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SSRP Visiting Fellow seminar explores Amazonian land struggles
By: Edwin Gilson
Last updated: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Dr Daniel Belilk leading a workshop with Yaminawa people
Dr Daniel Belik, an anthropologist who teaches at the Federal University of Acre in Brazil, will lead the latest SSRP Visiting Fellow seminar on struggles over land in Western Amazonia.
The seminar - held in conjunction with the Sussex Anthropology department - takes place on Wednesday 5 February, 3pm to 4.30pm, at Arts C333. .
Dr Belik's talk will explore the history of Western Amazonian colonisation, including reflections on Indigenous networks of mobility and exchange, before considering the territorial claims of contemporary Indigenous populations.
Archaeological and ethnological data suggests that Indigenous groups were part of larger ancient collectives connected by routes of communication that spread through a vast area across the present day international borders of Brazil, Peru and Bolivia.
The Brazilian government has introduced policies to recognise the territorial rights of Indigenous peoples and set up a group of specialists, often headed by anthropologists, to study and resolve these issues.
Dr Belik's talk will conclude with examples of his own experiences as the coordinator of two such land demarcation studies with Yaminawa people.
He will discuss some of the challenges involved, not only for reconstituting Indigenous peoples movements, but also in the face of the ever-increasing advancement of cattle ranching, organised crime, and road building in the region.
Dr. Daniel Belik is an anthropologist based in Rio Branco, Brazil. His research and professional practice focuses on documenting and making available crucial knowledge about regional exchange and migration between Pano-speaking communities in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia.
His work seeks to support and empower Indigenous, Amazonian populations through the preservation and revitalization of their cultural traditions and the demarcation of their territories.
He has worked for government organizations such as FUNAI (the Brazilian Indigenous Agency) and the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as for and with Indigenous peoples and federations themselves. He also teaches at the Federal University of Acre (UFAC).