REPORT Nº 9 URIHI Contents Page Exhibit Brings Yanomami Reality to Museum of Arts in São Paulo................................................................................03 Truths and Lies on the Day of the Indian............................................ 11 Davi Kopenawa Yanomami Speaks to the National Congress..................................................................................15 The Audience Granted by President Sarney........................................ 21 The Decrees that Regulate Gold-panning.............................................34 EXHIBIT BRINGS YANOMAMI REALITY TO THE MUSEUM OF ARTS IN SÃO PAULO (MASP) As a way of honoring Davi Kopenawa, the Yanomami leader awarded the 1988 United Nations Global 500 Prize, and also to raise public consciousness about the situation faced by the Yanomami people, the CCPY organized an exhibit from 6 to 23 April in the Arts Museum of são Paulo (MASP), titled "Genocide of the Yanomami: Death of Brasil". Technical Description Exhibit: "Genocide of the Yanomami: Death of Brazil" Organization: Committee for the Creation of the Yanomami Park (CCPY) Dates: 6 -23 April 1989 Place: Museum of Arts of São Paulo (MASP) Av. Paulista 1578, first floor, roam 40x15 m Installation -5 panels with information on the present situation of the" Yanomami; texts by Dermi Azevedo and photographs by Claudia Andujar. -2 glass cases with samples of Yanomami material culture. -Audiovisual, multi-visual system, with 360 colar images of Yanomami traditional life and the consequences of contact with the whites; utilizing 4 projectors and mirrors to create a setting for the sequence of images, projected onto 40 screens (plastic sheets) 2.5 meters high; length -30 minutes. By Claudia Andujar and Marlui Miranda, based on a photographic project and sound fieldwork by Claudia Andujar. Audial based on compositions from Japanese classical and minimalist music, and recordings made among the Yanomami (rituals and speeches); interview with Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, flashes on their world-view taped on the television program "TV Vanguarda" (Bandeirantes), produced by Marcos Terena in February 1989. Consultancy on visual planning: Jeferson da Costa. Sound makeup: Marlui Miranda. Setting: Dan Fialdini. Sound: Fotóptica Ltda. The display was notable for its installation of light and sound, in which 360 images of Yanomami traditional life and of their contact with the West were shown in sequence on 40 vertical screens, to the music of Marlui Miranda, recordings of the Yanomami, and Japanese and minimalist music. The images presented were gathered over a period of 20 years of fieldwork by the photographer Claudia Andujar. The exhibit also included panels with didactic materials, and material objects used in Yanomami daily life, and in their magico-religious practices. A booklet with articles by the anthropologist Alcida Ramos and the journalist Dermi Azevedo, and preface by Ailton Krenak (UNI), provided visitors with basic information to understand the Yanomami situation. Printed Material Poster, booklet of 24 pages, with preface by Ailton Krenak (Union of Indigenous Nations), and invitation; introduction by the CCPY and articles by anthropologist Alcida Ramos and journalist Dermi Azevedo; photographs (B/W) by Claudia Andujar and visual planning by the architects Fernando Mascaro and Roberto Strauss. Between 400 and 600 people attended the exhibit daily and nearly 2,000 primary and secondary school students of São Paulo came to see the show. In the written statements left by some of these students, whose average age is 15 years, one notes a concern for the future of the Yanomami, and an indignation at the attitude of the white man against their survival. "My name is Ana Cristina Gavinho, I am a student, and I was very moved by this presentation. I am of Indian descent and my mother, the daughter of an Indian, married a Portuguese man, my father, which created a big loss of awareness of the real importance of indigenous know1edge. I am very impressed by this debate and I deep1y fe1t the importance of the Indian and I want to get more deep1y invo1ved with these peop1e who are so rich in know1edge. I am sad because my grandfather is a1ready deceased and I wasn't ab1e to find out anything from him on "what it means to be Indian", but I fee1 that by being of Indian descent and having at 1east 50% Indian b1ood circu1ating within me, in my veins, I have the responsibi1ity of fighting for them and of passing this on to my descendants. From this presentation, I have gotten the strength and the wi11 to strugg1e and to preserve what is ours. I want to maintain communication with you peop1e. Let's keep it up. I am very happy and gratefu1." Certainly, the explanations provided by Carlo Zacquini at the end of each session of the audio-visual, caused many surprises among the young audience, who perceived the inter-relation between the major threats to the Yanomami and the disasters occuring in Brazilian ecology. Both the exhibit "Planet Earth" sponsored by IBM in the MASP basement and the tribute given to the