Manaus stadium Fonte:Survival Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, is the only Amazon city to host the World Cup. The stadium is built in the style of an indigenous basket. Extinct tribe: Manaus is named after the extinct Manáos tribe. They fought Portuguese domination in the area, led by their great leader Ajuricaba who united several tribes in resistance but was eventually defeated. Manaus grew massively in the late nineteenth century on the riches of the rubber boom. Tens of thousands of indigenous people were enslaved and forced to tap rubber. Appalling atrocities were committed against the Indians – thousands died from torture, disease and malnutrition. Some Indians avoided enslavement by retreating to the remote upper headwaters of Amazon tributaries where today they avoid all contact with national society. One hundred kilometers from Manaus is the land of the Waimiri Atroari Indians. From the eighteenth century this tribe valiantly resisted invading hunters and rubber tappers, and many died in violent conflicts, but contact was made in the 1970s when the government bulldozed a highway through their land. Hundreds died from diseases and in violent confrontations with army units sent in to quell their resistance to the road. General Gentil Noguera Paes said, ‘The road must be finished, even if we have to open fire on these murderous Indians to do so. They have already greatly defied us and they are getting in the way of construction.’ Brazil’s National Truth Commission is investigating atrocities against the Waimiri Atroari during this period. Threatened tribe: By 1988 the Waimiri Atroari population had plummeted from 6,000 to just 374. Today they number over 1,500. At least one group of uncontacted Indians is believed to live in the their territory. Threatened tribe: Just 370 km from Manaus there are two uncontacted tribes. Brazil is home to more uncontacted tribes than any other country: FUNAI estimates there are up to 80 uncontacted groups. Many, such as the Kawahiva and the Awá, are on the run as heavily armed loggers and ranchers destroy their rainforest.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 14:16:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015