United Nations Recognizes Pukanu Village Company for Job Well Done
9/9/97
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Headline: United Nations Recognizes Pukanu Village Company for Job Well
Done
Source: Saulo Petean
Date: 9/9/97
UNITED NATIONS RECOGNIZES PUKANU VILLAGE COMPANY FOR JOB WELL DONE
The case study "Brazil Nut Oil Trade by the Mebengokre Indians
of the Pukanu Village, Mekranoti Area", presented by the Pykany Trading
Company team, of Brazil, was chosen as the best case study in the first
Fidamerica electronic conference focusing upon the exchange of
information about the experiences of peasant and indigenous community
organizations which have been successful in improving opportunities for
economic development. The conference was conducted in September/October
of 1996.
One hundred ten persons from 47 organizations took part in the
electronic conference and 27 case studies from 22 Latin America
countries were discussed. The Pukanu village team received a prize of
US$ 500. The team was composed of Pykati-re Kayapo, Doto Takak-ire,
Claudia L'Amoreaux, Aldo Gamboa, Renato Athias and Saulo Petean. The
case study is available in the Spanish language at
http://www.fidamerica.cl/te2p51.htm
Supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD) of the United Nations, Fidamerica is a network of projects and
institutions dedicated to fighting rural poverty in Latin America and
the Caribbean by means of improving information and knowledge systems.
Its purpose is to increase the efficiency and the impact of sustainable
agricultural development initiatives in poor rural areas. The network
is made up of 28 projects that IFAD finances in 17 countries in the
region.
Rimisp is the institution that was selected to design and
implement the network and to organize its activities during the period
1995-1998. Inforum supports Fidamerica with its vast experience in the
use of electronic communication and information systems in the areas at
agricultural and rural development.
PYKANY TRADING COMPANY CASE STUDY (SUMMARY)
The case study relates how Pukanu village organized a trading
company in strict accordance with the social norms of the indigenous
community, while at the same time observing all Brazilian legal
requirements. The company, comprised exclusively of Indian partners,
has since then been exporting Brazil nut oil to the British cosmetics
corporation, The Body Shop International.
The study describes the community's annual life cycle, which
alternates between harvest, production and hunting expeditions. The
Chiefs Bekwyi-i, Bekwyi-ti and Pykati-re, the men, the women and their
families harvest the nuts in the forest in March and April. The oil is
then extracted in a small plant close to the village in August and
September.
Expenses, profits and investments are administered by the
community. Participation in the activities of the business is open to
all, but partnership in the company is limited to the 34 village members
who hold valid Brazilian identity papers. Profit share is based on the
number of bags of nuts harvested, or participation in other related
activities, such as transportation, milling, pressing, packaging and
exporting the oil.
Directors are elected by consensus every two years, based upon
competence and trustworthiness in the eyes of the community. These
directors receive no additional remuneration for their administrative
work, being paid only according to their participation in the Brazil
oilproduction.
The villagers of Pukanu succeeded in setting a commercial value
for a crop which already was a central part of their lifestyle and in
opening up a new market. "The community has managed to relate market
mechanisms with a long-term business proposition which preserves its
environment and natural resources" is the conclusion reached by the
study.
The success of the first Indian company established in Brazil is
due to the predominance of the social organization of the village over
the legal structure of the export company, ensuring a fair distribution
of profits and heightened ethnic self-determination.
The Mebengokre (Kayapo) community consists of approximately
4,500 Indians distributed among 20 villages and occupying seven
reservations covering a total area of about 120,000 sq. kilometers in
the south of the State of Para and the north of Mato Grosso State. Each
village constitutes a politically and economically independent unit.
They call themselves "menbengokre" which means "people from within (or
between) the waters".
Pukanu village is located on the left bank of the Iriri river, a
tributary of the Xingu. It is 400 kilometers to the east of Redencao in
the south of Para, and is part of the district of Altamira. Together
with Kubenkokre, Pukanu village is part of the 49,000-sq.-kilometer
Mekranoti reservation, delimited by the Brazilian government in 1992.
Pukanu has at present 303 inhabitants.
The Brazil nut is the fruit of the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia
excelsa) one of the biggest native Amazon trees. The tree flowers in
December. The capsule-shaped fruit have a diameter of 10 to 15
centimeters and weigh from 0.8 to 1.5 kilograms. The fruit takes from
12 to 14 months to ripen. Each capsule contains from 12 to 20 nuts.