A Parenting & kids forum. ParentingBanter.com

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » ParentingBanter.com forum » misc.kids » General
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

D Tel: Girl survived Brazil tribe's custom of live baby burial



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old June 22nd 07, 07:36 AM posted to misc.kids
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9
Default D Tel: Girl survived Brazil tribe's custom of live baby burial

Girl survived tribe's custom of live baby burial

By Jemimah Wright in Brasilia

Daily Telegraph (UK)
Last Updated: 2:39am BST 22/06/2007

Babies born into some Indian tribes in the Amazon are being buried
alive, a practice that is being covered up by the Brazilian
authorities out of respect for tribal culture.

Photo:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/grap...amazon122b.jpg
Caption: Hakani, who lived in the forest for three years after being
abandoned, aged two, by her tribe. She was adopted by Marcia and Edson
Suzuki

The tradition is based on beliefs that babies with any sort of
physical defect have no souls and that others, such as twins or
triplets, are also "cursed".

Infanticide has claimed the lives of dozens of babies each year, say
campaigners fighting to end the practice.

Babies who are girls, who have some disability or who have unmarried
mothers are all in danger of an early death in a shallow grave in the
rainforest. Others are suffocated with leaves, poisoned or simply
abandoned in the jungle.

According to Dr Marcos Pelegrini, a doctor working in the Yanomami
Tribe Health Care District, 98 children were killed by their mothers
in 2004 alone.

Campaigners say that the true figure is obscured by officials who
often record cases of infanticide as simple malnutrition. At the same
time, family anguish over infanticide has led to many adult tribal
members committing suicide.

Attempts to change tribal attitudes and counter official indifference
are being led by a Brazilian couple, Marcia and Edson Suzuki. They
have worked with one tribe, the Suruwaha, for 20 years.

Mr Suzuki, the founder of a campaign group called Atini - Voice for
Life - said: "We are fighting against doctors and anthropologists who
say we must not interfere with the culture of the people."

Such attitudes are exemplified by Dr Erwin Frank, an anthropology
professor at the Federal University of Roraima State in the Amazon.

Speaking of the tribes, he said: "This is their way of life and we
should not judge them on the basis of our values. The difference
between the cultures should be respected."

Like other tribes, the Suruwahá considers that if a child has any
deformity or disability, it does not have a soul and so - as an animal
- should be killed.

Some tribes also believe it is a curse to give birth to more than one
baby at a time. In the Suruwahá tribe, a pregnant girl will walk into
the jungle by herself to give birth.

She then cuts the baby's umbilical cord, buries the placenta and
returns to the village with her child.

Sometimes the woman will simply leave the child in the jungle to die
if it is a girl or if she is not married.

The Suzukis recounted the harrowing story of one girl, Hakani, who
they saved from death and adopted.

Born in 1995, Hakani - which means Smile - was still unable to walk or
talk by the age of two, prompting tribal leaders to conclude she had
no soul and to order her parents to kill her.

They committed suicide - eating a poison root - rather than obey the
order. Hakani's 15-year-old brother was then told he had to kill her.
He dug a hole to bury her next to the village hut, which is where the
tribe usually buries animals, and hit her over the head with a machete
to knock her out.

However, she woke up as she was being placed in the hole and the boy
found he could not go through with the killing. Hakani's grandfather
then shot her with an arrow. He was so upset he tried to commit
suicide, too.

But Hakani survived, although her wound became infected and she was
left to live like an animal in the forest for three years.

At the age of five she was very undersized, still unable to walk and
abused by other Indians. She survived only because a brother smuggled
food to her.

The Suzukis begged Funasa, the Brazilian government's health
department, to let them take Hakani out of the tribe to get medical
help.

"Funasa could not help because their official view is to respect the
culture of the people and let the children die. If we took Hakani out
we could be sued," said Mrs Suzuki.

Warned that they could be responsible for the child's death, Funasa
eventually relented. Under the Suzukis' care, Hakani was walking and
talking within a year. While she suffers from hypothryoidism - an
underactivity of the thryroid gland which affects brain development -
she is able to attend a mainstream school.

Brazilian politicians are currently debating a Bill to outlaw
infanticide. It is known as Muwaji's Law, named after a Suruwahá woman
who refused to bury alive her own baby.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...wamazon122.xml

 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Custom Embroidered Baby Gifts [email protected] Breastfeeding 0 April 25th 06 12:53 PM
If I live in Maryland, and the mother of my child and the baby live in NY, what child support laws apply to me? Whic State? Leonardo H Child Support 2 September 30th 04 04:24 AM
Pincess party... I survived! KimandJuan Twins & Triplets 5 July 26th 04 08:44 PM
we survived the first month of bf Rachel Breastfeeding 7 November 22nd 03 11:26 AM
We survived WITHOUT safety edicts Fern5827 Kids Health 57 August 12th 03 11:28 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:59 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 ParentingBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.