The author of Survival’s ‘most racist article’ of 2009 now says he was ‘exaggerating’ when he suggested bombing Peru’s indigenous population with napalm.

‘When I wrote that I didn’t mean it literally,’ Andres Bedoya Ugarteche retorts in his column in Peru’s Correo newspaper. ‘When you tell someone that he or she’s f**king you, or that you’re going to ‘beat the shit out of them’, you don’t really mean it.’

Indeed. The question is, when isn’t he exaggerating? It’s difficult to know. After all, he describes ‘all human rights NGOs’ as ‘blood-sucking leeches’, and Survival as ‘communist excrement’ and ‘f**king communist swine’ who ‘worship’ the British royal family and want indigenous people to ‘remain in ignorance and misery’ so they ‘can be breastfed by them.’ Other pearls of wisdom: ‘Either we’re all indigenous or no one is’ and ‘When the Egyptians were building their pyramids, there were only llamas in Peru.’

Why should protesting against human rights abuses – in this case, the systematic theft of land, the destruction of eco-systems and livelihoods, and the failure to recognise and respect peoples’ rights to self-determination – make you a communist?

It doesn’t. That’s an old, tired claim that has been trotted out by certain kinds of people ever since fear of the ‘Red Tide’ swept around the globe last century. It wasn’t true then – and isn’t true now.

More importantly, racist descriptions of indigenous people in the media, whether ‘exaggerated’ or not, make it easier for governments and companies to justify taking their land and ‘developing’ them without their understanding and consent – in ways often catastrophic to them. This has happened all over the world: it has led to poverty, disease, shorter life-spans, and the destruction of entire cultures and ways of life.

That’s why Survival’s ‘Stamp it Out’ campaign was launched. That’s why there’s an annual award. And that’s why Bedoya Ugarteche’s article is this year’s worthy winner.

The gist of his article, published in the aftermath of the protests and violence at Bagua earlier this year, is:

‘Peru’s indigenous peoples belong in the past!’

‘They’re stupid and can’t think for themselves!’

‘They have savage customs and ridiculous names and clothes!’

Most of this is music to a government’s ears – especially one like Peru’s that is hell-bent on exploiting as much indigenous land as possible.

In fact, the similarities between Bedoya Ugarteche’s caricature and the government’s, particularly President Garcia’s, is uncanny.

He says the protesters are ‘primitive’, ‘from the pre-agricultural age’ and ‘palaeolithic’. Garcia says they want to take Peru ‘back to a primitive age’.

He says they’re ‘savage’. Ditto Garcia.

He says they were fooled into protesting by a ‘pseudo-native’. Ditto Garcia.

He says they were fooled into protesting by ‘communists’, opposition politicians, and foreign interests. Ditto Garcia.

He says they’re ‘policemen-murdering wretches’. Garcia accuses them of ‘police genocide’.

Even animals come into it. Bedoya Ugarteche brands indigenous leader Alberto Pizango a rat. Garcia has likened them to dogs.

Bedoya Ugarteche even takes exception to the fact that some of the protesters were wearing ‘Lacoste shirts’ – a detail also, rather oddly, noted by Peru’s Embassy in Italy. ‘Some demonstrators took to the streets wearing Lacoste shirts,’ Mr Felix Denegri Boza told Italian media, as if that had anything to do with why they were protesting or the government’s response to it.

Might we suggest that Bedoya Ugarteche, Peru’s diplomatic corps and President García worry less about what shirts the protesters were wearing, and rather more about what they were protesting about?

Survival ambassador and celebrated jewellery designer Pippa Small recently made the journey to Orissa state, India. She witnessed the dire situation as Vedanta prepares to wreak havoc in the home of the Dongria Kondh. Here she describes her poignant journey.

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When Survival suggested that, as I was in India working, I may be able to go to meet the Dongria people in order to have a better understanding of the situation facing them regarding the mine and also to get inspiration for a small collection that we could make and sell in order to raise funds and awareness to help their campaign, I was thrilled.
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Whilst Damien Hirst’s piece for Survival is readied for auction, another group of artists have put forward their talents for tribal peoples.

Bruce Parry, star of the BBC series ‘Tribe’ and the forthcoming ‘Amazon’, has teamed up with some of the music world’s brightest stars to create a fundraising album for Survival.

Musicians on the album include KT Tunstall, will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas), Johnny Borrell (Razorlight), Tom Baxter, Mystery Jets, Jason Mraz, Yusuf Islam, Hot Chip, the Go! Team and Mike Oldfield. In addition, Guy Berryman from Coldplay, Jonas from MEW and Magne from A-ha have formed a new band specially for the CD called Apparatjik, and recorded a track that will also be used for the end credits of ‘Amazon’. Every track on the album is exclusive, and has been written especially for the project.

