An AP Is humanity’s inheritance of fishing techniques impoverished by the Xingu is Brazil’s oldest and probably its most successful Indian reservation, The reserve was established in 1961, a few years after many of the tribes It sat in the middle of a vast undeveloped stretch in the state of Satellite dishes sit outside many of the longhouses, feeding a handful "All the stuff on the television puts stuff in the young people’s For ceremonies, the Indians still strip naked and paint their bodies with from the Boston Globe<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Dowbrigade has written previously on the ongoing disappearance of indigenous cultures around the world. We realize it is not a question of somehow preserving these cultures like some kind of exotic insects frozen in amber. Rather, we must search … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/xinguu.jpg\")
The Dowbrigade has written
\n previously<\/a> on the ongoing disappearance
\n of indigenous cultures around the world. We realize it is not a question
\n of somehow preserving these cultures like some kind of exotic insects
\n frozen in amber. Rather, we must search for a form of engagement
\n which allows each culture to learn and benefit from the other, enriching
\n without destroying.<\/p>\n
\n article <\/a>in today’s Boston Globe gives a sound overview and many
\n revealing examples of the problems and possible solutions presented by
\n a clash
\n of cultures. One
\n example – for hundreds of years, the Xingu have fished with bows and
\n arrows, spotting the prey through clear running steams and nailing them
\n as they swam. Now, development in the areas surrounding their preserve
\n has literally muddied the waters, erasing one of their main methods of
\n procuring protein. As a reult, they are adapting new technology – the
\n use of steel fish hooks, which of course they must buy from Western sources, unlike the bows and arrows (local technology) they have spent generations refining and improving. And of course, to buy the hooks they need cash money, so they have to find something to sell.<\/p>\n
\n disappearance of bow and arrow fishing? Undoubtably. Is the Xingu learning
\n to fish with hooks and bait better than shipping in UNICEF food relief
\n and freeze-dried protein packs, or introducing the hand-grenade fishing
\n technique so popular in Southeast Asia following the Vietnam war? Equally
\n inarguable. Some excerpts:<\/p>\n\n
\n a 10,800-square-mile sprawl of pristine rainforest where 14 Indian tribes
\n live.<\/p>\n
\n in the region had had their first contact with white civilization after
\n thousands of years of isolation.<\/p>\n
\n Mato Grosso, or "thick forest." Today, the park is surrounded
\n by fields and pasture in the center of Brazil’s fastest developing
\n agricultural
\n region.<\/p>\n
\n of Brazilian TV channels to generator-powered televisions.<\/p>\n
\n heads," Mairawe
\n said. "They are attracted to whatever comes from outside. This is
\n a cause for a lot of disagreement among the leadership."<\/p>\n
\n red powder from ground urucum seeds and the black ink of the jenipapo fruit.
\n But most days they wear Western clothing — the women preferring long,
\n cotton dresses, the men shorts and T-shirts. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n