Kayapó chiefs Raoni Metuktire and Megaron Txukaramae at UCL

Kayapó chiefs Raoni Metuktire and Megaron Txukaramae (part of the Amazonian indigenous movement in Brazil) will participate in a special event at the Institute of Archaeology on 10 June.

Kayapó chiefs Raoni Metuktire and Megaron Txukaramae are iconic leaders of the Amazonian indigenous movement in Brazil. Raoni played a prominent role in the 1992 Rio Earth summit, which heralded the recognition of indigenous lands, national forests, extractive reserves, and other protected-status areas in Brazil.

Unfortunately the tide in Brazil has turned in recent years and Brazilian indigenous peoples face the abolishment of hard-fought indigenist provisions in the country’s constitution, threats to their ancestral and inhabited territories (among others by plans to build hundreds of hydroelectric dams), and the toxic environmental and human rights legacy of mining, cattle ranching, and industrial–scale agricultural activity.

Invited by the developing Centre for Amazonian Studies, the UCL Institute of Archaeology, the UCL Department of Geography, and the UCL Biodiversity Forum, the Kayapó chiefs will speak about the threats currently faced by Amazonian indigenous peoples and the importance of indigenous stewardship over the landscape of Amazonia.

Following their presentation, Raoni and Megaron will participate in a Q&A with the audience and a panel of UCL Amazonian specialists.
See more here: 
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/calendar/articles/20140610