BRAZIL: Ashaninka tribe in Brazil's Amazon jungle opens first school ever for indigenous people

At the western corner of Brazil's Amazon forest, children of the isolated tribe of Ashaninka Indians learn how to hunt, plant and care for the environment in an effort to resist to White culture. Living on the margins of the Amonia River for the past 400 years, the Ashaninka are one of the largest indigenous groups of the Amazon that have managed to maintain their traditions alive. Although they have frequently used violence to resist the pressure of miners and loggers for decades, today the Ashaninka found a more efficient way to preserve their culture and lands: by opening themselves to the world. Through the experience of environmental projects and the production of foods, this tribe is offering aid to other indigenous groups taking part in their new school for people of the forest. It is the first school ever to be designed by the Indians themselves. The regular classrooms have lost their place to a more dynamic structure, as students spend part of the day out in the wild. But the Ashaninka school is not limited to Indians, taking in loggers, rubber tappers and even researchers, who want to gain or exchange knowledge with their people. The idea of building the school came from the tribe leader Benki Pianko, who saw an opportunity to spread awareness by passing on their teachings to others living in the same area. Sitting under a 400-year-old tree, Pianko said the school's objective is to provide Amazon residents knowledge of how to make a living without harming the environment. "We won't work too much with theory here, in the sense of graduating people. We will work more in a practical sense, so that people may feel more capable of building what nature needs and what they need in economic terms as well," he said. After their educational initiative was recognized by the Acre state government, one of the tribe leaders and Benki's brother, Francisco Pianko, was named secretary of the Indigenous people in an effort to push forward similar projects. Aid workers and government officials recognize sustainable production as a way to improve the quality of life of the Amazon Indians and other local people, increase their income and safeguard the rainforest. Over twenty percent of the world's largest tropical forest, which is home to an estimated thirty percent of the world's animal and plant species, has been destroyed. Francisco Pianko said the Ashaninka project is important for the region because it focuses in raising environmental awareness among its people. "We are bringing an opportunity for this region, so that people can reflect, and at the same time we can point out the proper investments that should be made in a region like this. We must look at the human being first, the man who lives inside the forest. We can't think of a standing forest, without thinking about the men," he said. The concern of the Ashninka with their environment and the economic well being of other rainforest residents has brought this tribe to the attention of various national and international social organizations. In the first week of September the former first lady of France and social activist, Danielle Mitterrand, visited the Indian tribe to learn about their recent projects. Head of the France Libertes Foundation since 1986, Mitterrand received a warm welcome from the Ashaninka, whom she intends to support along with other companies. Mitterrand said she wants to learn about this tribe and spread their knowledge of nature and wisdom throughout the planet. "The foundation (France Liberete) has the mission of spreading this new perspective of the Ashaninka and their wisdom of the human world. Definitely, I am a lot more involved in understanding what they do, how they reflect, how they think...," she said. Many other small-scale projects have sprung up in the vast Amazon, raising living standards while respecting the forest. But many remain unknown and receive little government support. About 500,000 Indians live in Brazil, but few tribes have managed to safeguard their traditions like the Ashaninka.

ITN Source | September 11, 2007

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