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 On February 22, Brazilian Rogério Ferreira da Silva presented his doctorate thesis in agronomy. He was able to become a doctor with the paper "Bio-functioning and sustainability of soil in different agro-ecosystems in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul", at the State University of Londrina, of the southern state of Paraná.
It would be just another doctorate thesis if the agronomist wasn't one of the few, if not one of the first Brazilian Indians to be conferred such a title. The National Indian Foundation (Funai) doesn't have a precise account, but there is also an Indian from the Pankararu people, Maria das Dores de Oliveira, who graduated on April 19, day when the indigenous people are celebrated in Brazil, as a doctor in linguistics. An Indian from the Terena people, Rogério was born in Aldeia Cachoeirinha, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Midwest of Brazil. Aldeia Cachoeirinha is one of the seven indigenous territories in which this community of 13,629 people lives, according to the 2001 Census. In these areas, the itinerating agriculture typical of the Terenas, which needed enough land for harvest followed by burning and later rest of the land for renovation of the soil, is no longer possible. "With this confinement our form of agriculture changed radically and this brought on many social and environmental problems. The indigenous areas are degraded, we have serious health problems. The way I found to reverse this was to find knowledge," stated Rogério. The degradation, he explains, comes from exhausting the soil through systematic planting which was intensified as of 1980, when tractors, instruments and ploughs, were inserted by Funai with no follow up or qualification of the indigenous community. Due to this problem, the Terena community in the region has been for a long time looking for temporary work in neighboring properties, some even working in nearby cities. This situation makes the Terena Indians to be erroneously seen as acculturated Indians. The agronomist's trajectory started with jobs in the properties neighboring the reserves, to help support his younger siblings. His studies started in the tribe's school, from the first to fourth year, where he took his first steps in white man's education. After this phase, he started his routine of enduring on the back of a truck the 15 kilometers that would take him to the school in the city of Miranda. When he finished middle school, through an exchange with Funai, Rogério carried on his schooling in the neighboring state of Mato Grosso, in the Agro-technical Federal School of Cuiabá, the state's capital city. It was a boarding school and he would return home to the tribe during holidays. In 1989 he finished this phase of his studies as a technician in agronomy. The majority of his school teachers in Cuiabá were from the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, in Southeast Brazil, and influenced by them, a group of nine pupils at the school decided to try the university's entrance exam to study agronomy. The difference was that they had means to go home. "I had no resources and looked for Funai to be able to go back," he tells. Graduation This was how Rogério met the professor at the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Gisele Machline, and her husband, Sebastião de Oliveira, who taught agronomy and veterinary studies, respectively. She was also a counselor at Funai and worked in the administrative center of the foundation. Due to his will to go from Mato Grosso to Rio de Janeiro to try to study, the couple made the Indian the following invitation: he, as a technician in agronomy, would live at the professors' ranch, caring for the milking cows and rabbits they had at the property and would also study to try for his second admissions exam in the following year. Rogério agreed. "I worked at their ranch and studied from 42 prep booklets for the exam that are sold at magazine stalls. They also helped me in my studies, answering the doubts I had," he recalls. At the end of 1990 he passed the exam and, in the following year, he started the agronomy course. Graduated in 1995, he went after starting his masters. He took some exams for several universities, passing in first place in one of them, but the sponsorship on which he depended would only be granted a few months into the course. He ended up doing his masters at the UFRRJ. Victory Dance At his university graduation ceremony, Rogério was honored by a caravan of 30 Indians who performed the Terena victory dance in his homage. "We do this dance at important moments for us. It was danced in the Paraguay War," he tells. The war held between the Triple Alliance formed by Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina against Paraguay, between 1864 and 1870, had great impact in the life of the Terena people. Their traditional areas were the battlefields, and the men filled in the Brazilian lines causing their villages to be attacked by the Paraguayans in retaliation. This made the Indians seek refuge in more distant areas like the area, for example, where Rogério's community may be found nowadays. Another impact they suffered came after the conflict. The ancient Terena territory was disputed by demobilized officers in the Brazilian army and war traders who remained in the region. That is when the "period of servitude" began, remembered