The Kayapo Indians, Essay Example

The Kayapo Indians, a tribal people comprising nine villages and 24.8 million acres of land in the state of Para, Brazil, are at risk of being ejected from the only place they have ever known to call home.  Due to such reasons as water pollution, the illegal sale of land along the middle Xingu region, and the government’s idea of constructing a hydroelectric dam, this tribal people could face losing their homes and not being compensated for having to find other places to live.

The plans for dam construction by the government were laid out first in 1989. The tribe joined forces and presented a united front, causing the government to back down and put the plans aside. Now the time has come for the government to begin its plans to build the hydroelectric dams, and while this has the potential to help many people in the area, it will force the Kapayo from their homelands with nowhere to go.

Personally, I believe the government will do as they wish in regards to the building of whatever new and improved construction they believe will bring overall positive results to people in society; however, no group of people, especially one who has considered an area home for centuries and has spent its livelihood on making the most with the natural elements from the land should be taken advantage of by this government.

Yes, the dams will be a good thing for the people of the area. They will provide better water for individual consumption and will most likely bring new jobs to the area. With each positive reason behind a decision comes a negative one as well. Many plants and animals such as fish and other creatures which inhabit the land now will most definitely be affected and this will be irreversible as the animals, too, will have nowhere to go.

Can the people of the Kayapo tribe learn new things? Yes, theoretically they will have the ability to learn new ways of life and may even benefit in some way from the construction of the proposed canal, dams, and other such architectural structures proposed from the government. This being said, however, the tribal people should have assistance at least with relocation if the government decides to pursue the plans for construction. Private entities are funding a large majority of this job, so surely there is enough money to at least relocate a group of people to another place to live. In America, if the government decides to take control of one’s property they are to pay you for it. These rules most likely do not apply since the private entities are the funding source of the project, but it is my belief that if the government wants diplomacy and fairness between all groups of its people, it will see the Kayapo tribe gets some positive treatment for being put out of their homeland.