Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Mato Grosso do Sul
INDIGENIST MISSIONARY COUNCIL - CIMI
tume
THE KAIOWA AND GUARANI IN MATO GROSSO DO SUL: A HISTORY OF
VIOLENCE AND TRAMPLING OF INDIGENOUS RIGHTS LEGISLATION
Antonio Brand,
To understand the growing indices of violence, verified among
the Guarani and Kaiowá in recent years in Mato Grosso do Sul, it is
necessary for us to refer to their past history, marked by one of the
most radical processes of geographic and cultural confinement.
Seen in this process of territorial despoliation, the demarcation
of what were named indigenous reserves by the Service for the
Protection of the Indians, the SPI, between the years 1915 and
1928, constituted an important strategy for liberation of the
indigenous territories for colonization, entirely against the grain
of existing legislation. The violence that impacts the Kaiowá and
Guarani, in particular that which is referred to as 'internal violence,
is today arising out of this equally violent historical process of
territorial confinement, made possible by a history of collusion
and submission of indigenist policy of the various governments to
the major interests of the regional economy.
Thus during the dominance of the Cia Matte Laranjeira
company, until the decade of 1940, in the Colônia Agrícola
Nacional de Dourados, the CAND, which began in 1943, - there
is impressive documentation attesting to the criminal omission
of the public organs regarding the crises of the villages impacted
by the CAND. This is also the case in the subsequent implantation
of the agribusiness projects, especially as of 1950. Analysis of the
recent period and the current situation of the Kaiowa and Guarani,
a perfect understanding can be perceived between public policies
on the indigenous peoples and the regional economic interests.
And, in this process, laws favorable to indigenous rights were and
are constantly ignored.
This is a structural violence, which, today as yesterday, is in
systematic gross non-compliance with legislation addressing
indigenous peoples. Yesterday like today, the only option offered
to the indigenous peoples in the region was, and is, that of their
engagement as labor force in the regional economic enterprises.
History of the confinement process - root of violence against
indigenous peoples in MS
The Guarani have occupied, traditionally, an ample territory in
the southern region of what is today the state of Mato Grosso do
Sul, situated between the Apa river (Bela Vista), Serra de Maracaju,
Rio Brilhante, Rio Ivinhema, the Paraná river, the Iguatemi river
and the border region with Paraguay. They occupied this ample
space according to availability of places with natural resources
considered appropriate - preferring, for this reason, to establish
their villages in areas of forest and in proximity to good water
courses. In addition to this it would have to be a place free from
supernatural threats, from diseases and preferably near allied
family groups.
24
In memorian, Professor at Dom Bosco Catholic University (UCDB), PhD History and Coordinator of the Kaiowá/Guarani Program - NEPPI. Access the full
article at: http://www.cimi.org.br/pub/MS/Viol_MS_2003_2010.pdfView entire presentation