FREE ESSAY ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF THE RAINFOREST

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF THE RAINFOREST

Tropical rainforests are bursting with life. Not only do millions of species of plants and
animals live in rainforests, but many people also call the rainforest their home. In
fact, Indigenous, or native, people have lived in rainforests for thousands of years. In
North and South America they were mistakenly named Indians by Christopher Columbus, who
thought that he had landed in Indonesia, then called the East Indies.
Although many Indigenous people live much like we do, some still live as their ancestors
did many years before them. These groups organize their daily lives differently than our
culture. Everything they need to survive, from food to medicines to clothing, comes from
the forest. 
FOOD 
Besides hunting, gathering wild fruits and nuts and fishing, Indigenous people also plant
small gardens for other sources of food, using a sustainable farming method called
shifting cultivation. First they first clear a small area of land and burn it. Then they
plant many types of plants, to be used for food and medicines. After a few years, the
soil has become too poor to allow for more crops to grow and weeds start to take over. So
they then move to a nearby uncleared area. This land is traditionally allowed to regrow
for 10-50 years before it is farmed again.
Shifting cultivation is still practiced by those tribes who have access to a large amount
of land. However, with the growing number of non-Indigenous farmers and the shrinking
rainforest, other tribes, especially in Indonesia and Africa, are now forced to remain in
one area. The land becomes a wasteland after a few years of overuse, and cannot be used
for future agriculture.
EDUCATION 
Most tribal children don't go to schools like ours. Instead, they learn about the forest
around them from their parents and other people in the tribe. They are taught how to
survive in the forest. They learn how to hunt and fish, and which plants are useful as
medicines or food. Some of these children know more about rainforests than scientists who
have studied rainforests for many years!
The group of societies known as Europeans includes such cultures as French, Spanish and
German. Similarly, the broad group, Indigenous peoples, includes many distinct culture
groups, each with its own traditions. For instance, plantains (a type of banana) are a
major food source for the Yanomani from the Amazon while the Penan of Borneo, Southeast
Asia, depend on the sago palm (a type of palm tree) for food and other uses.
All Indigenous people share their strong ties to the land. Because the rainforest is so
important for their culture, they want to take care of it. They live what is called a
sustainable existence, meaning they use the land without doing harm to the plants and
animals that also call the rainforest their home. As a wise Indigenous man once said, The
earth is our historian, our educator, the provider of food, medicine, clothing and
protection. She is the mother of our races.
Indigenous peoples have been losing their lives and the land they live on ever since
Europeans began colonizing 500 years ago. Most of them died from common European diseases
which made Indigenous people very sick because they had never had these diseases before.
A disease such as the flu could possibly kill an Indigenous person because s/he has not
been exposed to this disease before. Many Indigenous groups have also been killed by
settlers wanting their land, or put to work as slaves to harvest the resources of the
forest. Others were converted to Christianity by missionaries, who forced them to live
like Europeans and give up their cultural traditions.
Until about forty years ago, the lack of roads prevented most outsiders from exploiting
the rainforest. These roads, constructed for timber and oil companies, cattle ranchers
and miners, have destroyed millions of acres of rainforest each year.
All of these practices force Indigenous people off their land. Because they do not
officially own it, governments and other outsiders do not recognize their rights to the
land. They have no other choice but to move to different areas, sometimes even to the
crowded cities. They often live in poverty because they have no skills useful for a city
lifestyle and little knowledge about the culture. For example, they know more about
gathering food from the forest than buying food from a store. Imagine being forced to
move to a different country, where you knew nothing about the culture or language!
Indigenous groups are beginning to fight for their land, most often through peaceful
demonstrations. Such actions may cause them to be arrested or even to lose their lives,
but they know that if they take no action, their land and culture could be lost forever.
Kayapo Indians, for example, recently spoke to the United States Congress to protest the
building of dams in the Amazon, and were arrested when they arrived back in Brazil,
accused of being traitors to their own country. In Malaysia, the Penan have been arrested
for blocking logging roads.
Many people living outside of rainforests want to help protect the Indigenous people's
culture. They understand that Indigenous people have much to teach us about rainforests.
By working with these groups, we can learn important information about rainforests - its
ecology, medicinal plants, food and other products. It is crucial to realize that they
have a right to practice their own lifestyle, and live upon the land where their
ancestors have lived before them.