Introduction
Indigenous people are those who have maintained a part of their unique and dissimilar cultural, social, and linguistic characteristics and by living like that they have become differentiated on some level from their neighboring populations and the cultures that are dominant in their countries( Shanley 3). These people were there before colonization and they tend to be independent of the governance of a nation. However, the existence of these people in their natural and undisturbed surroundings is at risk due to the different and aggressive policies that their respective countries have enforced on them.
Main body
President Fernando H. Cardoso passed a decree in the early 1990s in Brazil. This 1775 decree favored the northern businessmen over the indigenous people of Brazil. The legislation allowed businessmen to open up land occupied by the indigenous people for commercial exploitation. As multinationals set in massive logging and mining were allowed which led to the destruction of the environmental and cultural diversity of the indigenous tribes (Johansen 56). The demarcation of the land was allowed without allowing the inclusion of the opinion of the indigenous people since their participation was not guaranteed. This has resulted in large-scale aggression in Brazil because the indigenous people have to resist being driven into extinction. An example is the Guarani Kaiowa whose members have been forced to commit suicide because of being squeezed out of their vast territories by ranchers. Since the 1775 degree, more than 3000 people have killed themselves because of threatened survival. Brazil does not recognize their unique culture or language, they just want them to adapt to modern-day living or die. Contrary to this, the policies of the South African government especially after independence have greatly recognized the indigenous tribes. Though they have opened the hinterland to multinational mining companies like De Beers in Orange province, they have also left out some natural environs for the indigenous tribes like the San (bushman) who live in the Kalahari area of the Northern Cape. They have also tried to preserve their linguistic diversity by writing the languages and preserving them in the museums and their way of life. The policies of South Africa do not allow for the civilization of these people. They are allowed to lead their cultural and natural lives. They have developed a multilingual telephone-based multilingual system that can accommodate most of the languages. They also do have a national language policy framework which they use to protect the local languages, encourage cultural diversity, protect different languages and encourage other South Africans to learn these languages. The drawings of the Bushmen have been preserved at the Mc Gregor Museum in Kimberley. In Free State, the Sotho still lead their indigene’s life as the grasslands are still alive with their traditional houses. When George Washington was the president, he advocated for the civilization of the indigenous people just like in Brazil. He passed a policy regulating the purchase of land belonging to the native people of America and the promotion of commerce. However, the people were constantly pushed to the unfertile grounds or reservations which lack the essence of natural resources. Their languages are recognized nationally neither is part of their culture. This culture they tried to get rid of it by making them live like whites or be pushed aside has made them poor and led them to modern-day slavery ( Shanley 677).
This policy is like that of Brazil, they do not give them fair competition, resources, capital, and human resource. This policy and that one of Brazil is the most oppressive since they do not care about the survival of these people. They subject them to social Darwinism; they either become fit or die out. The South Africa policy is the most progressive since it recognizes and accepts lets them live their indigenous life.
Works cited Johansen, Bruce. Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Issues: An Encyclopedia CT: Greenwood Press. 2003. 506p. Shanley, Kathryn Winona. “The Indians America Loves to Love and Read: American Indian Identity and Cultural Appropriation”: American Indian Quarterly. 21, 4. 1997. 675–702.