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The T.I. Rio Branco has almost 400 inhabitants, divided among a number of settlements along the middle course of the Rio Branco. It became an official indigenous reserve in 1986. The majority of the population is Tuparí, and there are minor groups of Makuráp, Aruá, Kanoê, Djeoromitxí and Arikapú. The main settlement, São Luis, can be reached by car from Alta Floresta d’Oeste. The other settlements, such as Trinitário, Colorado, Cajuí and others can only be reached via the river, and because of their isolated situation, the indigenous languages and aspects of the traditional cultures are better preserved. People there still fish with bow and arrow, there are still shamans who use paricá to heal, and there are chicha parties where people paint themselves with annatto and genipap, and sing and dance in the traditional way. Traditionally, Arikapú shamans were regarded as the most powerful in the region. Even today, the most respected shaman of the reserve is an Arikapú. The southern part of the T.I. Rio Branco is adjacent to the Reserva Biológica do Guaporé. This is a protected nature reserve, inhabited by non-contacted groups that avoid all contact with outsiders. Their language and ethnicity are unknown.

In spite of having the status of a protected reserve that forms part of the federal territory, the T.I. Rio Branco and its inhabitants are threatened in many ways by their local Western neighbours and by state politicians. Due to the continuing deforestation around it, the reserve is becoming more and more like an island where game is starting to become scarce, thereby increasing dependence on fishing. Meanwhile, poachers enter the reserve for illegal large-scale commercial fishing, and pesticides used on the Western-style cultivated lands on the headwaters outside the reserve end up in the main river and endanger the health of the Indians in various ways. Grave damage to the fluvial ecosystems is also done by irregular hydroelectric dam projects in the region, some of which are owned by family members of the present governor of Rondônia, Cassol. Finally, illegal logging inside the reserve causes further ecological damage. The destruction of traditional culture has recently accelerated as a result of the establishment of a fundamentalist Protestant church, which discourages shamanism and traditional-style festivities and which has divided the community internally. Destruction of historical archaeological sites has been reported in relation to the construction of buildings at Paulo Saldanha on the upper Rio Branco. On some occasions, traditional funerary urns were dug up and wilfully destroyed in an attempt to hide juridical evidence. This kind of practice jeopardizes future possibilities for the Arikapú and Djeoromitxí and other groups to reclaim their traditional lands, to which they are entitled by the Brazilian constitution. For the elderly Indians, who have survived virtual genocide, it has also a strong emotional impact. One of the speakers of Arikapú buried her mother and her five year old daughter in the traditional manner on the headwaters of the Rio Branco, and she was devastated to hear of the possible destruction of their graves.

T. I. GUAPORÉ

The T.I. Guaporé has nearly 500 inhabitants, divided among several settlements in different bays and lagoons off the great Guaporé river. This place became an official indigenous reserve in 1996. The population here consists of mixed families of Aruá, Wayurú, Makuráp, Tuparí, Kanoê, Aikanã, Djeoromitxí, Arikapú, Wari’ and Kuyubí. The majority of the people live in the overpopulated settlement Ricardo Franco (which is the old name for the reserve) on the river Guaporé itself. There is a FUNAI post, a clinic and a school. Similar to São Luis, the influence of Western culture in Ricardo Franco is strong. However, many young people have few opportunities here, which is causing grave social problems. Life in the other settlements of Baia das Onças, Baia da Coca and Baia Rica is better as regards the possibilities for hunting, fishing and swidden horticulture. Also, the indigenous languages and aspects of traditional culture manage to survive better here. The region surrounding the T.I. Guaporé is not fully explored, and may form the habitat of non-contacted groups. On several occasions inhabitants of the T.I. Guaporé have reported encounters with unidentified Indians.

Like the T.I. Rio Branco, the T.I. Guaporé is affected by illegal fishing, but not so much by logging or agro-toxins, since it is very remote and cannot be reached by road. The fact that it is located on the border with Bolivia, on the other side of the 300 metre-wide river Guaporé, creates its own specific problems. During the last four years there has been illegal dredging of gravel on a regular basis from the Brazilian side of the river at Baia das Onças. The gravel is claimed to serve the production of cement, but the activities also have the appearance of ore mining. Whatever the purpose, it is dangerous to the ecology of the reserve since it destroys the river bank and may alter the current of the river. This activity has been reported to the authorities several times in vain, since it is so easy to move the equipment to the Bolivian side before the Federal Police arrive from distant Guajará-Mirím.