Parry spent months trekking through the jungle documenting the difficulties facing Earth’s largest rainforest and its people. His journey will air on the BBC from September.

The album will be released on double CD on 6 October, and you can pre-order it now at Amazon.co.uk or Play.com. It will also be available to download from iTunes on 22 September.

As British mining company Vedanta Resources ploughs ahead with plans to open a massive new mine on tribal land, we invite you to protest outside the firm’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) next week.

Vedanta (through a subsidiary named Sterlite) intends to build a huge bauxite mine in Niyamgiri, Orissa. The Niyamgiri Hills are the home of the Dongria Kondh tribe.

If the mine goes ahead it will destroy the Dongria Kondh and desecrate their most sacred site. Mining in this location risks polluting and drying up the many streams and rivers that flow from the mountain, which thousands of families depend on.

The battle to save Niyamgiri is currently being fought in the Supreme Court in Delhi. Although the company does not yet have permission for the mine, they have built a refinery which has already displaced some of a neighbouring Kondh tribe from their villages.

The Dongria have vowed to protect their forests and mountain. Two spokesmen from the area are traveling to London to protest at the AGM.

The Dongria Kondh need your help. Please join us on Thursday.

Last year Survival asked me to narrate a short film about the plight of uncontacted peoples living in some of the most remote parts of the world. I’ve long been a supporter, and thought this would be one way that I could make a valuable and lasting contribution.

I was unprepared for just how deeply moved I would be by the footage Survival had put together, and the intimate stories of these vulnerable peoples struggling to survive. Amongst the remarkable scenes filmed by Survival researchers, one above all has stayed with me. A pitiful group of just six individuals, the last survivors of a once-proud tribe called the Akuntsu, sit forlornly in a forest clearing.

Having witnessed the massacre of all the other members of their tribe by cattle ranchers desperate for their land, their lethargy and utter despondency is hardly surprising. Yet still they rouse themselves to perform a shuffling dance of welcome. Heartbreaking.

Words seem woefully inadequate to convey their despair; but this short piece of film strikes at the heart of their story, helps us to understand and moves us to act. Survival is appealing for support to create a film unit, to ensure scenes like this reach many more people.

This need not be overly expensive; Survival researchers gather a wealth of video footage when visiting tribal communities, but it takes time and resources to edit, produce and distribute a film like Uncontacted Tribes.

Already this film has generated worldwide interest. For example, a newspaper in India recently gave one of our DVDs to all its readers. This has been one of many fantastic opportunities to get our message across using film, but of course there are cost implications.

With more resources, Survival could produce numerous films showing the reality of life for many of the world’s tribes; the deforestation of their homes, the sickness and disease they suffer as a result of invasions of their land, but also their dignity and endurance.

Survival’s goal is to get more people to see and understand more about tribal peoples. Such a groundswell of support will make it impossible for governments to sweep tribes aside and deny them what is rightfully theirs.

Tragically, it is too late for the Akuntsu; there simply is no way back for such a tiny group of survivors. But for every story like theirs, there are others – because of you – that are more encouraging.

Next year will be Survival’s 40th anniversary. I have been a supporter for most of that time and have seen just how many peoples Survival has helped. In the 1980s, the Yanomami were facing a bleak future, following invasions of their land by goldminers.

In fact more than a fifth of the tribe were wiped out. Decades of campaigning by Survival resulted in an historic victory, with almost 10 million hectares of rainforest secured for the tribe. In the words of Davi Kopenawa, Yanomami leader and shaman, ‘Without Survival, we’d all be dead’.

I’m proud to have been a part of the Uncontacted Tribes project, and I hope this film – and those that follow – will help make the world more aware, and help to secure the future of tribal peoples for generations to come.

 

The British newspaper The Observer claimed this weekend that it’s now ‘emerged’ that the uncontacted tribe whose photos went around the world were neither ‘lost’, nor ‘undiscovered’ nor ‘unknown’.

This is a classic example of journalists getting the wrong end of the stick. The only people who ever claimed that the Indians photographed were ‘lost’ or ‘undiscovered’ were…. the press, despite the fact that Survival has been campaigning for the protection of the many isolated Indian tribes on the Peru-Brazil border for more than twenty years.

Indeed, you might have thought that the fact that the Indians are living in a government reserve set aside for isolated Indian groups would tend to indicate that they weren’t exactly ‘unknown’.

For the avoidance of doubt, let’s just make it clear – yes, the tribe is uncontacted, that is to say, has no peaceful contact with outsiders. But no, they’re not ‘lost’ – they know where they are, and anthropologists, Survival, other NGOs and the Brazilian government have known that there are many isolated Indian tribes living in that region for decades.

