BS: The Belo Monte Dam

Subject: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 06 Oct 11 - 09:25 AM

Masses of links on here about Brazil's insanity in trying to build this dam...

'Support Chief Raoni' Facebook page


Made by 'Amazon Watch' and 'International Rivers' this superb video explains the Belo Monte project...

Sigourney Weaver - Defending the Rivers of the Amazon

'The Dammed' - Australian documentary (excellent!)

Please join the page and share it around if you can. We are planning to make a video too. Details of that are at the top of the page at the moment...

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 06 Oct 11 - 09:31 AM

One FIFTH of the world's natural fresh water supply lies in The Amazon...

Chief Raoni and his People have vowed to fight to the death over this, rather than leave their home, see their beloved forest flooded, their lives, as they know it, ended.

Brazil has gone against The United Nations and Amnesty Internationals deep concerns here, as well as going against their own rules! They removed one judge who ordered Belo Monte to be stopped, replacing him with another one who gave the final go-ahead for the dam to be started.

Just last week another judge ruled that all construction must be stopped due to the risk of the damage that would be done to local fishing stock, on which local people rely.

The government is already trying hard to get this overturned..and they've done it many times before...successfully...

President Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first woman leader, has also ignored petitions signed by over 600,000 people.

Much of the power will be sold off abroad...and of course, local people won't be able to afford it in the first place...There are other forms of power available to Brazil, but they will not listen to anyone at the moment...

I guess they don't care any longer......

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 06 Oct 11 - 10:12 AM

I found this photo very moving; it says so much.

Lizzie, I know that you have worked tirelessly in support of Chief Raoni. I have signed all of the petitions that I have been aware of and emailed various people etc. The ruling last week to stop the construction has to be regarded as temporary and more people need to speak up and be involved and those already involved have to continue their fight if this is going to be permanently stopped.

It will have a devastating effect if it continues to be constructed and it will not be very energy efficient.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 06 Oct 11 - 11:15 AM

Earth Song - Michael Jackson

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 06 Oct 11 - 02:33 PM

Thank you, Jean...and I very much appreciate your support. x :0) x

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 07 Oct 11 - 05:47 AM

This Chief Raoni song "Right to Survive" was written and performed by Claudette Coppholia [aka Shirley Taylor of Loose Element] on 30th September. This is what she has written in the information for the video:

When I read about what the president agreed to in Brazil, "the President of Brazil approved the Belo Monte dam project on the Xingu indigenous lands. Belo Monte will be bigger than the Panama Canal, flooding nearly a million acres of rainforest & indigenous lands. 40,000 indigenous and local people will be forced off their native lands (as well as millions of unknown species & plants) In the name of "progress", I was truly not pleased with this and it inspired this song which I wrote yesterday, Sept. 30 2011. Please enjoy and remember this when you say your prayers or affirmations. Thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 07 Oct 11 - 07:39 AM

Thank you, Jean!

I'll put that on the page right now! :0) x

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 08 Oct 11 - 09:32 AM

I guess they don't care any longer......

It's all about money.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: GUEST,999
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 01:44 AM

You gals might want to read up on the James Bay Project if you're not familiar with it already.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 07:41 AM

I have found quite a lot of written information online about the James Bay Project and both the environmental and social impact it has had. There are also some informative videos on YouTube.

example

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 08:25 AM

Thanks, Jean. Below are a couple more:

The James Bay Project - Planned documentary, for later this year.


The James Bay Project and The Cree and various other videos - CBC Archives

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 08:42 AM

Basically..and Bruce, please correct me if I've got this arse over whatsit, it would appear that the original agreement over the dam is now in jeopardy, as more mega dams are wanted by government.plus the dam has caused many environmental problems..



The effect of James Bay on The Cree People

Below are just a few quotes from the link above:

>>>Jimmy Mianscum, Ouje-Bougoumou:

Today the people have problems because the white man is working all over the place, destroying the land and the people. It's really hard to hunt and live off the land...All the trees have been cut on my land. The only trees you see are on the side of the roads; past that, it's all cut. There is no place for the animals to shelter, it is all destroyed.. The government keeps stealing...They built towns, airports, hydro stations and sawmills (on my land) and yet I was never compensated.
Willie Moses, Eastmain:

Today when I think back before the white man came around, anywhere an Indian wanted to drink water was good. But today you can't do that because of the dam. Only from the lakes on the side of the road and creeks...They are the only places to get water. Here in Eastmain not everyone drinks the water that we have. Rain water is another source but there is no other place...only some clean water comes through the store but it's hard for people to get because it's so expensive... It wasn't explained to us what would happen to our hunting ground. We started to lose our livelihood when they made the dam....We used to go up the river all the time. It was nice the way people made their living before the white man came. People from far away used to stay here and hunt. They didn't have a lot of stuff from white society...But now it's good for nothing. The people have no use for the land because you can't use it. We have lost it.
Abraham Weapinacappo, Eastmain:

The people are against the building of dams. This land is what they lived off, and that is why they are against it. I know it's going to be bad for the people with grandchildren and those yet to be born. That's why people are not happy when they hear there are going to be more dams....The future doesn't look good for the people if they go ahead and do what they want to do. The traditional way of life will be destroyed, I know that....It disagrees with me from what I have seen so far. I feel like I have been punched...I have been hurt inside... I never felt that way before. That's how I feel when I think about the project. The Cree way of life is totally lost. That's what I have seen since the beginning of the project.

