Amazonia and the World

A Threatened Realm of Life and Stories

Last surviving member of a tribe massacred by cattle ranchers in Amazonian state of Rondônia, Brazil. Photo: Acervo/Funai/

The rubber era was so violent that it lives on in the myths of Amazonian oral traditions. Daughters and granddaughters of women who were raped by rubber overseers are sometimes also raped when they work as maids for today’s rich descendants of rubber barons. Modern spinoffs include human trafficking, child sex tourism, oil spills, and habitat destruction. Another aspect is that the border zone between Peru and Brazil has the largest concentration of isolated Indigenous peoples. This is no accident. Many are descendants of people who fled into the deep forest to escape the violence.

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