What is undoubtedly true is that many people, not least the President of Peru, had publicly questioned whether there were any uncontacted Indians there at all, which is why the fact that Peru’s government has now been pushed into sending a team to investigate is such welcome news.

I guess we should be used by now to the fact that quite a few journalists are incapable of writing on this subject without resorting to stereotypes about ‘lost’ tribes, but one might have hoped that The Observer would know better.

Last Sunday saw the centenary of the London Marathon and another Survival team run one of the most famous races on earth, through rain and hail, for the lives of threatened tribal peoples everywhere.

2008 has been a brilliant year for the Survival team. Not only did they smash all previous fundraising records by raising over £32,000, but each one of them struggled through months of training and injuries, ending up a hero.



Darren didn’t slow to a walk once and then helped a flagging stranger make it over the finish line.

Doug beat Olympic rower James Cracknell and his own 3 hour target by over five minutes.

Sam ran the hardest race of his life but raised more money for Survival than any individual ever has.

Tulls did a great time and sacrificed his i-phone to the marathon gods.

Rachel ran a brilliant race and passed a teetotal 25th birthday the week before because of her alcohol ban.

Rusty did 15 miles on crutches after having struggled through months of training with a knee injury but still finished with his head held high.


They made us all so proud and the money they raised will make a massive difference to the work we can do in the coming year.

If you’d like to take on the challenge of a lifetime, visit the Saa! Saa! Saa! Team section of the website and register your details for one of our Golden Bond places in the 2009 Flora London Marathon.

You don’t have to be Superman to do it and it isn’t going to be easy for anyone (except Doug perhaps, although we’re not sure he’s entirely human), but it really is a huge achievement and something you’ll always be proud of having done.

In the words of Darren, “it’s a world of pain… but totally worth it”.

Yesterday marked the grand launch of Survival’s brand new page on Facebook; another glorious digital Survival ship cutting majestically through the surf of the world wide web. I was all for smashing a bottle of champagne against Toby’s computer as he clicked ‘publish this page’ but the nearest we had to a bottle of champagne was my cup of tea, and for some reason Toby didn’t seem so keen on the idea.

The page increases Survival’s presence on Facebook, and keeps Facebook ‘fans’ of Survival up to date with our urgent campaigns. The ‘Share’ facility allows fans to post links on their profiles, and to encourage friends to get involved.

Survival has always believed that public opinion is the most powerful force for change. The page helps you to mobilise others to join the movement for tribal peoples, and best of all it’s a pretty nifty way for you to show your support for Survival for all your friends to see.

Take a look yourself at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Survival-International/19668531552

We’d love to hear any feedback from you, so do let us know what you think.

Bruce Parry is back in the Amazon for a new BBC TV series, and he’s been learning from the Matis what it was like during the terrible epidemics they suffered after first contact in the 1970s.

The Amazon website has a great background to the current health crisis in the Javari Valley which is enveloping not only the Matis but other recently contacted – and still uncontacted – peoples living in this huge area of the Amazon. Read more about the crisis on the series website.

Survival’s recent Uncontacted Tribes film opens with some dramatic, previously unseen footage of first contact with the Korubo of the Javari Valley – one of the only genuine first contact video clips in existence.

Last year, I spoke to Survival campaigner Fiona Watson about a visit she made to the Matis, and she told me about the current situation in the Javari Valley:

To help the Matis and other peoples of the Javari Valley, please write a letter using Survival’s online letter-writing tool. Your letters really do make a difference.

Survival was invited to the recent opening of long-time supporter Colin Firth’s Ecò store in Chiswick, West London. We were pleased to highlight a few environmental lessons that tribal peoples can teach the ‘developed’ world.

Far from being relics of the past, tribes and their traditions hold solutions to our world’s greatest problems.

They build with the most sustainable, local materials and only biodegradable matter ends up on the tribal waste heap. These peoples are in the best position to protect the world’s rainforests, which in turn are key in the fight against climate change.

Besides all of this, if left alone, their way of life makes them some of the healthiest people on the planet. Obesity is not an issue for tribal people and they eat only organic food avoiding the potential dangers of pesticides and additives.

Ecò offers “a range of household products and building solutions that are stylish as well as ecologically sound”.

The groundbreaking shop aims to be completely self sufficient, with solar panels, wind turbines and state-of-the-art water recycling systems. It will also act as a hub of information and services for anyone interested in the environment.

It is with this green mission in mind that Colin and company have added their weight to our message that tribal peoples are natural environmentalists and guardians of our future.

www.eco-age.com