From: San Francisco Chronicle
An article in today's Chronicle tells the story of the unusual partnership between the endangered Surui tribe of Brazil, the Amazon Conservation Team and Google Inc.
Chief Almir Surui, speaking today at the 20th annual Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, will unveil Google Earth images years in the making that throw into sharp relief the rapid encroachment of illegal mining and logging onto his people's 600,000-acre reserve.
The data rich maps will include layers of videos, pictures, text and historical markers designed to underscore the importance of the land and highlight the tribe's efforts to become self-sufficient in a sustainable manner.
"We want to show concretely, practically that you can have quality of life and economic development, with an intact forest," Almir said in Portuguese, during an interview with the Chronicle on Friday.
The Google Earth updates will become viewable later this week.
The below YouTube video describes the history of the Surui people, their first contact with the outside world and the genesis of the mapping project.
Chief Almir arrived at the Chronicle, after a lengthy, multi-pronged journey from Brazil, wearing a Tommy Hilfiger short-sleeve button-down draped with a bundle of cotton tribal necklaces and a headdress adorned with the feathers of macaw and assorted ground birds. He occasionally fiddled with a smartphone, while his responses were translated by Vasco van Roosmalen, Brazil director for the Amazon Conservation Team, and son of the world-renowned primatologist Marc Van Roosmalen.
After the interview, we walked around Market and Powell streets as Chronicle photographer Mike Kepka snapped shots for the story. There was considerable rubbernecking as Almir walked down the crowded sidewalks. One woman stopped to ask him where she could buy "Native American" accessories like his.
Near the Apple store, he briefly stopped to watch a Michael Jackson impersonator crotch grab his way through a rendition of "Billy Jean." Across the street, Almir walked into, and quickly out of, Old Navy.
When Kepka asked how San Francisco compares to his home, he said: "The forest is to me what Old Navy is to you."
That probably somewhat undersells the forest, but we get his point.
Update:
I met Denise Zmekhol, the Berkeley filmmaker behind "Trading Bows and Arrows for Laptops," at the Bioneers Conference this morning.
Her documentary, "Children of the Amazon," was screened at the environmental seminar yesterday. By seeking out the indigenous children she photographed 15 years earlier, Zmekhol explores how the lives of native Brazilian people have been transformed by the construction of a highway through the rainforest.
It tells the story of Chief Almir's struggles as well as the assassination of Chico Mendes, the legendary rubber trapper and activist.
She said the film, which has won numerous awards, will air on Public Television on Earth Day next year, April 22.
Update:
Rebecca Moore, manager of Google Earth Outreach, took the stage at Bioneers around 10:30 a.m. and showed the first glimpse of the narrated Google Earth tour of the Surui territory and history. It includes pictures and video of the tribe's first contact with outsiders, shows the contraction of their lands in the ensuing years, and outlines the tribe's efforts to ensure their survival.
It will become available within the next few days at earth.google.com/outreach.