Development in Places: Exercise 5

     The word "development" often has a positive connotation to it. We usually associate it to ground-breaking technology, increased food production, decreased hunger, increased livelihood, and more. If you take a look at some of the indigenous villages in the Amazon Rainforest,  you might rethink that. Let us take a look at some satellite views of some of the villages located in the Amazon. 

Image 1: Village located in the Amazon Rainforest 

    

    By looking at the village above, it is apparent that this village is pretty well established. There are structures present, pathways in and out, and more features that allow success. Villages like this one do not pop up overnight. It takes many years and hard work from the indigenous people. With that being said, it is uncommon and quite difficult for the villages to pick up and move. To further prove this point, take a look at the satellite images below. It it the same village, only 53 years apart. The first satellite image was captured in 1969 and the second image is present day. It is apparent that this village has remained at the same location, continuing on with new generations, and living the same indigenous lifestyle. The village appears as the light tan, circular feature, located along Rio Bacajá, placed in the center of the image. 

            Image 2: Village in the Amazon, 1969       Image 3: Village in the Amazon, Present Day

   

     For the most part, modern development has caused havoc for the Amazon indigenous communities. Before Europeans entered the Amazon, the indigenous people had much larger communities with large scale agriculture and were overall very well established. Farming in the Amazon is very difficult. However, the indigenous people were able to develop a successful system by creating an amazing soil, called Terra Preta, and building up farmland for better crop production. Starting in the 1540s, Europeans became intrigued with the Amazon and began exploring. With the Europeans also came disease that caused much of the Amazon indigenous villages to be nearly wiped out. This left only the small villages that we see today. 

    Understanding the history of development in the Amazon will help us better understand present day development in the Amazon and how it remains to affect the indigenous communities. To evaluate this, we will be using the map below. 

Map 1: Indigenous Villages and Land, Amazon River System, and Dams in a Sample Section of the Amazon Rainforest

    In the map above, we will be looking at a sample of land, indicated by the black rectangular feature. Within this sample, we see important features. New development, also known as dams, is indicated by  yellow triangles. Indigenous villages are indicated by a black and white circular features and indigenous land is indicated purple polygons. This map also includes the Amazon River system, highlighted in blue. One must note that this is only a small sample that helps us understand a much larger picture of how development affects the indigenous villages. 

    The dams in the Amazon is a grassroot initiative that has a purpose of providing clean energy. Yet, this positive, sustainable technology is not so positive for the indigenous communities. As you can note in the map above, the dams are located very close to indigenous villages and land. The indigenous villages rely heavily on the river system. The Xigua River provides fishing availability and fertile land for the communities to grow crops. As result of the dams, around 80 percent of the Xingu River is diverted away from the indigenous land.  If the dams continue, the communities will be forced to move or eventually dwindle down due to lack of food. 

    By looking at this example, we can conclude that not all modern development has positive results. We can end this discussion by asking ourselves important questions. Will the indigenous cultures end because of modern development? Is there a solution to clean energy and protection of the indigenous people? At what cost is development worth it?