Raoni Metuktire
Life
Raoni Metuktire, born ca. 1930, is a chief of the Kayapo people, which live in the Amazon rainforest on the territory of Brazil.
Raoni and the Kayapo encountered the Western World for the first time in 1954. Initiated to the Portuguese language by the Villas-Bôas brothers, famous indigenous anthropologist of Brazil, he meets King Léopold III of Belgium on 1964, while the latter is on an expedition in the protected indigenous reservation of Mato Grosso.
Since the end of the XXth century, Raoni Metuktire has achieved worldwide renown for his struggle for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest. His fight has obtained public attention thanks to the singer Sting who contributed in 1989 with his wife Trudy Styler to the creation of the Rainforest Foundation. With the presence of the singer, Raoni could spread his word worldwide and twelve foundations were created in the wake whose tasks were to raise funding for the protection of the rainforest. During his various world tours he met with world leaders like the French Presidents François Mitterand and Jacques Chirac, but also the King of Spain Juan Carlos, Prince Charles or the pope John Paul II.
In 1993, the funds raised helped to create a national park in the Xingu-River region situated in the Brazilian states Para and Mato Grosso, which eventually encompassed 180 0000 km2 (a third of the size of France), becoming thus one of the most important rainforest reserve in the world.
In 2010, Raoni Metuktire started to travel anew to warn the world of the impending destruction of the Amazon Rainforest, which despite all the efforts, faces new threats like the construction of the mega Belo Monte Dam Complex that some dubbed the 'monster dam'. During his travel in France, he publicly announced that he would go to war with all the indigenous tribes against the dam project, if it were to be eventually authorized. He was then invited by Prince Albert II of Monaco, who has for a long time be a fierce defender of the environment and especially the indigenous tribes.
On 1 June 2011, the Brazilian environmental institute IBAMA, the last defense against the construction of the Belo Monte Dam Complex, granted the final authorization to the consortium of Brazilian companies Norte Energia. Following this decision, Raoni Metuktire has decided to intensify his opposition and said that he would fight to his death if there is no other way to stop the construction.[1]
See also
Raoni (also known as Raoni: The Fight for the Amazon) is a 1978 French documentary film directed by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux and Luiz Carlos Saldanha. The film portrays issues surrounding the survival of the indigenous Indian tribes of north central Brazil.
References
- ^ "The wrath of Raoni". Official Site. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
External links
- Template:Fr Official site
- Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. Rainforest Foundation
- Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. Amazon Watch