Why is the indigenous Ruma people in Brazil about to disappear?

Arouca Luma, an 86-year-old native of Brazil, died of complications of COVID-19 on February 17 local time. He was the last male in Luma.

Arouca is a living history of this indigenous people and a survivor of a genocide. Arouca's three daughters became the last population of Luma. In the 65,438+08 century, the population of Luma was about 65,438+200,000 to 654,380+500,000.

According to the data of the Institute of Social Environment of Indigenous People in Brazil, local businessmen once launched a massacre against the Luma people in order to plunder the rubber and chestnuts on their land. About 60 Ruma people died, but Arouca and six others escaped.

Anthropologist edmundo Peiqiong met these last Ruma people in 1990s, and they still remember their traditional hunting methods and techniques.

Extended data

The Impact of COVID-19 Epidemic on Indigenous People in Rural Brazil

According to the report, the infection situation in Arouca shows that the COVID-19 epidemic has affected the indigenous people living in villages in Brazil, which is the second worst epidemic country in the world.

Three figures sum up this national tragedy: so far, 242,000 people have died, nearly 10 million people have been infected, and the unemployment rate is as high as 14%. Among the indigenous people living in rural areas (a small group of particularly vulnerable ethnic minorities living on vast land), 567 people died in COVID-19.

The life of the Luma people also shows the history of the destruction of indigenous communities in Brazil after Portuguese colonization. These indigenous people are vital to protect the Amazon rainforest, the largest tropical rain forest in the world, and therefore play a key role in curbing climate change.

Xinhua News Agency-The last male indigenous person in Brazil died in COVID-19.