Struggles over Land in Western Amazonia: Indigenous Mobility, Exchange and Territory at the Brazilian Frontier

The Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP) is delighted to welcome Visiting Fellow Dr Daniel Belik, an anthropologist based in Rio Branco, Brazil, for a seminar co-hosted with the Sussex Anthropology department.

Abstract

Dr Belik's talk will engage with the history of Western Amazonian colonization including discussions of Indigenous networks of mobility and exchange before considering contemporary Indigenous territorial claims. Archaeological and ethnological data suggest that Indigenous groups were part of larger ancient collectives connected by routes of communication that spread out through a vast area across the present day international borders of Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. 

Starting with the first rubber boom at the end of the 19^th century these areas were gradually appropriated by non-indigenous migrants into what would become the newly-created Brazilian state of Acre. Continued immigration and the expansion of cattle ranches resulted in land scarcity and further divided indigenous populations. In recent decades this has led to increasing demands by Indigenous peoples to regain their traditional territories. 

In response the Brazilian government has introduced public policies to recognise the territorial rights of Indigenous peoples and set up multidisciplinary group of specialists, often headed by anthropologists, to study and resolve these issues. The talk will conclude with examples of Dr. Belik’s own experiences as the coordinator of two such land demarcation studies with Yaminawa people. Here he will discuss some of the challenges involved, not only for reconstituting Indigenous peoples movements, but also in the face of the ever increasing advancement of cattle ranching, organized crime and road building in the region.

Biography

Dr. Daniel Belik is an anthropologist based in Rio Branco, Brazil. His research and professional practice focuses on documenting and making available crucial knowledge about regional exchange and migration between Pano-speaking communities in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. His work seeks to support and empower Indigenous, Amazonian populations through the preservation and revitalization of their cultural traditions and the demarcation of their territories. He has worked for government organizations such as FUNAI (the Brazilian Indigenous Agency) and the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as for and with Indigenous peoples and federations themselves. He also teaches at the Federal University of Acre (UFAC).