Fishing with the Enawene Nawe
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The Enawene Nawe live in an area of savannah and tropical rainforest in Mato Grosso state, western Brazil. Although most of their land was officially recognised in 1996, a crucial area called the Rio Preto, where the Indians gather each year to trap and smoke fish, was left out.
The area is being heavily invaded by ranchers, and in a further blow the Mato Grosso state government has announced it will build a vast complex of hydroelectric dams upriver of the Enawene Nawe’s land.
The state government of Mato Grosso has announced that it will build a series of hydro-electric dams on the Upper Juruena river, upstream of the Enawene Nawe’s land. Five dams are already under construction, despite the fact there has been no proper environmental or social impact assessment, or adequate consultation with the tribes affected.
In total, up to 60 dams are planned for the Juruena River. The Enawene Nawe believe they will cause irreversible damage by polluting the water and killing the fish which are a major part of their diet.
The Enawene Nawe and neighbouring tribes have mounted road blockades and invaded dam construction sites in protest against the dams. Federal prosecutors managed to obtain a court order halting construction work.
However Blairo Maggi, the governor of Mato Grosso state, took the case to the Supreme Court which overturned the suspension order in June.
For now, construction work continues. The Enawene Nawe say they are ‘very sad’, and tired of writing to the authorities about the dams as their concerns fall on deaf ears.
They have written to the UN Commission on Human Rights. In the letter they say ‘We don’t want the dams dirtying our water, killing our fish, invading our lands.’
They are at a critical point in their history. Either the deforestation of the Rio Preto area and the dams are stopped or the Enawene Nawe will no longer be able to fish, which is crucial to their survival, their beliefs and their relationship with the spirit world.
