Terence S. Turner
In late 1990, the situation of the Yanomami on the Brazilian side of
the Venezuelan frontier was desperate. In spite of a long campaign by
a dedicated Brazilian NGO, the Commissão pela Criação dum Parque Yanomami
(Committee for the Creation of a Yanomami Park), and pressure by international
human rights and indigenous support organizations, the Brazilian government
seemed to have decided against creating a single Yanomami reservation.
Instead, it was moving towards breaking up Yanomami territory into 19
small enclaves, leaving the larger part of Yanomami country as free
and open "corridors" which could be used by gold miners who
were already invading the Yanomami area, bringing malaria, massive ecological
damage, and general social disruption. Amidst an international outcry
by activists and anthropologists, AAA President Annette Weiner decided
to appoint an ad hoc committee to investigate and report to the Executive
Board with recommendations on what the Association could and should
do. This was the Special Commission to Investigate the Situation of
the Brazilian Yanomami. Terence Turner was appointed as head, with power
to appoint other members. The resulting Commission was an international
group that included the leading Brazilian Yanomami activist, Davi Kopenawa
Yanomami, anthropologists who had worked with the Brazilian Yanomami
groups (Alcida Ramos, of Brazil and Bruce Albert, from France) and experts
on Brazilian indigenous issues such as Stephan Schwartzman of the Environmental
Defense Fund in Washington. Turner traveled to Roraima to speak with
Yanomami, government officials, the Catholic bishop of Roraima and members
of the Consolata Medical Mission, and activists of the CCPY. He interviewed
Davi Yanomami and translated the text of the interview with the help
of Bruce Albert for inclusion in the Commission’s report and for
publication in the Cultural Survival Quarterly. With advice from Albert,
Davi, Ramos and Schwartzman, Turner wrote the report for the Commission.
It recommended, among other things, that the President of the Association
write to the President of Brazil, and other Brazilian officials and
concerned groups, protesting the proposed break up of Yanomami territory
and calling for the prompt formation of a continuous Yanomami reserve,
as recommended by the government’s own commission and by the CCPY.
A Portuguese translation of the Report was prepared and circulated to
Brazilian organizations and journalists. Copies of the report were also
circulated to US government officials in the State Department, to members
of the Senate and House of Representatives with a record of Human Rights
and Latin American concerns, and major academic, human rights, and indigenous
support organizations in the US and abroad. Several of the latter wrote
letters of protest to the Brazilian government.
Meanwhile, members of the Commission were taking action outside the purview of the AAA itself. Schwartzman prepared a letter protesting the Brazilian government’s policy toward the Yanomami which he succeeded in having eight US Senators sign and send to President Bush. Turner wrote an OpEd column that was published in the New York Times. Just at this point, in June 1991, Brazilian President Fernando Collor made a state visit to Washington. He got a chilly reception from President Bush and the US media, but Bush did raise the Yanomami question with him, mentioning the Senators’ letter. The New York Times OpEd appeared on the second day of his visit amid a virtual absence of other media coverage. Meanwhile, Brazilian media covered the AAA Report. Collor returned from Washington, fired the head of FUNAI, the Brazilian Indian Agency, and appointed a new director with orders to set up the Yanomami reserve. This was done soon thereafter.
Having fulfilled its mission, the Yanomami Commission was disbanded by incoming AAA President Jane Buikstra in late 1991.
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