Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
important right in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN
DRIP) is intended to protect Indigenous territory from invasions like this. It is
abbreviated FPIC, for Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.
FPIC is a basic underpinning of Indigenous Peoples' ability to conclude and
implement valid treaties and agreements, to have sovereignty over and protect their
lands and natural resources, and to develop and participate in processes that redress
violations of their lands and treaty rights.
Free means no one can force you or bribe you or threaten you to accept terms you
do not agree with. It means you can say “no” to the government.
Prior means you have time to discuss a decision and get the information you need.
You cannot be pressured to make a decision according to someone else's timetable.
And it means no project can start until you have reached a full agreement.
Informed means you are supposed to get all the information you need to make
a decision, including consulting traditional elders and other people that have
knowledge and wisdom.
Consent means a clear agreement arrived at by Indigenous Peoples in their own
traditional ways.
Any activity that doesn't meet these FPIC requirements is subject to immediate
cancellation. As we learned in this chapter, however, human rights laws are rarely
enforced in Brazil and elsewhere around the globe. Today, Indigenous communities
worldwide are dedicated to understanding FPIC and how to use it to protect the land
and way of life they love and cannot survive without. Unless everyone's human
rights are respected, no one's human rights are safe.
NOTES
1 This chapter has been adapted into a theatre play in the topic Acting for Indigenous Rights. Theatre
to Change the World (Ferreira 2013). See www.indig.umn.edu . It was first published in 2004 in “The
Color Red: Fighting with Flowers and Fruits in Xavante Territory, Central Brazil.” Indiana [Ibero-
Amerikanisches Institut Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Germany] Vol. 21, pp. 47-62.
2 Decree 249 of 10/29/01 confirmed the limits of the TI Sangradouro, with 100,280 hectares, in the
municipalities of General Gomes Carneiro, Poxoréu Novo and São Joaquim. According to FUNASA,
the National Health Foundation in Brazil, there were 15,315 Xavante in Central Brazil in 2010. See:
http://pib.socioambiental.org/pt/povo/xavante/1161 . In order to understand more about the dislocation
of the Xavante in time and space, see Graham (2000) and Lopes da Silva (1992, 2000).
3 Project leaders included Hiparidi Dzutsi'wa Top'tiro, former president of the Xavante Warã
Association; Bernardina Renhêrê, elementary school teacher studying for her Teaching certificate in
College; and Xanda de Biase Miranda, psycologist and a member of the Xavante Warã Association
Executive Board.
4
Programa de Pequenos Projetos (PPP), Global Environmental Fund, UN Development Project number
BRA/02/29.
5
The map book Livro de Mapas da Associação Xavante Warã was put together during a GPS workshop
led by Luis Schiesari and myself at the Idzô'uhu Village in July 2002. It contains satellite images,
hand drawn maps of several Xavante villages in Sangradouro (using GPS). The second part contains
a very detailed explanation and exercises, in Portuguese, of how to use GPS instruments, followed by
Xavante illustrations of the savannah.
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