Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize  Letter Home – September-October 2016  

Brett Buckingham & Ailén Vega  

After over fifteen hours of flying and an 8-hour bus ride, we finally made it to Itaituba on August 26th. We arrived in time to participate in a 3-day gathering called the “Caravana em Defensa dos Povos do Rio Tapajós,” or the Caravan in Defense of the Communities of the Tapajós River. The Caravana hosted over 1,000 activists, Munduruku and other indigenous people, riverine communities, and locals to discuss the future of the Tapajós River. For us, this was truly an overwhelming and rewarding experience. We got to hear about how the struggle against damming projects in the Tapajós from Munduruku, Kayapo, and Apiaká communities. It was also a key time for us to meet the network of NGO workers, government officials, activists, and Munduruku leaders that we had been in contact with over email throughout the months leading up to our arrival.  

After the Caravana, we head northward to Santarém, a city situated at the intersection of the Tapajós and Amazon rivers. We spent the following weeks meeting with professors at UFOPA (the Federal University of Western Pará) and other activists from Greenpeace Brasil and CIMI (the Indigenous Missionary Council) to gain a better understanding of the politics of hydroelectric development projects and indigenous resistance in the region. We have decided to make Santarém our home base and are renting an apartment conveniently located near the city center. In Brazil, apartments rarely come furnished, so we had to buy everything you could possibly think of for our apartment. Although the apartment is for us two, one time we had a guest join us from the window: a little bat. We have settled in well and are growing (somewhat) accustomed to the overwhelming heat, thick humidity, boisterous political advertising (it’s election season), and random, all-too-common firework displays.  

After visiting Munduruku chiefs and attending a 4-day long Munduruku assembly, we have decided to shift the focus of our project from that of our original proposal. We have become increasingly aware that mapping projects in the Amazon are highly political and contested strategies of resistance. Maps that render visible sacred spaces and key resources, for example, may ultimately be counterproductive, as the corporations or government organizations interested in undermining their resistance efforts and livelihoods may target these areas. In light of this, we have decided to organize a series of mapping workshops focused on training the Munduruku youth in mapping technologies and participatory mapping methodology. We believe that this will allow the Munduruku to use mapping as a tool of resistance while allowing them to maintain complete autonomy over what is mapped, who is involved with the mapping, and what information is made public. This project will begin in January, since we need authorization to conduct our project from FUNAI (Brazilian branch of government responsible for indigenous affairs), a bureaucratic process that will delay a month or two.  

In the meantime, we have decided to take on another project with the traditional riverine (ribeirinho – a legal designation protected under the Brazilian constitution) of Montanha e Mangabal. In November and December, we will spend 4 weeks living in their community, out of reach of phone and internet service, to work with the community on a participatory mapping project. This will involve a meeting with the community to identify the key areas of collective land use (e.g., fishing, hunting, agriculture, cemeteries, schools, meeting places) as well as a 10-

Brett Buckingham Ailén Vega Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize Letter Home September/October 2016 1

day trek through uncharted rainforest with a group of approximately 20 people (interestingly, half of which will be Munduruku, who have agreed to support the ribeirinho community in this effort) to log the limits of their territory via GPS and identify areas of land invasion. This act of auto-demarcation will be an important first step for the community in creating their Plano de Utilizaçao (“Use Plan”), a document in which the community establishes how they will use their land and resources in a sustainable manner. When approved by INCRA (the Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform), Montanha e Mangabal will have more leverage to enforce its territorial claims and protect itself against outside interests.    Reading about the Munduruku’s struggle against the São Luiz do Tapajós dam from the comfort of our Berkeley homes only permitted us so much insight into the complexity of the politics of development and resistance here in the Tapajós. Being here and getting to know personally the communities threatened by the government’s “development” agenda has reshaped our understandings of what it means to be an ally of indigenous resistance and showed us how high the stakes of their struggle truly are. We have been touched by warm, inviting people whose hope, sense of community, and commitment to asserting an alternative vision of “development” energizes their resistance efforts. Although our work here is difficult and we are many miles away from our friends and family, every day is filled with new lessons and new opportunities to meet incredible and inspiring people.  

Munduruku man speaks at the Caravan in Defense of the Communities of the Tapajós River in Itaituba. August 27.  

Brett Buckingham Ailén Vega Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize Letter Home September/October 2016 2

   

Munduruku demonstration at Caravan in Defense of the Communities of the Tapajós River in Itaituba. August 28.

Munduruku assembly. October 17.

Brett Buckingham Ailén Vega Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize Letter Home September/October 2016 3

 

 Canoe ride through traditional ribeirinho community of Montanha e Mangabal. October 24.  

 Beginning day of community visits in Montanha e Mangabal. October 24.  

Brett Buckingham Ailén Vega Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize Letter Home September/October 2016 4