. He misses the joy of taking down big game, or making a big catch, and dividing it with the others. Tudo assim (everyone was the same), everything was shared, in community, without charging or paying anyone. It was all so simple.
Raimundo and his family only want to go back, and he is ashamed because to return de mãos abanando (with empty hands) would be disohonorable, it would be an admission of fracasso (failure), an expression of uma derrota (defeat).
Raimundo Caxinawá does not complain. He’s only sad. He continues to live in his casinha with a cardboard roof, which he shares with his mulher D. Francisca, in the favela Areia Branca, in Porto Velho, the big city, with the bright lights of his dreams. He does a servicinho (a little work) here, another there, receiving 30 Reals for an entire days work, without knowing that a branco receives 70-80 Reals for the same job.
Life follows its own rhythm.
The Cities of Amazonia aren’t simply growing, they are exploding.
In a span of 50 years – between 1950 and 2000, the population of Brazil grew 220%. In the same period of time, the popuation of Amazonia grew more than 400%. And the urban population within Amazonia grew 1,250%!
The enormous growth in Amazonia’s population was the natural result of the Plan for Economic Expansion that the Federal Government implemented during the 1950s, with the creation of research instituted, airports, banks, communications networks, and economic incentives for the region.
Now the uncontrolled increase in the urban population in Amazonia is the result of two factors which were completely unplanned: the expulsion of the indigenas (indigenous people) and the colonos (settlers) from the lands that they ocupy and the lack of dignified living conditions in rural areas. The great migration of the colonos to the cities began to be felt in the second half of the 1960s. In the 1970s it intensified, with inability of INCRA (National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform) to create sufficient jobs for the colonos, with an expansion of latifúndio (the granting of large estates) for agrobusiness projects and the continued decline in the value of rubber.
The indígenas participated in this migration, for almost the same reasons: their lands were invaded and the crash of the seringais (rubber latex) collecting business, which even if conducted under conditions of semi-slavery, had still given some sense of secure living.
Today, 23% of the entire population of indigenous peoples lives in the cities. This does not make sense. The cities are not prepared to accept the indígenas, and there is more: their sudden immersion in the midst of socalled civilization results in a culture shock that they are not able to absord and corrupts their personalities.
The vision of boats floating down the quiet waters of the rivers and igarapés (swamps) of the Amazon is very romantic. But the colonos and silvícolas (forest dwellers) want means to enjoy the fruits of their work, they want electricity, schools and access to medical care.
It́s not surprising that they flood to the cities -- creating problems for administrators – and stay hoping to resolve their personal situations.
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