Wildcat Mining
Wildcat Mining
Recently there has been a dispute between the Munduruku Tribe and “wildcat miners”, in which several illegal miners had set up various mines on the Munduruku’s land in search of gold. To remove these miners on their land, the tribe’s leaders travelled to Brazil, demanding from the government to remove illegal miners on their territory. Unfortunately, a court action by the government could take years and years, thus the Munduruku Tribe decided to evict the illegal miners by themselves.
What is illegal ‘wildcat’ mining? Wildcat mining have no safety protocols, no federal inspectors to inspect the mine, thus they do not have a government license. This allows the miners to dig deeper, use chemicals to clear land without authorisation. Illegal mining is a major problem for the Munduruku tribe’s territory which is a 2 million hectare rainforest. Their territory has constantly been exploited by illegal miners, clearing large areas, threatening Indian communities. As well as this, some organisations are trying to dam the Tapajós River, in an effort to create several roads cutting through the river, to transport crops from various farms.
The image shown above shows the Munduruku using a boat supplied by the FUNAI to navigate the Das Tropas river, searching for illegal gold mines. This shot was taken with the tribe’s back facing the camera, showing their turtle body paint. The background has been adjusted in contrast, making the forest seem for eerily and dangerous, while the boat is the centre of attention.
The purpose of this photo was to show the Munduruku are fighting alone against illegal mining, and that the government will do nothing. It also demonstrates the ideology of the ‘turtle’, in which the Munduruku make decisions slowly but preserve.
The original image was taken by Lunae Parracho, who is a freelance photographer and contributes to Reuters regularly. It was also the first of the photo gallery on Lunae’s blog, in which he talked
Recently there has been a dispute between the Munduruku Tribe and “wildcat miners”, in which several illegal miners had set up various mines on the Munduruku’s land in search of gold. To remove these miners on their land, the tribe’s leaders travelled to Brazil, demanding from the government to remove illegal miners on their territory. Unfortunately, a court action by the government could take years and years, thus the Munduruku Tribe decided to evict the illegal miners by themselves.
What is illegal ‘wildcat’ mining? Wildcat mining have no safety protocols, no federal inspectors to inspect the mine, thus they do not have a government license. This allows the miners to dig deeper, use chemicals to clear land without authorisation. Illegal mining is a major problem for the Munduruku tribe’s territory which is a 2 million hectare rainforest. Their territory has constantly been exploited by illegal miners, clearing large areas, threatening Indian communities. As well as this, some organisations are trying to dam the Tapajós River, in an effort to create several roads cutting through the river, to transport crops from various farms.
The image shown above shows the Munduruku using a boat supplied by the FUNAI to navigate the Das Tropas river, searching for illegal gold mines. This shot was taken with the tribe’s back facing the camera, showing their turtle body paint. The background has been adjusted in contrast, making the forest seem for eerily and dangerous, while the boat is the centre of attention.
The purpose of this photo was to show the Munduruku are fighting alone against illegal mining, and that the government will do nothing. It also demonstrates the ideology of the ‘turtle’, in which the Munduruku make decisions slowly but preserve.
The original image was taken by Lunae Parracho, who is a freelance photographer and contributes to Reuters regularly. It was also the first of the photo gallery on Lunae’s blog, in which he talked
References: Image 1: Parrocho, Lunae. “Manhunt for wildcat gold miners” Reuters. Blog. 17th of February. Accessed 2nd of March. Unknown. “Hunting for illegal miners”. TotallyCoolPix. Website. 20th of February. Accessed 3rd of March. Image 2: Stauffer, Caroline. “Manhunt for wildcat gold miners”. Reuters. Website. 17th of February. Accessed 3rd of March. Unknown. “Brazilian Tribe fights illegal mining”. CBS News. Website. 18th of February. Accessed 3rd of March. Image 3: Unknown. “Brazil’s Indians Fight Back Against Wildcat Miners”. NBC News. Website. 17th of February. Accessed 6th of March. Daily Mail Reporter. “Hunting with the Munduruku warriors: Inside the indigenous Brazilian tribe who defend the forest 's gold from prospectors with spears and daggers”. Dailymail. Website. 17th of February. Accessed 7th of March.