{"id":35133,"date":"2017-03-06T10:04:37","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T13:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=35133"},"modified":"2017-03-10T11:08:53","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T14:08:53","slug":"reforestation-and-civil-disobedience-aldeia-maracana-urban-indigenous-community-reclaims-olympic-parking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=35133","title":{"rendered":"Aldeia Maracan\u00e3 Urban Indigenous Community Reclaims Olympic Parking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

An intimate group\u00a0sits on two wooden benches in a parking lot. In some spots\u00a0the asphalt has been removed and there are a number\u00a0of indigenous bamboo constructions\u00a0in beginning phases. The afternoon sun is burning, not a shadow to retreat to. The group is discussing methods of reforestation, the toxicity of tomato seeds and invasive species in Brazilian forests. This is part of a three-day workshop called \u201cReforestation Experience<\/a>\u201d held at the Aldeia Maracan\u00e3<\/a>. In the heart of Rio’s urban core, this is the name of the indigenous community occupying the terrain since 2006.<\/p>\n

\"Indigenous<\/a><\/p>\n

Multi-lane highways and the massive abandoned Maracan\u00e3 stadium<\/a> encircle this heavily paved region of Rio’s North Zone<\/a>, where about a dozen\u00a0people are living to care for the space. They are the\u00a0remaining members<\/a> of\u00a0Aldeia Maracan\u00e3<\/a>, an urban indigenous community that occupied\u00a0the former Indigenous Museum, also on the site but declared unsafe to occupy since their last eviction. Twice<\/a> they were\u00a0evicted<\/a>, including in 2013 when\u00a0the Museum was decreed to turn\u00a0into a Reference Center for the Culture of Indigenous Peoples in time for the 2016 Olympic Games<\/a>. In fact, from 1953 to 1977 the old building had\u00a0been an Indigenous Museum dedicated to indigenous culture in Brazil, the first of its kind in Latin America.<\/p>\n

\"Indigenous<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet the Reference Center for the Culture of Indigenous Peoples\u00a0never materialized<\/a>. Instead, the government not only left the building in disrepair–a move the indigenous community views as intentional, in order to encourage the building to decay and ultimately be demolished–but also paved over the wooded area\u00a0and historic horticulture research site next door, leaving behind an overflow parking lot for the Maracan\u00e3 stadium<\/a>. Public resources were used for\u00a0extensive modifications of the famous soccer stadium where the\u00a0Olympics’ opening<\/a> and closing<\/a> ceremonies took place. \u201cThe pedestrian bridge over there cost R$14 million,\u201d says Paulo C\u00e9sar Vidal, a supporter of the indigenous\u00a0community. \u201cBut no one ever uses it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The whole Maracan\u00e3 stadium has become \u201ca ghost stadium,\u201d as Vidal\u00a0put it. \u201cThe people who built it–Marcelo Odebrecht<\/a>, Eike Batista<\/a>, S\u00e9rgio Cabral<\/a>–they are all in prison. Everything is paralyzed. Before the Olympics, there used to be a swimming pool<\/a> open to everyone and a public sports ground. They destroyed that, too. At least we could fight the plans for the shopping mall they wanted to build here (on the land of the Indigenous Museum).”<\/p>\n

Given the State’s unfulfilled promise, in\u00a0November, the indigenous inhabitants of the Museum who had been forcibly evicted by the Military Police in 2013, and had not been among those who had taken public housing<\/a> from the State, returned to the land intent on reclaiming the parking lot as an Indigenous University in the middle of Rio de Janeiro’s urban core. A place to\u00a0spread indigenous\u00a0knowledge about agriculture and sustainability.<\/p>\n

\"Residents<\/a><\/p>\n

Korubo, who arrived\u00a0in Rio five years ago from the state of Acre in\u00a0the Amazon rainforest, where his tribe still lives, explained, \u201cWe want to show society that Indians are doing good things. Look at the people running around this place [Rio de Janeiro]. The air they breathe is so polluted from all the cars. If you would ask them, they sure would prefer to have some trees.”<\/p>\n

Pedro Lima, a street artist whose great-grandfather was indigenous, is another resident of the community. He came here two months ago, looking for a peaceful place and \u201cto save a bit of his ancestry.\u201d Pedro enjoys working\u00a0in the community. \u201cI don’t have the impression that we are building an Indian village inside the city. To me, it’s more like the opposite. Indigenous people have been here long before the city came. The idea is to build a place where people can recover a bit from modern society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Trees<\/a><\/p>\n

Now he carries water in plastic bottles to irrigate the small plants that are shyly growing in the crevices that have been broken at the edge of the asphalt: corn, pumpkin, wild cabbage, among others. It is a difficult business, since there is no running water\u00a0and sometimes the site goes for weeks without rain. To access\u00a0water, community members cross two major roads\u00a0and climb down a concrete channel. Sometimes a nearby gas station provides\u00a0water.\u00a0That is why building a rainwater basin is part of the workshop, too.<\/p>\n

On the second day of the workshop, the group learns about green manure, as they incorporate leaf and organic waste compost into the nutrient-depleted, packed soil dug up from under the removed asphalt. In particular, they discuss leguminous green manure, and introduce a number of hearty seeds that can be planted in such difficult conditions to reclaim the soil through intense nitrogen fixation. One of them sounds like a tiny maraca when shaken. The group’s plan is to reforest the entire parking lot as a collective project, inviting more and more supporters to join then and in the process learn from this indigenous knowledge. Lessons can be taken elsewhere in the city, to help build a more sustainable Rio.<\/p>\n

\"Reforestation<\/a><\/p>\n

After the theoretical presentation of the workshop\u00a0is over and night has fallen, participants grab a pickaxe and a wheelbarrow to get rid of more pavement. Although eviction threats are at bay,\u00a0the conflict remains. And one\u00a0advantage of the poorly executed construction works in the run-up to the Olympics\u00a0is that in some places the asphalt is already falling apart without any human influence.<\/p>\n

Korubo points out the ant trail at his feet: \u201cLook, we have a lot of ants living here. This one is carrying a leaf. They are already helping us with the reforestation.\u201d Even if it takes some time to grow a forest here, he’s optimistic: \u201cThe indigenous people have more than 500 years experience resisting. We will stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Korubo adds that the community is looking for donations of 1000 seedlings.<\/p>\n

Catalytic Communities<\/a>, the US 501[c][3] nonprofit that runs RioOnWatch, can act as fiscal sponsor for those who would like to make a donation online here<\/a>. Please write “Aldeia seedlings” in the “earmark” category. Or simply message donate@catcomm.org informing us that your contribution is earmarked for \u201cAldeia seedlings.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

To view slideshow\u00a0see below, or click here<\/a> to see on Flickr:<\/h3>\n