Posts Tagged ‘Amazon’

Lost Cities of the Amazon

30/03/2012

Downtown in The Lost Cities of the Amazon
by Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES ·
By Nicholas Asheshov

A "Lost" people?

Some weeks ago two events, one of them startling, came together to pin-point the mysterious new conundrum of the Amazon.  The first was the appearance on a busy riverbank in the Madre de Dios of a few dozen members of a previously-isolated group of Indians.  They killed someone who had been trying to help them. The naked Indians, seen on TV screens around the world, were described by anthropologists as descendants of an unbroken line of hunting and gathering savages, living fossils of our neolithic past.

Area of Coverage

This is, according to new Amazon thinking, incorrect. These Indians are the sad, socially degenerated remnants of nations and tribes that were productive, sophisticated and stable  just a few centuries ago.The other event was an article in The New York Times that reported on the discovery in Acre, only a few hours travel from the Madre de Dios Indians, of extensive, deep straight, or sometimes circular, trenches, ridges and mounds dating back to pre-Columbian times, indicating a large, well-developed society. This was just the latest evidence that the Amazon, or at least parts of it, was heavily populated by well-organized societies in much the same way as the high Andes were remodelled by the Tiahuanuco, the Chavin, the Chachapoyas, the Huari, and the Incas.

Over the past couple of decades the pre-history of the Americas has been revolutionized, setting off poison-tipped academic and ecological vendettas. First of all, the Americas were populated much earlier, at least 33-35,000 years ago, double the time previously calculated.  That is back to Neanderthal epochs.

An Excellent Read

Second, there were many more people here when Columbus arrived than was earlier thought.  And, most important, the societies and nations of the Americas were much more sophisticated and structured than was previously understood.  They were agriculturalists, not the war-whoopers of the movies.  Their mode of life and agriculture had massive, long-term effects on the original pre-human forests.   Fire was a basic control mechanism.

Today the evidence of genetics, linguistics and archaeology is clear that the Amazon was not just an impenetrable green hell populated by primitive hunters and fishermen eking out an unchanging, culturally marginal existence. The same applies to North America.  Here most of the descriptions of primitive Indians come from 18th and 19th century travelers who were seeing only the sorry leftovers of great nations that had been obliterated by smallpox, viral hepatitis, influenza and other European and African diseases.  The Conquest set off the Dark Ages in the Americas. read the rest of this story

Indigenous Rights Supported by Peru President

09/09/2011

Humala at Bagua Convention

Humala Signs Prior Consultation Law During Jungle Ceremony
by Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES

President Ollanta Humala enacted the prior consultation law on Tuesday during a ceremony in the north jungle town of Bagua.

The bill was unanimously approved by Congress and has been strongly supported by international and national rights organizations. It is intended to ensure that Peru’s local laws are in compliance with the International Labour Organization’s Convention 169.

The convention requires the State to consult indigenous people prior to adopting administrative and legislative measures, as well as investment projects and development plans, that could affect their communities.

“This law has the objective of [promoting] development for native peoples, of the Amazonian communities and the entire region,” Humala said. “That is the spirit of this law.”

“Today we have taken an important step in the construction of a nation, the construction of a republic,” Humala added.

Ex-President Alan Garcia rejected a similar prior consultation bill during his recent term, expressing worries that the legislation would provide veto powers to indigenous communities that could deter mining and energy projects.

Humala and members of his Gana Peru party have said the new law will help address the more than 200 social conflicts in Peru that have impacted projects in the extractive industries.

The president’s signing of the law in Bagua was a clear sign Read the rest of this post…

Geoglyphs Discovered Beneath Clearcut Amazon

07/01/2010

by Stephen Messenger,
Porto Alegre, Brazil

Difficult to see from the ground,geoglyphs go unnoticed by locals

With the aid of satellite imagery from Google Earth, soon archeologists in Brazil will be finding more and more large geometric designs carved into the ground in the Amazon rainforest. The geoglyphs are believed to have been sculpted by ancient people from the Amazon region around 700 years ago, though their purpose is still unknown. So far, nearly 300 geoglyphs have been identified, but with advances in satellite imaging–and increased clearing of the jungle coverage–scientists are hoping to discover many more of these strange, geometric designs. Read the rest of this story
Photo via Diego Gurgel

Saying Yes to Indigenous Rights

12/06/2009

Indigenous Rights in Amazon

Indigenous Rights in Amazon

Peru is witnessing violent clashes between indigenous groups trying to protect the Amazon. The government has pushed through legislation allowing intensive mining, logging and large scale farming in the rainforest.

If government and extractive industries proceed, the Peruvian rainforest and its people will suffer unfortunate consequences for the global climate, indigenous cultures, local and global environment.

Interested readers of this blog can sign a petition addressed to the President of Peru,  to support the  struggle of the indigenous peoples to protect the Amazon. A well respected Latin American politician has plans to deliver the petition to President Alan Garcia on the signer’s behalf.

Petition to the President of Peru, Alan Garcia:
We urge you to immediately cease the forceful suppression of indigenous protests, to suspend laws that open up the Amazon to extractive industries, and to engage in a genuine dialogue with indigenous groups to end the conflict and address their legitimate demands and rights.

UPDATE: To date 112,881 people have shown their support to the indigenous struggle by signing the petition in response to the people’s voicing there opposition to this plan. Peru’s legislature has just temporarily suspended two of the controversial decrees  because of this pressure.

Mountain Spirit Institute, as an organization, doesn’t advocate on political behalf’s but believes by disseminating information, readers of this blog, and participants of our programs may make informed choices. For information on MSI’s core values, which include learning from indigenous peoples click here.