Yanomami Indigenous Territory
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The Yanomami Indigenous Territory () is an indigenous territory in the states of Amazonas and
Roraima Roraima ( ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas t ...
,
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. It overlaps with several federal or state conservation units. It is home to
Yanomami The Yanomami, also spelled Yąnomamö or Yanomama, are a group of approximately 35,000 indigenous people of the Americas, indigenous people who live in some 200–250 villages in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Venezuela and Brazil. ...
and Ye'kuana people. There are
ongoing conflicts The following is a list of ongoing armed conflicts that are taking place around the world. Criteria This list of ongoing armed conflicts identifies present-day conflicts and the death toll associated with each conflict. The criteria of inclu ...
with an overlapping national forest in which mining was permitted.


Location

The Yanomami Indigenous Territory has an area of in the states of Amazonas and Roraima, making it the largest indigenous territory in Brazil in terms of area. The territory is bounded by the frontier with Venezuela to the northwest. In the west it adjoins the Balaio and Cué-cué/Marabitanas indigenous territories. 50% of the
Pico da Neblina National Park Pico da Neblina National Park () is a national park in the state of Amazonas in the north of Brazil, bordering on Venezuela. It overlaps with several indigenous territories, which creates tensions over land use, as does the military presence due ...
overlaps the western part of the territory. Most of the Amazonas National Forest is within the territory, as is most of the
Serra do Aracá State Park The Serra do Aracá State Park () is a state park in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Location The Serra do Aracá State Park is in the municipality of Barcelos in the state of Amazonas. The base of the Serra do Aracá, a sandstone tepui after w ...
. In the southeast it adjoins the Serra da Mocidade National Park and the
Caracaraí Ecological Station Caracaraí Ecological Station () is an ecological station in the state of Roraima, Brazil. Location The ecological station, which covers , was created on 31 May 1982. It is in the municipality of Caracaraí in the state of Roraima. It adjoins ...
. In the east it adjoins the
Roraima National Forest The Roraima National Forest () is a national forest in the state of Roraima, Brazil. History The Roraima National Forest and Amazonas National Forest were created by President José Sarney in 1989. The Roraima National Forest was created by dec ...
.


People

The Yanomami Indigenous Territory is home to
Yanomami The Yanomami, also spelled Yąnomamö or Yanomama, are a group of approximately 35,000 indigenous people of the Americas, indigenous people who live in some 200–250 villages in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Venezuela and Brazil. ...
people speaking the Ninam,
Sanumá The Sanumá, also referred to as ''Sanema, Sanima Tsanuma, Guaika, Samatari, Samatali, Xamatari'' and ''Chirichano'' in the literature, are an indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous people of Brazil and Venezuela. They are related to the ...
, Yanomamö and
Yanomami The Yanomami, also spelled Yąnomamö or Yanomama, are a group of approximately 35,000 indigenous people of the Americas, indigenous people who live in some 200–250 villages in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Venezuela and Brazil. ...
languages of the Yanomamam linguistic family, and to Ye'kuana people speaking the Ye'kuana language of the Carib linguistic family. The population as of 1989 was 9,910 according to
FUNAI is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. Currently, it is in liquidation. Apart from producing its own branded electronic products, it was also an OEM providing assembled televisions and video players/recor ...
. This has risen steadily to an estimated 23,512 people as of 2016 according to Sesai. The state is represented in the territory of the Fundação Nacional do Índio (Funai). Registered indigenous organizations include the Associação das Mulheres Yanomami (Kumirayoma), Associação de Pais e Mestres Comunitários (APMC), Associação do Povo Ye'Kuana do Brasil (APYB), Associação Texoli, Associação Yanomami do Rio Cauaburis e Afluentes (AYRCA/FOIRN), Associação Yanomami do Rio Marauiá e do Rio Preto (KURIKAMA), Círculo de Pais e Mestres Escola Estadual (Indígena) Apolinário Gimenes (CIPAMESAG), Federação das Organizações Indígenas do Rio Negro (FOIRN), Hutukara Associação Yanomami (HAY) and the Organização dos Povos Indígenas de Roraima (OPIR).


History

The Yanomami Indigenous Territory was created through a series of steps that began with ordinance 1.817 of 8 January 1985 and led to the first
homologation Homologation (Greek language, Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would n ...
on 16 February 1989. The Roraima National Forest was created by decree nº 97545 of 1 March 1989 and covered of the
Amazon biome The Amazon biome () contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater river, blackwater and whitewa ...
. This had the effect of dividing the territory of the
Yanomami The Yanomami, also spelled Yąnomamö or Yanomama, are a group of approximately 35,000 indigenous people of the Americas, indigenous people who live in some 200–250 villages in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Venezuela and Brazil. ...
people into several separate areas. In 1990 three gold mining reserves were created within the Roraima National Forest. The Yanomami Indigenous Territory was demarcated in 1992 in the lead up to the
Earth Summit The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92, Cúpula da Terra), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 ...
in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
. The indigenous territory was created on 25 May 1992 with an area of , and it was thought that this territory completely covered the national forest area. This was followed by a vigorous international campaign in support of the Yanomami people. The gold mines were closed and the miners removed. In an indigenous territory the indigenous people have the exclusive right of use according to their customs and traditions. Although technically the Roraima National Forest remained, exploitation of the forest would violate these rights. In 2001
IBAMA The Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources ( Portuguese: ''Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis'', IBAMA) is a government agency under the administration of the Brazilian Minis ...
realized that 5% of the forest, or , had been left out of the indigenous territory, and decided to repossess the unit. However, in the mid-1990s two settlements, Samaúma and Vila Nova, had taken , leaving unclaimed. To regularize the situation, the boundaries were revised by law 12058 of 13 October 2009. The resized national forest now excludes the indigenous territory. There were various other adjustment with the most recent being homologation process 954 of 19 July 2012. Threats include illegal mining, fishing, hunting and farming. As of 2000 a total of had been
deforested Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...
. This had risen to by 2014.


Notes


Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT: Indigenous Territories (Brazil) Protected areas established in 1992 1992 establishments in Brazil Protected areas of Roraima Protected areas of Amazonas (Brazilian state)