by the elders and observed by Marshall Cândido Rondon, one of the founders of the Service for Protection of Indians, the institution that preceded the Funai. In the Marshall's words, the Indians "are commonly exploited by farmers. It is difficult to find a Terena who does not owe his boss the hair on his head. None may leave their boss without his approval. And if one escapes, he runs the risk of suffering embarrassment, being beaten and often even death, all of this with participation of the police." Rogério explains that in his state the bias against Indians is very strong, but that he suffered no biases when studying in Rio de Janeiro. "When people discovered I am an Indian they were surprised and showed admiration and curiosity." Secretary of Agriculture The fact of being an Indian and biases against him were no problem when he started working at the agriculture secretariat of the city of Tanguá, established in 1997 in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Rogério's work caused him to be selected for secretary at the city and his work focussed on family agriculture with funds supplied by the National Program of Strengthening Family Farming (Pronaf). "And to develop the infrastructure of the secretariat, we organized meetings and helped farmers, creating producer associations. We discussed the rural development of the city with them," he explained. But then arose the opportunity to start the doctorate course, an objective that the agronomist never lost sight of. With a research grant from Embrapa Oeste, he started his doctorate at Londrina University. Guided by professor Maria de Fátima Guimarães and by Embrapa researcher Fábio Martins Mercante, he defended his thesis early this year. He had to resign from his job in Tanguá, which gave him financial security and "was a good job", and had to accept the uncertainty of the grant. He even spent three months without a salary or working "as an intern researcher" at Embrapa not to have to stop his studies. Cultivation of Lower Impact The doctorate with a long title, "Bio-functioning and sustainability of soil in different agro-ecosystems in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul", shows how the knowledge of biodynamic elements of the soil - the micro-flora and micro-organism chain - may better evaluate the sustainability of agricultural production. The more diverse these microorganisms, the greater the balance and the better the quality of the soil. These principles have been observed in forms of soil management, revealing which of the planting forms affect the land less. Rogério's research proves, for example, that direct planting - without churning the soil, rotating cultures and reducing agrochemicals - is a means of cultivation of lower impact to the soil. The Terena Indian's doctorate is a tool "to make anthropic activities less aggressive to natural ecosystems, consequently focussing on better quality of life." Rogério, who visited his tribe last Christmas and generally talks to his parents by mobile phone on Sundays, believes that his work may be used by Indian communities. According to him, for use of these methods, partnerships between institutions like the Embrapa, universities, NGOs, Funai and tribes are necessary. "In case this does not happen, it becomes a solitary fight with little chance of success," he said. Now, apart from the Embrapa Agropecuária Oeste research grant, Rogério is also focussing his studies on competitions for civil service, wanting to work at an institution that will make it possible for him to develop activities at Indian communities, or indirectly through research actions that may bring benefits to such communities. "Contributing to a fairer and more dignified society, both for Indian people and for the society as a whole," believes the agronomist. The Brazilian Indian population, according to the Funai, is of between 100,000 and 190,000 inhabitants in tribes. This figure, however, is considered conservative. It is estimated that the Indian population in tribes is already around 300,000. However, just 0.5% reach university education. Regarding his people's opinion about his feat, putting Rogério in a unique group, he explains that his father finds it hard to understand all of these years of education. "But haven't you already graduated," his father once asked, missing his son. He explains that youths in the tribe are proud of their doctor relative. The agronomist believes that the white man's education may be used as a tool for improvement of his people. "The situation of Indians in the country is precarious, graver than has been discussed by the society as a whole. One alternative that I consider more promising is the route of academic studies, aiming at greater knowledge for better comprehension of our dilemmas and to search possible alternatives for solution of problems in this community," he evaluated. This would bring opportunities for partnerships with health and education institutions, for example, bringing better quality of life to "this expressive segment of the Brazilian population which, for years, has been forgotten by the government." The Terena agronomist and doctor wants to talk to the young (Indian) students and support them, "showing that we are capable of winning through our dedication and perseverance." Anba - www.anba.com.br
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We hope to see many more like him in Brazil.
Go Brazil!