Tropical rainforests have sustained human populations for millennia. While life in the forest presents challenges, Indigenous peoples have built their cultures and livelihoods around the ecosystems they inhabit. They hold extensive knowledge of the forest, including the medicinal properties of plants and the importance of maintaining an intact ecosystem. As forests are lost, Indigenous communities not only lose their homes but also their cultural heritage and traditional ways of life. Conflicts with settlers—who often introduce new diseases and domestic animals—have contributed to the decline of Indigenous populations in many regions.
Historically, commercial enterprises, settlers, and governments have developed forest lands without consulting or securing the consent of Indigenous inhabitants. Even today, in countries like Brazil and Bolivia, private interests continue to illegally encroach on Indigenous territories.
In some cases, Indigenous communities are given the choice of whether to allow development on their lands or to preserve them in their natural state. Those who support development often expect benefits such as improved education, healthcare, infrastructure (including roads and electricity), and financial compensation. Others may choose to maintain their traditional lifestyle and reject outside development. More often, Indigenous groups are divided between these choices, creating internal rifts that can be exploited by outside interests seeking access to Indigenous lands.
For example, in Papua New Guinea in the 1990s, some Bahineimo people agreed to sell their land to logging firms. However, after the deal was finalized, it was discovered that many of the signatures had been forged, leading the government to suspend the agreement. Similarly, in Ecuador, oil companies have been known to influence high-ranking members of Indigenous organizations to secure rights for oil extraction on Indigenous lands.
"Divide and conquer" tactics are frequently used to weaken Indigenous organizations by fostering internal divisions and capitalizing on historical tensions between groups. In some cases, this leads Indigenous communities to engage in disputes with one another rather than uniting against external threats.
Indigenous leaders are sometimes misled into signing contracts that grant companies the right to extract resources or convert forests for industrial use. This can be particularly problematic in communities where land is traditionally viewed as communal, rather than individually owned—a concept that may not align with formal legal frameworks imposed by national governments.
Historically, many tropical governments have sided with corporations over Indigenous interests, often leading to land seizures and forced displacement. In some countries, Indigenous land rights remain unrecognized, leaving communities vulnerable to exploitation and eviction.
Even when not directly threatened by land encroachment or displacement, many Indigenous communities are undergoing social and cultural changes as they interact more with non-Indigenous society. This process can lead to the erosion of traditional practices and the loss of ancestral knowledge passed down through generations.
Among younger generations, the allure of urban life can be strong, drawing individuals away from their communities. However, the transition can be difficult, particularly in regions where Indigenous people face discrimination or lack the necessary support to navigate life in a city. For some, leaving their community results in a loss of cultural identity, while others struggle to integrate into a society that may be unfamiliar or unwelcoming.
The New Rainforest Dwellers
The term "rainforest people" increasingly refers not only to Indigenous communities but also to colonists who have recently migrated to forested regions. These settlers move to rainforest areas for various reasons, though economic opportunities—such as access to land, employment, or natural resources—are the primary drivers.
Colonization can lead to conflicts over land, particularly when settlers' claims or activities encroach upon Indigenous territories. This is a major source of tension in regions like the Amazon, where disputes over land rights frequently escalate into violence.
Waura man in Brazil. Photo by Rhett A. Butler
Review questions:
What is happening to traditional Indigenous cultures of rainforest peoples?
Estimates for Amerindian population before the arrival of Europeans are found in A. Roosevelt, Parmana. New York: Academic Press, 1980; Smith, N.J.H. "Anthrosols and human carrying capacity in Amazônia," Annals of the Association of American Geographers 70: 553-566, 1980; Dobyns, H., Their Numbers Became Thin, University of Tennessee Press: Knoxville, 1983; MacDonald, T., "People of the Central and South American Forests," Rainforests: The Illustrated Library of the Earth. ed. N. Myers, Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1993; Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995; and Diamond, J., Guns, Germs, and Steel New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.
The history of settlement in the Amazon, including the development of pottery and agriculture is discussed in A. Roosevelt, Parmana, New York: Academic Press, 1980; Roosevelt, A., "Resource management in Amazônia before the conquest: Beyond ethnographic projection," Advances in Economic Botany 7: 30-62, 1989; Bush, M. A., D. R. Piperno, and P. A. Colinvaux, "A 6,000 year history of Amazonian maize cultivation," Nature 340: 303-305, 1989; Roosevelt, A., Moundbuilders of the Amazon: Geophysical archaeology on Marajo Island, Brazil, San Diego: Academic Press, 1991; Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995; Nishizawa, T. and J. I. Uitto, eds., The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995; A.C. Roosevelt, et al., "Paleoindian cave dwellers i n the Amazon: The peopling of the Americas," Science 272:373-384, 1996; and Diamond, J., Guns, Germs, and Steel New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.
Large-scale forest clearing and management by pre-Colombian populations is reviewed in Richards, P.W.," Tropical forests and woodlands: An overview," Agro-Ecosystems 3: 225-238, 1977; Dufour, D.L., "Use of tropical rainforests by native Amazonians," Bioscience 40: 652-659, 1990; Denevan, V.M., "The pristine myth: The landscape of the Americas in 1492," Annals of the Association of American Geographers 82: 369-385, 1992; and Meggers, B.J., "Archaeological perspectives on the potential of Amazonia for intensive exploitation," in Nishizawa, T. and J. I. Uitto, eds., The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995. At least 11.8% of terra firme forests are believed to be of an anthropogenic form according to Balée, W., "The culture of Amazonian forests," Advances in Economic Botany 7: 1-21, 1989; and Nishizawa, T. and J. I. Uitto, eds., The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995.
