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NICOLAS HULOT WITH CHIEF RAONI: "HISTORY HAS TRAMPLED THREE TIMES ON INDIAN CIVILIZATION" (Press release & Video)

Since his journey in the Kayapo territory in the spring of 2011, Nicolas Hulot has been actively supporting the undertakings of Chief Raoni to protect the autochtonous territories of the Amazon forest or to stop the building of the Belo Monte dam.

On December 6th 2012, exactly one week after Chief Raoni, his delegation and Nicolas Hulot were received at the Elysée, the former anchorman and  candidate to the Green primary election was appointed "special envoy for the protection of the planet" by President François Hollande. He promised to take advantage of that opportunity to provide increased support to the Chief.

 

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CHIEF RAONI : launch of the "AMAZON EMERGENCY" campaign - episode 9
- Press conference in Paris, Grenier des grands Augustins (atelier Picasso), 30/11/2012 -
Presentation of Nicolas Hulot, president of the Fondation Nicolas Hulot pour la Nature et l'Homme

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Directed by James Amon for Amonimage Productions
On camera : James Amon,  Christophe Chauprade, Christophe Palluel, Mathieu Roger.

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"AMAZON EMERGENCY", contributors in the press conference on November 30, 2012 at Grenier des Grands Augustins (Atelier Picasso), Paris: Raoni Metuktire, Megaron Txucarramãe, Bemoro Metuktire, Nicolas Hulot, Gert-Peter Bruch (Planète Amazone), Philippe Desbrosses (Intelligence Verte), Jan Kounen, Frédéric Amiel (Greenpeace France), Ronak Monabay (Les Amis de la Terre) / translation: Arkan Simaan, Marcia Bechara and Cecilia Gutel.

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Nicolas Hulot: "History has trampled three times on Indian civilization"  

Text of the presentation at the "Amazon Emergency" press conference

 

"First of all, I want to thank Planète Amazone which has overcome a number of administrative challenges in order for Chief Raoni to come and plead his case - which is also the case of humankind '. Thank you also for attending because I can see that for the few journalists present, the future of the planet is more important than that of UMP party; I wish many more journalists had come for such an important stake.

Beyond that, I would like to underline, however unnecessary, that Raoni's voice and words always convey respect and love. When I hear him and look at him, I hear and see Mandela. He would have every reason to bear a grudge against us for History has trampled on Indian civilization on three occasions, the first time, as everybody knows, with the consequences of European expansion; the second time because these consequences have been completely disregarded by history books; and the third time, because today, their territories and cultures are being desecrated in a nearly general indifference.

I somehow feel that the scene we witnessed yesterday is repeating itself (editor's note: the day before, on November 29th 2012, Nicolas Hulot and Chief Raoni met President François Hollande), a meeting that resulted in empty promises; meanwhile the threats on the indigenous peoples and the rainforest -and consequently on humankind as a whole- are growing.

I last met Raoni a little over one year ago. I had received a warm welcome in his village and as chance would have it, I was with him when the tragic events of Fukushima were taking place on the other side of the planet. I remember clearly that moment when Chief Raoni was explaining the absurdity of these soy fields  infringing more and more upon the Amazon forest to feed our animals in Europe - at the other end of the world , while the world  was running amock to the dismay of the international , scientific and  political community. At that point, I was really thinking that we had reached a crossroads of civilization.

Raoni is coming to give us -which in itself is a surprising and comforting paradox -a message of humanity, to remind us that we are living on a narrow tolerance threshold  and that we belong to one and same family, the human family.

I hope, at a time when our country is bogged down in pathetic ecological attitudes, that Raoni's presence will  lead people to an enhanced insight into  the seriousness and importance of these stakes.I hope that both parties will benefit from all that and that we realize we have to make political decisions, especially as we are about to review our common agricultural policy, of which France is a major actor; we have to stop contributing in deforestation and hear what Raoni is telling us.

I will say it again: I wish Stockholm could listen to us to make him a potential candidate to the Peace Nobel Price. To me, this is coherent with the present Doha Summit and current events in France. I would like to thank Chief Raoni and his whole delegation for having come from so far to remind us of such truths."

 

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Excerpt from the "AMAZON EMERGENCY" campaign press kit :

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Nicolas Hulot: support letter to Chief Raoni

Paris, November 10th 2012

 

Dear Raoni,

I had the privilege of sharing some wonderful moments with you and your people, in the heart of your rainforest territory.

After so many difficulties to protect your loved ones and alert Western prople to the necessity of preserving the planet and of the massive deforestation of primary forests, you now have to face the Belo Monte Dam and its consequences. I am aware of your everyday fight to keep that hope and determination that have been guiding you for so many years; I am also aware of that sadness, despair and anger that sometimes eat you away.

Can we, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, at a time when humanity holds its fate in its own hands, allow the destruction of the rainforest in an almost global indifference? Stopping that heresy would be the decision of civilized minds.

That is why I am calling on the international community and France in particular not to give up and to proclaim its determination to protect the Kayapo people, along with all the other Indian peoples, to stop massive deforestation and the Belo Monte project. In both cases, Brazilian authorities as well as Western economic and political actors share the responsibilities.

With all my friendship, esteem and deep respect.

Nicolas Hulot - president of the Fondation Nicolas Hulot pour la Nature et l'Homme

   

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- Translated from French into English by Nadia Kadry -

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Planète Amazone (Amazon Planet), a french Non-Governmental Organization dedicated to the protection of tropical forests and its peoples, reflects in particular in Europe and the world, the fights of Cacique Raoni through its official website www.raoni.com and targeted actions.