Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
slow, they are well behind. They get stopped by the police. The pick-up trucks and
small tractors get away, the Xavante drive so fast. In Sangradouro all the villagers
divide the stuff among themselves. Now the Indians have good cars like the farmers.
They take the T-shirt to the police station. The police know about the farm invasion
but they don't care about Joaquim.
“This T-shirt, it could be the blood of a dog, a cat, a horse!” This is what the police
say, the blood of our relative is the blood of an animal! “You stole the farmer's stuff,
give it back.” This is what the police wants, the cars, the tractors. But they want our
land, blood, plants, fruits and flowers, the
cerrado
, they want our life! “How can you
destroy the
cerrado
to plant only soy, rice, cotton? How can you burn the land, kill
all the animals? How can you kill the old man, take all his blood away and keep the
body?” We want the body, to bury it in our cemetery, but they don't give it back. So
we will not give their stuff back, either. And we don't want the
waradzu
traveling
back and forth on the Highway, either. So we put up a roadblock, here it is (pointing
to the drawing). All cars have to stop and pay toll. A real beautiful car pays more - 50
reais. If the
waradzu
is poor and only has an old car we only charge 20 or 30 (about
$10 to 14 U. S. dollars in 2014).
14
Figure 6.14. Waradzu paying toll. By Tseredzaró Ruri'õ.
The police say they are going to have an investigation, that is what the Xavante want.
Are the police investigating? No! Only thing they do is take the T-shirt to his wife
in Volta Grande and ask her if she knows her man's clothes! She washes his clothes
everyday in the river. She is crying: “It belongs to my husband!” The wife wants the
body, but the police give her nothing. Now the farmers want their stuff back. They