The following opinions were collected by Glen Cooper for the Grand Council of the Crees:
Clarence Gull, Waswanipi

I have seen the damage logging companies have done to our land, and as the tree line fades the animals disappear with it. This has had a devastating effect on the people. They have come to destroy the forest, the wild life and the people. The white man is taking away from us any opportunity for any development that we might have done for ourselves as a nation, but most importantly for our children.
Annie Eagle, Waswanipi

I have true and honest feelings when I hear someone speak of the land, for I can understand them. For years I have depended upon the land as a way of life, it's kept my children from being hungry, as it kept my ancestors alive for many years. I ask myself: how will we be able to survive if there are no trees? <<<<<

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 09:14 AM

There is more on the environmental and social problems here.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 11:30 AM

Nothin' to correct, Liz. The problem all along has been one of compensation. That's what shot the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline in the foot. I was in Good Hope (it's really Fort Good Hope, but everyone there called it Good Hope and I expect soon it will be renamed on maps as K'asho Got'ine) and heard the stories from some elders and a few of the political guys. What isn't understood by 'southerners' in Canada or Europe is the 'romanticization' of First Nations people that has taken place. Germany for example has a whole bloody industry based on 'native culture' derived from the books of Karl May. May knew squat about native North Americans, and certainly nothing about the Apache (in the US).

Here's the romantic version.

Lozen, Victorio's younger sister and respected war chief of the Apache.

The reality at the time of the Apache Wars.

As guerrilla fighters they were as good as any the world ever produced, but as was inevitable they lost and were forced onto reservations.

I lived on a reserve for three years and in a settlement for two (back when I was teaching). Trust me, there ain't nothing romantic about it--except maybe through the eyes of people who don't know what the hell they're talking about.

Read the Number Treaties from western Canada. The history is there. But people choose not to acknowledge it.

My four nephew's are half Ojibwa and half White. My grandchild is half Cree and half White. Two of the boys--men now, but boys to me--have bush skills and two don't. My grandchild's father will teach her the skills. They all presently live and work in White society, White I say because they are reminded of their 'Indian-ness' when it's convenient for some racist sonuvabitch to make a remark--usually when they outnumbered them as kids or outnumber them now.

The whole nobility issue is bullsh#t. They're just people like you and and me trying to live their lives in relative peace and security. But there is the difficulty for so many indigenous people. All they have been left with is their land, somewhat less than they had before Europeans came over, and when what they have is expropriated and nothing equal is provided in its place, people get POed, and rightfully so. As it is today, most First Nations people in Canada would starve to death in the bush or on the land because the skills just aren't there anymore. So, really, all that is left is compensation.

The story has already been told here in North America. It's been told in Central America, and I suppose it will be told once more in South America.

However, that's no reason to give up trying to fight it.

'"Only to the white man was nature a "wilderness" and only to him was the land "infested" with "wild" animals and "savage" people. To us, it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery. Not until the hairy man from the east came and with brutal frenzy heaped injustices upon us and the families we loved was it "wild" for us. When the very animals of the forest began fleeing from his approach, then it was for us that the "wild west" began."

Luther Standing Bear,
Chief of the Oglala Sioux Tribe (1868-1939)
Land of the Spotted Eagle, 1933'

LSB was from the same tribe as Crazy Horse of Little Big Horn renown--another tough sob.

##############################################

The Yanomami will feel the impact because Brazil is where they live, but few outsiders will care. Interesting people. Worth reading about.

It's rich against poor the world over. Some things don't change.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: GUEST,999
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 11:31 AM

That guest post was me. Tried five times to get the post to take. Of course, when I got it to take my 999 wasn't there. Oy!

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 12:21 PM

Measure twice, cut once.



LSB was from the same tribe as Crazy Horse of Little Big Horn reknown--another tough sob.

##############################################

The Yanomami will feel the impact because Brazil (and Venezuela) is where they live, but few outsiders will care. Interesting people. Worth reading about.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 01:07 PM

No amount of compensation or other measures which may be put in place to lessen to the impact of the Belo Monte Dam will replace the ancestral land of the indigenous peoples there. It must be stopped before it gets to the stage where compensation is necessary.

The dam would flood a large area of land, it would dry up parts of the Xingu river, it would cause huge devastation to the rainforest and reduce fish stocks. The livelihoods of thousands of tribal people who depend on the forest and river for food and water would be destroyed and nothing can compensate that.

During the construction of the dam a lot of immigrants will come into the area with the risk of violence and disease.

Also there may be some uncontacted Indians, near the site of the dam, with very little resistance to outside diseases which could be fatal for them.

The destruction of huge areas of the rainforest ultimately impacts on us all.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: GUEST,999
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 01:43 PM

True, eanjay. That was why I applauded your efforts to stop it. I do not at all disagree with either of you.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 02:17 PM

I know :)

The trouble is that the James Bay Project goes back to the 1970s and so compensation is needed for those affected. I am just hoping that the Belo Monte Dam can be stopped. Having said that they appear to be going ahead building it despite the injunction to suspend it.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: GUEST,999
Date: 09 Oct 11 - 04:32 PM

Brazil is the 8th or 9th largest economy in the world. It is not about people, it's about money. That's part of why Occupy Wall Street is happening.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 27 Oct 11 - 07:57 AM

Status on the Support Chief Raoni Facebook wall:

‎"We need to remember that what happens to The Earth, happens to Us" - John Trudell

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 23 Dec 11 - 06:03 AM

I hope that as many people as possible will watch this global video petition directed by Nadine Mazloum.

A lot of hard work has gone into this video and it has a very strong and important message.

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 14 Feb 12 - 06:42 AM

Just updating with the latest news which is not good. Chief Raoni and the Kayapo are under attack from armed settlers and armed police:

urgent action needed

It is inevitable that projects like the Belo Monte Dam involve ruthless people, greed and violence:

Amazon defenders face death or exile

Subject: RE: BS: The Belo Monte Dam
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 29 Jun 12 - 06:43 AM

Friday June 29th is Tweet against the Belo Monte dam.

#StopBeloMonte