| The region of
the Uaçá was initially “opened”
not only to the entry of foreign elements in the Indian
villages, but also to the transit of Indians in neighboring
spaces. For a long time, the Galibi would frequently leave
the indigenous area to work in temporary jobs. They would
go above all to Caienne, where they were hired as manual
labor in construction, as goldpanners, as carriers, or
in restaurants. The young people who would leave would
stay in that city for several months and most would return
to the indigenous area. Today, the control on the part
of the French authorities is greater and the “illegal”
migrants are taken back to Brazil. The Indians no longer
get special treatment, being considered simply Brazilians,
like so many others. Indians who have stayed for from
eight to fifteen years in French Guiana, have had to go
back because they had never been concerned to put their
citizenship and worker status in order. Nevertheless,
the Indians there have prestige because they are considered
good and honest workers.
In Kumarumã a large number of Indians
have worked on the “French side". Many have
returned because of their wives, who have not adapted
to life far from the village, even becoming sick. Those
who have been forced to go back miss their jobs, the
food, vegetables, cheeses and wines, but think that
life in Kumarumã has improved a great deal in
the last few years, that life is peaceful among their
families and that there is much land and rivers abundant
in fish, an advantage of living in the indigenous communities.
Since 1994, with the support of the state government,
various agreements have been put into effect between
the state and the APIO, involving the granting of financial
resources for projects in the areas of health, education,
and infrastructure. One also notes a greater participation
of the Indians in local party politics, with a Galibi-Marworno
Indian, affiliated with the PSB [Brazilian Socialist
Party] getting elected to the post of mayor of Oiapoque
in October 1996.
The elderly Indians, every month, go to Oiapoque
to receive their retirement pension from Funrural, a
form of financial support which is not insignificant
for a good part of the population. Many Galibi-Marworno
live in the city of Oiapoque, which has two streets
with the ethnic names of the families who reside on
them: Karipuna street and Galibi street. A certain number
of Galibi-Marworno families live in Saint Georges, in
a neighborhood on the banks of the Oiapoque River. Other
groups, partly of Galibi-Marworno origin, such as those
of Flecha, are located on the banks of the Urucauá
River and those of Uahá village, on the Juminã
stream, on the lower Oiapoque. On kilometer 90 of state
highway BR-156, the Tucay Vigilance Post has transformed
into a new village with several families from Kumarumã.
Several Galibi-Marwono live in Mango village, located
on the Curipi River with the Karipuna population.
The Galibi-Marwono receive assistance from several
agencies, the principal one being FUNAI, although this
agency is presently without resources for any community
project. It only maintains its few employees in Kumarumã,
and gives logistical support for removing the sick from
the villages to the hospitals, to the health teams from
the FNS [National Health Foundation] and in the sporadic
purchase of medicine. The municipal government of Oiapoque
also sends financial resources to the indigenous communities.
Presently, the most important projects are elaborated
by the Indians and the resources and technical support
come through the agreement between the APIO and the
state government and its specific secretaries.
CIMI, which was responsible for various projects
in the past, such as the implantation of cooperatives,
medical assistance and education in kheoul, has
been less active in recent years, limiting itself to
religious activities and the training of teachers of
kheoul in Oiapoque. In 1998, a new priest, of
Polish background, was living in Kumarumã, learning
the language and participating in daily activities,
as preparation for assisting the Indians in the future.
Since 1998, at the invitation of the chief Paulo Silva,
the evangelical pastor Carlos and his wife also live
in the village. The pastor celebrates the protestant
service, sometimes he brings in a medical team which
does quick consultations, but his main objective is
the conversion of the Indians.
Health assistance in Kumarumã always
was precarious, although the FNS and even FUNAI teams
provide assistance, as does the Indian Hospital in Oiapoque,
which is a project realized by the NGO France Libertés.
The nurses in the villages do whatever is possible,
but without medication and an adequate infrastructure,
it is difficult to work. Malaria is endemic in the region.
There are also cases of diabetes, people with high blood
pressure and many men with gastritis or ulcers due to
the excessive consumption of alcohol, especially lowgrade
cachaça. The other sicknesses include periodic
flus, worms and diarrheia, skin infections and rheumatic
pains.
On schooling, the state school Camilo Narciso,
which has 600 children enrolled, takes up two large
buildings, one new and the other repaired with a large
area for the school lunch. The ingredients for the lunch
are bought, in part, in the village of Kumarumã.
The school is an old tradition among the Galibi-Marworno,
ever since the time of the SPI, in the 1940s. The school
has had a transformative and agglutinating role. It
was one of the first buildings in Kumarumã. Because
of the school, the Galibi have abandoned their islands
on the upper Uaçá and decided to live
in a single village. As opposed to patois, spoken
by the indigenous population, in the school Portuguese,
the official language, was taught. This norm was rigid
and everyone remembers the teacher, Dona Doquinha, who
was very severe e demanding. It was only after the arrival
of CIMI in the 1970s that patois was once again
valued and even taught in pre-school and literacy. Primers
were also elaborated in patois.
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