Yanomami by the plastic and graffiti artist Mauricio Villaça, who painted the Museum's groundfloor walls, provided excellent support for the message of the CCPY's exhibit, located on the first floor of the Museum. D.O.E. Sect. 1, São Paulo, 99(059), Friday, 31 March 1989 Communication COGSP/CEI The Coordinators of lnstruction for the Metropolitan Region of Greater São Paulo and the Interior, the Secretary of Education through the Commission Against Discrimination, considering what has been presented to it by the Commission for the Creation of the Yanomami Park (CCPY), despatch the present communication publicizing the program of visits to the cultural exhibit on the Yanomami question, from 6 to 23 April, in the Arts Museum of São Paulo. On this occasion, homage will be given to the Indian Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, winner of the Global 500 Award given by the United Nations to those who have contributed in a significant way to the defense of the environment. The exhibit will be entirely audio-visual and seeks to enlighten public opinion on the humanitarian, ecological, and patrimonial aspects involved in this question. The State Network of Instruction is authorized to organize visits, in groups of not more than 100 students. The CCPY will provide a guide who will give instruction and explanation. The students will be provided with a reserved space to leave written works with their opinions on the rights of the Yanomami. lnterested schools should contact Ari, at the CCPY; phone: 284-6997, from 8 to noon, Tuesdays to Fridays. On 20 April, the CCPY, the Teotônio Vilela Commission on Human Rights, and the Lawyer's Order of Brazil brought together various personalities who work in defense of human rights, to give homage to Davi Kopenawa Yanomami. In the great auditorium of the Museum, Davi left it clear that he had no illusions about his meeting with president José Sarney the day before in Brasilia, for he is aware of the lies and deceit of the authorities. But he reaffirmed his courage and conviction to continue to defend his people and the environment of the country. The Yanomami leader has no reason to believe in the promises of the president to remove the gold-panners from Roraima. Thus he went back to his position of denouncing the violation of rights in Yanomami territory, with the support of several indigenous leaders present at the occasion, such as MacSoara Cadiwel (of Mato Grosso do Sul), Ailton Krenak (of the Union of Indigenous Nations), and Marcos Terena (a Funai pilot) , ill connected to the Union of Indigenous Nations. On the occasion, Senator Severo Gomes reaffirmed the decision of the Citizens' Action movement, created at the beginning of the year in São Paulo, to give priority to the Yanomami situation. The pledge of various organizations, the courageous support of the Arts Museum of São Paulo, and the support of the media together ensured the success of the exhibit "Genocide of the Yanomami: Death of Brazil". We should alwo note that, for the first time in its 11 years of existence, the CCPY received support from Brazilian companies in an initiative to defend the Yanomami people. Col1aborators -Organizations: Citizens' Action, Order of Lawyers of Brazil, Ecumenical Center for Documentation and Information, Indigenist Missionary Council, Pro-Indian Commission of São Paulo, Center for Indigenist Work, Teotônio Vilela Commission on Human Rights, and the Art Museum of são Paulo. -In the realization of the exhibit: Ailton Krenak (coordinator of the Union of Indigenous Nations, UNI); Abel de Barros Lima and Carlos Alberto Ricardo, in the planning; Alcida Ramos and Bruce Albert (anthropologists); Ari Osvaldo de Andrade, Daniela Hart and Lucia Prado, in publicity; Carlo Zacquini, in information and communication; Claudete Nanni, in secretarial assistance; Dan Fialdini (Department of Exhibits, MASP); Fernando Mascaro and Roberto Straus, in the visual planning of the catalogue, poster, invitation, and panels; Jeferson da Costa; Marlui Miranda, in sound arrangements; and Rose Stoianov, in the mounting of the panels. Claudia Andujar coordinated the project and created the audiovisual. TRUTHS AND LIES ON THE DAY OF THE INDIAN If lndian Day this year was distinguished by its awarding and international recognition of Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, on the other hand the old, military- inspired indigenist policy did not fail to leave its mark. One only has to note that just as Davi was being honored in the National Congress, Army Minister General Leônidas Pires Gonçalves was in an auditorium nearby making criticisms of the Yanomami leader, saying that he was "putting on a show". Deputy Moema São Thiago (PSDB-CE), who opened the joint session of the Chambers and Senate, regretted the "coincidence" of the two pronouncements, recognizing that the house and the press were split between the two events. The Minister of the Army was participating in a seminar on Amazonia in the auditorium Nereu Ramos, of the Chambers, and his bombastic declarations got him headlines in many newspapers on the following day.