6.06.2008
Let Us Convert Uncontacted Tribes!
A major news story making the rounds has concerned photos of an "uncontacted" indigenous tribe in Brazil, sparking debate over the treatment and rights of these isolated communities. While some, like Peruvian oil and gas interests, contest that there is no such a thing as an "uncontacted" tribe, others, most notably Survival International and CIPIACI, have urged the Brazilian government to ensure the protection of their territory.
Uncontacted Indians in Brazil, May 2008
© Gleison Miranda/FUNAI
"There are more than one hundred uncontacted tribes worldwide, with more than half living in either Brazil or Peru. All are in grave danger of being forced off their land, killed and decimated by new diseases. Survival has launched an urgent campaign to get their land protected..."
Now a third party, evangelical Christian missionaries, have weighed in on the subject of these tribes. Unsurprisingly, they want to foray in and "contact" them with the love of Christ, damn the consequences (such as decimating them with disease).
"It’s hard to understand how providing medical care and literacy is exploitation, especially among indigenous groups where the life expectancy of men and women is lower than average and suicide rates among youth are alarmingly high, but New Tribes and other mission organizations may face increasing opposition as governments like Venezuela’s and Brazil’s restrict outside access to tribes. In the process, those governments seem to be promoting the ideology of the “noble savage” and assuming it’s in the best interests of indigenous people to have no access to the modern world, or to the gospel."
The article also casts aspersions on Venezeula for kicking them out, despite a long history of missionary groups (particularly New Tribes Mission) committing acts of ethnocide, espionage, and outright insurrection in the country. These Christian missionary groups are also not fond of the recent Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations, which enshrines the right to religious integrity.
"The UN Declaration, adopted in September of 2007, grants broad national rights to natives and contains language that could cause problems for ... missionaries."
What sorts of "care" and "literacy" would groups like New Tribes Mission provide if allowed to evangelize these Indians? Here is a quote from a typical "teaching session" given to a recently contacted tribe.
"As John taught about the Ten Commandments he held up a mirror, showing the Ayores how he could look into it and see himself. Then he took mud and spread it all over his face. The people thought it was hilarious, but John brought out the seriousness of the lesson. He told them how, in the mirror, he could see the dirt all over his face and that God's Law was like a mirror. It showed people how they are dirty (sinful) before God."
You see, indigenous people need to be taught that they are dirty sinners (under constant divine surveillance), and that only conversion will get them "clean". I can't see how we could deny the missionaries this opportunity, after all, according to Pope Benedict they are "silently longing" for it! So remember, according to missionaries, cultural and religious integrity, freedom from diseases they have no immunity to, and land rights come second to the old carrot/stick scenario of "progress" in exchange for your soul.
Labels: Brazil, Christianity, conversions, Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, indigenous, Peru, Venezuela
Comments:
"indigenous groups where. . . suicide rates among youth are alarmingly high."
Surely this is referring to post-contact indigenous groups. After all, how would anyone know the suicide rates, or indeed the overall life expectancy, among pre-contact indigenous groups?
Why don't we organize a team of pagan "missionaries" and barge into the Vatican, voicing our "rights" to bring the truth of the God and Goddess to the "backwards and ignorant" natives of that particular enclave? While we are at it, we can expose THEM to some out-of-the-ordinary disease that THEY are not currently immune to, say, the avian flu. Yea, let's put a mirror in front of THEM and show them how funny THEY look with their weird clothes and funny hats and tell them that the only way THEY can redeem themselves is to put on a pair of jeans and T-shirts like the rest of humanity.
Or, hell, let's go tit-for-tat and capture the Pope himself, demanding all the gold in the vatican be sold and the proceeds distributed to the poor in exchange for his release. Imagine, we could end world hunger in one day with a haul like THAT!
I'm glad you've highlighted this issue, Jason. It is one of the many reasons why I joined Survival International over a decade ago (in response to an article about it in the Pagan Federation UK magazine, actually).
I'm really skeptical about the suicide rate statistic.
Why can't we leave these people alone? They're fine just the way they are.
I believe that it is the current policy of the Brazilian government to do just that. Not only do they have a policy of not making contact but they seem to be trying to keep a perimeter around the tribes to prevent contact. That being said, it seems that these tribes have already had some limited contact with the outside world.
It's very typical of "advanced" (used here _very_ loosely) people to feel they must come to the aid of those who are, in their opinion, backward - history is filled with such events. Whether pushing the word of God onto these people can be considered advancing them in any way is questionable, however.
I hope the Brazilian government will hold fast to their determination that these people should not be contacted, and that groups like this missionary group will be kept far away from the tribe.
Silently longing for it! Somehow I think I heard that argument before, and it wasn't any prettier then.
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"indigenous groups where. . . suicide rates among youth are alarmingly high."
Surely this is referring to post-contact indigenous groups. After all, how would anyone know the suicide rates, or indeed the overall life expectancy, among pre-contact indigenous groups?
Why don't we organize a team of pagan "missionaries" and barge into the Vatican, voicing our "rights" to bring the truth of the God and Goddess to the "backwards and ignorant" natives of that particular enclave? While we are at it, we can expose THEM to some out-of-the-ordinary disease that THEY are not currently immune to, say, the avian flu. Yea, let's put a mirror in front of THEM and show them how funny THEY look with their weird clothes and funny hats and tell them that the only way THEY can redeem themselves is to put on a pair of jeans and T-shirts like the rest of humanity.
Or, hell, let's go tit-for-tat and capture the Pope himself, demanding all the gold in the vatican be sold and the proceeds distributed to the poor in exchange for his release. Imagine, we could end world hunger in one day with a haul like THAT!
I'm glad you've highlighted this issue, Jason. It is one of the many reasons why I joined Survival International over a decade ago (in response to an article about it in the Pagan Federation UK magazine, actually).
I'm really skeptical about the suicide rate statistic.
Why can't we leave these people alone? They're fine just the way they are.
I believe that it is the current policy of the Brazilian government to do just that. Not only do they have a policy of not making contact but they seem to be trying to keep a perimeter around the tribes to prevent contact. That being said, it seems that these tribes have already had some limited contact with the outside world.
It's very typical of "advanced" (used here _very_ loosely) people to feel they must come to the aid of those who are, in their opinion, backward - history is filled with such events. Whether pushing the word of God onto these people can be considered advancing them in any way is questionable, however.
I hope the Brazilian government will hold fast to their determination that these people should not be contacted, and that groups like this missionary group will be kept far away from the tribe.
Silently longing for it! Somehow I think I heard that argument before, and it wasn't any prettier then.
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