An Open Letter Addressing Gold Mining in the Rain Forest

Dear Funai,

Hello my name is Kollin Bell. This is a letter meant for Fundacao Nacional do Indio. I am writing this letter to your organization to discuss a very important matter at hand. This issue deals with the Yanomamo and other tribal people. These are the indigenous people that are the inhabitance of the rain forest in Brazil. More specifically these people live in the rainforest and mountains of the more northern part of Brazil and as well as the southern part of Venezuela. I am writing you to discuss the mistreatment that has befallen these people. These people have been living in these forests for a very long time. They are a tribal people. It would just be criminal to take this way of living away from them. There are people that are coming on to their land and claiming as if it was there own. These people are affecting the way these people are living.

This matter which I am addressing to you is the allowing of illegal gold miners on to these people’s land. These tribal people including the Yanomamo and other tribes have rights to this land. Just because these are organizations does not you the right to let this happen. These tribal people are living off of land that is not others to take ownership. They should not have be subjected to people coming into their lands that are guided by your company to take what belongs to the tribes people.

These people are the rightful owners of this land. This was a presidential decree that was given to the Yanomamo and other tribal people in 1992. These mining companies need to stop coming into the Yanamamo’s and other tribal people’s land. Not only are the gold mining companies a threat to these people. They also have to deal with farmers coming in on their land as well. Just not take over the land for themselves to farm, but these people could possible destroy the land of the Yanomamo. A lot of these people who are farmers and gold miners are being backed up by governmental power.

These organizations being able to come into the land of the Yanomamo might show a corruption inside the government of Brazil. None of these funds or money is going back to the Yanomamo. They have not received anything. They will not be able to continue their way of life if this keeps on happening to them. There is also a major problem with illegal fishing.

All of this interaction from the outside world to the Yanomamo people is leading to very bad things and could see some backlash if something is not done to help this people as soon as it is possible to help them. With the coming of outsiders also comes deforestation. These people are just not taking natural resources from the Yanomao and these people also just not messing with the animal life, they are coming in and cutting down the trees in the forest of the Yanomao.

The backlash that I am talking about is something that as wiped out so many of their people as it is. Thousands of the Yanomamo people were wiped out by deadly diseases many times. One time that is very notable that these people have been killed off was in the 1970’s. Thousands of these people had died from a sweeping outbreak of the measles.

This was do to the credit of outside invaders. The way that the borders for the Yanonmamo are set up it is very easy to come through these borders without having any problem what so ever. Please help these people. They might not be able to defend themselves on their own. Something that might help them is have a tighter border patrol. Maybe you can create a great penality for going into these lands without proper forms and not being someone who would hurt the land and the people.

Sincerely,

Kollin Bell