People of The Rainforest 3
U nlike us, the indigenous people do not go to school as there is
simply no schools for them to go to. The tribal children get their
knowledge from their parents and the elders in their tribe. They
learn about the forest and the ways of surviving in the harsh and
hazardous environment of the rainforest. Although there is no proper
school, the indigenous children learn so much that they know much
more about the rainforests compared to the scientists and scholars
who have studied the rainforests for many years. The children also
gain a great amount of knowledge about the medicinal properties of
the plants found in the rainforest. Many plants that have the properties to cure diseases are found
in the rainforest.Refer to the Uses section Living in the
rainforest for many centuries, it is not a suprise that the
indigenous people of the tropical rainforests are the greatest
source of knowledge about medicines from rainforest plants. For many
centuries, this knowledge has been passed from generation to
generation, and the knowledge has survived. But lately, this is
changing as children are choosing not to follow in their ancestors'
footsteps, and the knowledge is diappearing slowly. The indigenous people know which forest plant and animal species
are safe to use as food and medicines, knowledge which may help us
in our search for cures for disease and illness and food for our
growing world population. But although masters in the medical field, they have themselves
been weak to diseases from abroad. Since sometime in the
15th century, when the European started colonizing, many
indigenous tribes have been killed by very common diseases that
originated from Europe. Sometimes, the Europeans introduce viruses
and diseases that the indigenous people had no immunity against,
deliberately. Such diseases like influenza and smallpox wiped out
many populations of indigenous people and allowed the Europeans to
gain control over the land and people to work as slaves. Besides introducing diseases that could kill, the Europeans also
invaded lands owned by the indigenous people and put many indigenous
people to work as slaves to to harvest the resources of the forest.
Sometimes, the Europeans chose a softer approach. Many were
converted to Christianity by missionaries, giving up their
traditional customs and way of life to live like the Europeans. Although the Europeans tried to take over the lands of the
indigenous people, they were greatly restricted by the dense
rainforest until roads were developed. Years later, when the
motorcar was invented, when foreigners discovered that the
rainforests has lots of essential natural resources like oil and
coal under it, timber and oil companies cam together to build roads
that cut deep into the rainforests reaching the homes of the
indigenous people, forcing them off thir lands. Until today, indigenous people are still constantly being bullied
by companies who only care about the money that can be harvested
from the rainforest. This is because till today, governments and
organisations do not recognize the indigenous peoples to their land.
Although indigenous groups are beginning to fight for their land,
mostly through peaceful demonstrations, they are fighting a losing
one. The Kayapo Indians, for example, recently spoke to the United
States Congress to protest the building of dams in the Amazon, and
were arrested when they arrived back in Brazil, accused of being
traitors to their own country. In Malaysia, the Penan have been
arrested for blocking logging roads.Demonstrators are usually
arrested and sometimes even killed, but the indigenous people have
never given up hope. They know very clearly that if nothing is done,
their culture and way of life that have been around for centuries
would be gone, the indigemous people would go extinct. So Let us spend a moment to pray and wish them all the best. God
Bless Them.