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Jarú/RO – The invaders are going farther in the Indigenous Land Uru-I-Wau-Wau. Besides removing the wood, in selective dropping, they are planting and creating cattle in the background of the villages. The Indians are revolted with the situation and they threaten to remove them from place by force, if the National Foundation of the Indian (Funai) and the Brazilian Institute of the environment (Ibama) don’t solve the problem.
With 1 million and 867 thousand hectares, the Indigenous Reservation of the Uru-I-Wau-Wau is the largest of the State of Rondônia and the third largest of the Country. Dispersed in small villages, there live about 120 Indians, contacted by the whites in elapsing of the decade of 80. There are also in the area, two groups of isolated Indians.
Since the contact with the whites, the Uru-I-Wau-Wau started to face several invasion problems. Feared by the ability in the use of the arch and arrow and united in the defense of their lands, they have already avoided a lot of pillaging attempts. Once, they expel about two thousand prospectors that tried to enter in the reservation to search for gold.
Occupation of the boundary
In the last years, however, the situation became worse. The invaders started to remove wood of the area in a selective way and to occupy the proximities of the boundary of the reservation, with the planting of several cultures. There are also fences of wires in the middle of the forest. We separated ourselves in several villages to try to take care of the whole area, but the number of invaders is much larger “, said Pureí Uru-I-Wau-Wau, president of the Jupaú Association.
Even affirming that their people are willing to defend their lands at any cost, Purei said that it is necessary more support on the part of Funai and Ibama. “This dropped is arriving more and more inside of the reservation. We have already been losing the lands around the boundaries”, he said.
Disrespect and robbery
The cacique Tanguipi Uru-I-Wau-Wau said that farmers and lumbermen of the area are disrespecting and robbing his people, since they invade the reservation and take everything that they can find. “They remove our wood, our hunt and our fish “, he said. He also pointed out, that unlike the white; the Indian is not leaving the reservation to rob in anybody property
Tanguipi affirmed that his people only want peace and respect, but if the invasions don’t stop, deaths may happen in the area. “Since they continue insisting it is because they want to die”, he said.
Inspection will be intensified
The regional executive administrator of Funai, Rômulo Siqueira de Sá, said that the foundation has been working together in the area with Ibama, the Federal Police and other inspections organs, in the attempt of solving the problem. In few days, according to him, they arrested two invaders that were removing wood of the reservation.
Starting this week, according to the administrator, the inspection will be reinforced. “We are moving more people to travel the whole area and to intensify the surveillance “, he said. The president of Ibama, Osvaldo Pittaluga, was sought several times, by telephone, but he was not found to render information about the performance of the institute in the reservation.