The notion of a sparsely populated Amazon is a testament to the best weapon possessed by Europeans in their conquering of the New World: their diseases. These diseases, especially smallpox, devastated unsuspecting native populations native populations, killing as much as 95%. The massive Amerindian die-off is described in innumerable works, but this book draws on the following sources: Prescott W.H., History of the Conquest of Peru, New York 1847; McNeill W.H., Plagues and Peoples, New York: History Book Club, 1976; H. Dobyns, Their Numbers Became Thin, Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1983; Caufield, C., In the Rainforest, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984; A.W. Crosby, Ecological Imperialism-The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986; Nishizawa, T. and J. I. Uitto, eds., The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995; and Diamond, J., Guns, Germs, and Steel New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.
A history of the Mayan civilization can be found in Sharer, R.J., The Ancient Maya, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994. It has been suggested that deforestation may have been one of the causes behind the downfall of this great civilization.
An overview of forest people today is found in Moran, E.F. "Following the Amazon highways," In Julie S. Denslow and Christine Padoch (eds.), People of the tropical rain forest, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1988.
Wade Davis (One River, New York: Touchstone, 1996) describes research by Kaplan, J.E., et al., ("Infectious Disease Patterns in the Waorani, an Isolated Amerindian People," American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 29(2): 298-312, 1980), Larrick, J.W., et al., ("Snake Bite Among the Waorani Indians of Eastern Ecuador," Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygeine 72: 542-543, 1978), and Larrick, J.W., et al., ("Patterns of Health Among the Waorani Indians of Eastern Ecuador," Medical Anthropology 3: 147-91, 1979) which found remarkably good health among unacculturated Indigenous people.
According to MacDonald, T., ("People of the Central and South American Forests," Rainforests: The Illustrated Library of the Earth. ed. N. Myers, Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1993) virtually no native group in the Amazon obtains the majority of their food by traditional nomadic hunting and gathering.
The brutal treatment of native people by the conquerors, religious leaders, and rubber barrons is depicted in Davis, W., One River, New York: Touchstone, 1996.
The sharp 1996 increase in land incursions by loggers and miners on Indigenous territories was publicized by Schomberg, W., "Brazil's Indians Face Rising Land Invasions Report," Reuters, 12/5/97.
The Brazilian government plan to reduce the threat of garimpeiros to the Yanomani is reported in Schomberg, W., "Brazil Clears Miners in Bid to Save Yanomani," Reuters, 1/14/98 and Schomberg, W., "Brazil's Yanomani See Life After Gold Rush," Reuters, 2/28/98.
The Rainforest Action Network (1990-1996) reports on conflicts between miners and native Yanomani, while Clay, J.W. ("Indigenous Peoples: The Miner's Canary for the 20th Century," In Lessons of the Rainforest, Suzanne Head and Robert Heinzman, eds., Sierra Club Books) notes some of the techniques - such as distributing disease-infected blankets - employed by miners to clear lands of Indigenous people.
Mercury pollution and disease among local residents resulting from gold mining in the Amazon is discussed in Hecht, S.B. and A. Cockburn, The fate of the forest: Developers, destroyers, and defenders of the Amazon. London: Verso, 1989; Malm, O., Pfeiffer, W.C., et al.: "Mercury Pollution Due to Gold Mining in the Madeira River Basin, Brazil," Ambio19(1):11-15 (1990); Thornton, l., D. Cleary, S. Worthington, and N. Brown, Mercury contamination in the Brazilian Amazon: A report for the Commission of the European Communitie (Directorate General l-K-2, Environment). Brussels, 1991; Lebel J., Mergler D., et al. "Evidence of early nervous system dysfunction in Amazonian populations exposed to low levels of methylmercury," Neurotoxicology, 17(1): 157-167, 1996; Pearce, F., "A nightmare revisited," The New Scientist, 2/6/99.
Official land demarcation for Indigenous Brazilians is reported in Borges, B., "Brazil Legalizes Indigenous Land Titles," Environmental News Network 11/28/97 and Moffett, M. "Native empowerment and economic growth collide in rural Brazil,"The Wall Street Journal 8/19/99.
The botanical genius of native rainforest peoples is articulated in Caufield, C., In the Rainforest, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984; Cox, P.A. and Balick, M.J. "The Ethnobotanical Approach to Drug Discovery," Scientific American, June 1994; Davis, W., One River, New York: Touchstone, 1996; and Davis, W., Shadows in the Sun, Washington, D.C.: Island Press/Shearwater Books, 1998.
The internal conflict over development in the Bahineimo tribe of Papua New Guinea is described in Hanley, C.J., "Aboriginal Peoples Choosing Between Heritage, Money," Associated Press, 5/29/96.
The plight of the Ashanainka tribe in Peru is documented in Speer, L.J., "Amazon Tribe's Last Stand," San Francisco Chronicle Foreign Service, 1/9/95.
The battle between Occidental Oil and the U'wa of Colombia is discussed in Rainforest Action Network literature (1995-1999) and Waldman, G. "A rain-forest tribe brings its eco-battle to corporate America,"The Wall Street Journal, 6/7/99.
