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Brazilian Indians find plane survivors

Indigenous Indians located nine survivors of a plane that crashed in a river in the Amazon rain forest with 11 people onboard, according to the Brazilian air force.

The nine passengers were in good health, the air force said Friday.

Of the two people missing -- a passenger and a crew member -- one is believed to be dead. The air force did not provide further details.

The plane was on its way to deliver health supplies Thursday when it crashed. It had taken off from Cruzeiro do Sul in Acre state and was headed to Tabatinga in Amazonas state.

The plane landed in the Itui River between the tribe settlements of Aurelio and Rio Novo. Indians of the Matis tribe, who live in Aurelio, initially located the plane and alerted the Brazilian air force, which sent search planes to the site.

Before the passengers were located, at least eight aircraft had been dispatched for the search operation, the air force said.

Members of the Matis, an indigenous tribe of about 300, live deep in the rain forest.

Other area tribes were helping in a search for the two missing passengers along the shores of the Itui.

via cnn.com

 

We are indigenous first

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/global/49181667.html

via Indian Country Today:

The award-winning indigenous photographer and documentary filmmaker from Venezuela, David Hernandez-Palmar, visited Washington, D.C. recently to speak to members of Congress about the plight of his people, the Wayuu, who live across the countries of Venezuela and Colombia, and to talk to representatives of the Smithsonian Institute about repatriating the remains of Wayuu ancestors and cultural artifacts.

Palmar is also the co-director of “Owners of the Water: Conflict & Collaboration Over Rivers” a documentary about a Brazilian indigenous campaign to protect the Rio das Mortes River Basin from encroaching deforestation and pollution. This film was among the hundreds of Latin American indigenous entries at this year’s Native American Film + Video Festival in New York.

jmsc:

Indigenous people
(AP photo by Andre Penner / January 28, 2009) Indians gather during a meeting to discuss rights of indigenous peoples at the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil. The World Social Forum, the annual counter-cultural gathering to protest the simultaneous World Economic Forum in Switzerland, is taking place until Sunday.

::::::: C215 Stencil Art - Brasil - RCBF Pr2 (via afrobreak)

While the Brazilian street art invasion continues to migrate to the farthest walls of the world, its home territory is getting action from outside street artists as well. A few months ago Parisian stencil artist C215 joined up with the non-profit group Children At Risk Foundation, which gives kids in Sao Paulo’s Diadema favela a place and program to spend their time productively. He registers the experience in a neat, fresh video that follows him around the shantytown, adding 2-D faces and color. Anyone want to take bets that Banksy’s next piece will be found behind a dumpster somewhere in Brazil?

related: VNA Launch Party

via (JoshSpear.com)

Amazon tribe lays waste to hydro dam site | Intercontinental Cry

http://intercontinentalcry.org/amazon-tribe-lays-waste-to-hydro-dam-site/

In an attempt to protect the Juruena river in western Brazil, an estimated 120 members of the Enawene Nawe tribe occupied the construction site of a hydroelectric dam on October 13, and then burned it to the ground.

“They came armed with axes and pieces of wood, banished the employees and later set fire to everything” said Frederico Muller, a coordinator working at the site. At least 12 trucks were destroyed, along with a number of offices and housing units. All told, Muller suggests that there was at least a million dollars in damages.