Brazil's Tikuna Struggle Against Drugs

The NY Times released a story on the struggle of Brazil's Tikuna Indians against increasing drug and alcohol abuse. The Tikuna of Mariaçu, a region of the Amazon that borders Colombia and Peru, are increasingly acting as drug traffickers. Young Tikuna are seduced by the lucrative pay offered to smuggle drugs, and many become addicted to the cocaine they help transport. Tikuna enjoy certain exemptions from Brazilian law, but Mariaçu's two chiefs have asked police to intervene and crack down on traffickers and abusers in their communities. The chiefs are concerned that the young are destroying what is left of traditional Tikuna culture.

Chevron Locked in Legal Battle with Ecuadorean Indigenous Groups

The Christian Science Monitor reported on a lawsuit against Chevron that has been in the works since 1993 when the company was accused of dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic waste into Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, causing health problems among the regions inhabitants, many of whom are indigenous groups. A report by a court-appointed Ecuadorean geological engineer attributes the contamination to Chevron, and suggests the company pay between $8-16 billion in environmental damages. Chevron has dismissed the report because “it is the result of irregular processes that do not conform with court orders.” This environmental lawsuit is one of the biggest against any oil company, and, regardless of the outcome, sends a message to industries that are extracting resources that they must account for negligent practices.

Anthropologists who are working with communities in resource-rich regions may be particularly suited to assess the impact—-both positive and negative—-that oil corporations and other industries have upon the environment, health and economy of their informants.

Please comment on how you think anthropologists and other social scientists may contribute to the protection and well-being of their informants.

Christian Science Monitor article

Chevron press release

Indigenous Groups in Amazon Threatened by Big Oil?

The negative impact of unregulated development and industrialization on indigenous groups and territories is an all too familiar story to anthropologists. Rising global energy prices are fueling oil development across the globe, and Peru is no exception. The drive of developers into the oil-laden Amazonian rainforest poses serious threats to the area’s indigenous groups, National Geographic reports, and approximately 75 percent of Peru’s Amazon rainforests have been leased to oil prospectors and developers. BBC News details the story of one of Peru’s indigenous communities, the Achuar, that is not isolated, and is filing a class action lawsuit against Occidental Petroleum for contaminating their territory and damaging their population's health. David Hill of Survival International says, “Isolated Indians are especially vulnerable to any contact, because they have no immunity to outsiders’ diseases.” The elusiveness and vulnerability of some indigenous groups makes it difficult for civics and rights organizations to assess the impact of expansion into the rainforest. Oil and gas companies, along with Peruvian President Alan Garcia, maintain that there is no evidence for the existence of these groups, and that their presence may have been conjured up as a means to oppose development. Rights groups are currently petitioning the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to intervene in this matter.

How can anthropologists contribute to this dialogue? Can social scientists verify the existence of such groups while respecting their desire to remain isolated?

BBC News article

National Geographic article

Organization of American States

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights