Demarcation Diaries
18 September 2001
 Today I present you with a different kind of update. I want to offer you
the opinions of the Deni themselves. So I decided to interview one of them in order
to allow you hear his side of the story directly.
Interviewing a Deni
proved to be a challenge in its own right. The differences in worldview
makes some questions impossible while others provide unexpected answers. I
chose to interview Vabishi because I have gotten to know him
best and he is a talkative and smart fellow. With the help of Karen and
Merel as interpreters I have tried to recreate Vabishi's words as
accurately as possible. When you read this interview, bear in mind that
his worldview is dramatically different from yours, the Deni have very
little knowledge of the outside world. A few of them have been to Manaus
but most have never left their land. They have no TV, radio or other news
channels other than word of mouth. When Vabishi say 'white people' he is
referring to all non-Indians for example. I have added clarifications
within brackets when it felt necessary.
Vabishi (pronounced wah-bee-SEE) is 26 years old and was born in
the village Aracasu. His parents died when he was very young and he moved
around a lot between different Deni villages and ended up in
Itaoba where he got married. He has two daughters, Kironi is eight and
Kanovani was born in April. Between these two daughters, he had four children
who died. He is substituting as the village Chief because the Chief does not
speak any Portuguese.
Steve:
How do you think the demarcation is going so far?
Vabishi:
I did not participate in the first stages of the project [the
training] but I was selected to take part in the demarcation. I think the
[Greenpeace] people are sincere and friendly. There is food and coffee
here and I can sleep well so that I can work. It is very important to get
this support. Everybody here is helping the Deni, all the people from
other countries, and that is very good for us.
Steve:
What is it like to work with the Greenpeace people from other countries?
Vabishi:
We like to work together because you from all the countries are here
to help the Deni. I like the people here on the ship because there are
people here from each city [he said exactly this but a free translation
could be 'from many countries', I am not clear on if he can make a
difference between other countries and cities].
Steve:
Why is the demarcation important to the Deni?
Vabishi:
This is important because it is our area and in the past some white
people have invaded it. They take the fish and take the wood from the
Forest. There used to be a lot of turtles and tracajas [a different kind
of turtle] but the white men took many of them. The turtles used lay their
eggs everywhere in the sand. There used to be a lot of pirarucu [a fish]
in the Xerua river but no more because they have taken everything. The
Matrixan [another fish] go to the small streams from the Xerua to breed
and the fishermen from Manuas, Carauari and Irunepe take the big fish and
the small fish and prevent the Matrixan from going to the streams to breed. I
am 26 years old and ever since I was small I have seen the fishermen come
and use trawling to take everything out of the river. They don't come here
this year because now everybody [Greenpeace, CIMI] is here.
The people [coming here] do not respect the Deni, they invade our land
because the Deni live far away and they do not respect Indians. We
want everybody to respect the Deni. We want to put a flotoante
[floating house] at the mouth of the Xerua to prevent it from being
invaded. We want to patrol the area but we do not have a voadeira
[aluminum boat]. We want to have three good radios, one per major
village, so that we can report to [the authorities in] Manaus when
somebody is harassing us.
Steve:
The work we are doing in the Forest, is it going well or is there
anything that we need to change?
Vabishi:
I do not see any problems. We like everything that is happening and
really like to work here.
Steve:
You told us how the white people destroy the Forest. Why do you think
that the white people destroy the Forest and rivers while the Deni can
live here without destroying them?
Vabishi:
White people want a lot and they catch a lot of fish with nets, but
the Deni only catch enough for their family. The white people also
know how to destroy the Forrest and the Deni don't, they come in and
clear-cut and leave everything destroyed and make big money from it.
Steve:
If the Deni could destroy the Forest like the white people and make
lots of money, would you?
Vabishi:
If we had a boat and the chainsaws we would take down 50 trees and buy
clothes and hammocks, pens, knives, axes... and earrings because we have
many girls. We used to live naked but now we are getting used to these
things. But it would not destroy the Forest because the land is very big.
We would only take some big trees, the small trees are forbidden to take
down because they have to be there to grow and become big. It is very bad
to take many trees.
Steve:
Is there anything else that you want to tell people who are interested in
the Deni and the Forest?
Vabishi:
I want to be able to go to the city to sell our honey and tapioca
so we can buy clothes but now that the land becomes
demarcated there is no reason for us to leave our land. White people
should not try to come in. We want to live here without interference,
except for OPAN and CIMI, [indigenous social organizations] people who help
us. Will only people from your country be able to read this?
Steve:
No, people from many countries will be able to read what you have said.
Vabishi:
Also the [Brazilian] government?
Steve:
Yes, they will be able to read it too.
Vabishi:
That is very good. I think it is very important that you are writing this.
Steve:
Thank you, Vabishi, for talking to me and answering the questions
Steve
Find out about the different
volunteers on the demarcation project.
|
