1. What are the situations present in the movie?

The movie Last Forest is a documentary-style film which represented present

realities of indigenous people belonging to the Yanomami tribe to its viewers,
documenting their environment, fundamental folklore, and age-old practices that are
both spiritually and intellectually important to the Yanomami culture. It is crucial for
people to acknowledge ancestors such as the Yanomami tribe who took care of the
environment and nature as they preserved the world that we are currently living in.

The Amazon rainforest, home of the Yanomami tribe, is endowed with rich
natural resources. Concerns grew for the Indigenous people inhabiting the rainforest
because of many corporations and businesses that want to advance economically
through illegal means. In this case, the Yanomami tribe’s enemy is the illegal mining
industry. Mining illegally emerges as a huge problem not only for the rainforest itself but
as well as to its surroundings – contaminating the land and water resources and
producing health-threatening waste and pollutants to the living organisms within its
vicinity. And if the government fails to take prompt action to solve these issues, the
growing incidence of illegal mining would result in ecocide, which would bring pollution
and intoxication to the main natural sources of livelihood of the indigenous people as
well as to animals that contribute to the cycle of the ecosystem.

These are the significant situations present in the film: (1) the Yanomami tribe
are equipped with bows and arrows which are targeted against illegal gold prospectors
that damage their land and waters; (2) because of the damage done to the forest,
animals which were the main source of food for the tribe were depleting leading to food
scarcity as showcased in the film; (3) the women who were handcrafting were openly
talking about the possibility of joining an association in order to sell their handmade
products and to become independent from men since most of the decisions are made
solely by the men – a present hierarchical structure in gender-based roles; (4) Davi
Kopenawa educated students on the problems faced by the Yanomami tribe and their
fight for justice against exploitation and oppression; and (5) the tribute given to the
Haximu Massacre where 16 members of the tribe were killed by thousands of greedy
prospectors raiding the land – damaging the rainforest and endangering the lives of
approximately 26,000 members of eight indigenous groups.

1. What problem(s) need to be solved? What are solution strategies to these

problems? Evaluate its pros, cons, and provide assumptions.

The first problem as showcased in the film is the lacking of a proper irrigation
system and filtration mechanisms that produces clean, efficient, and less-harmful water
supply to the tribe. This lacking of an irrigation system is due to the damage the tribe
have suffered when gold prospectors came back to exploit natural resources. Also, as
mentioned by chief leader Davi, “our water is contaminated” – presence of chemicals
that harm the existence of the Yanomami tribe.
 The second problem is food scarcity. A scene in the film showcased a Yanomami
member hunting for food only to come back to his family without one. They call their
hunting as their “game.” It is not their fault that their game has greatly decreased, it is
due to gold prospecting. They do not have proper agricultural structures, as they fully
rely on what the forest provides. This is a huge conflict when weather strikes as they
cannot harvest the necessities that they need to make it through such time. In addition,
they are dependent on what they see and get with which they consume immediately.
The leader stated, “you can eat when you want to, and sleep whenever you want” which
is a major factor in dependent living. Further, they do not have the passive means to
rely on when resources are scarce.

The third problem is healthcare. It is no surprise that indigenous people still

practice the use of traditional medicines and follow advices of shamans who were also
evident in the film. When water contamination and diseases had spread throughout the
land because of the illegal mining the prospectors created, it affected mostly the
children. Some of today’s modern epidemics and pandemics are very difficult to deal
with. Western medicine even struggles to resolve some cases like COVID-19 for
example – relying on traditional medicine may only do more harm than good to its
people. Further, they do not know what kind of disease their people have, some of them
even point their fingers on evil spirits that they think are responsible for ravaging their
people.

The last problem is violence among the land. Illegal prospectors have caused
massive damages and claimed the lives of some indigenous members living in the
forest. The volume of illegal miners has completely multiplied and ravaged the
rainforest. Because of this, their livelihood is being pushed back further and further to
the point that they can no longer live without threat.
Strategies Pros Cons

Irrigation  To make sure stormwater  Since the land of

and runoff can be correctly Yanomami
 Education should directed, a properly built contains gold and
be fostered among trench drainage system other minerals, it
the indigenous may be necessary. When may contain
members of the it comes to safeguarding copper and iron.
Yanomami tribe the property of the High iron content
through ecological Yanomami tribe and water cannot be
organizations on landscaping from the harm utilized with an
better irrigation caused by soil erosion or irrigation system
trenching standing water, basic because the
 Cultivation of drainage is vital. emitters might
irrigation systems  The tribe can gain clog. Since it is a
by providing the sufficient knowledge about forest, insects and
Yanomami tribe how the irrigation process rodents might
with the necessary can benefit them in their chew the tubing
tools and daily lives by using applied causing leaks, thus
 equipment education. Additionally, the proper
 Promote an new materials they are maintenance is
environmentally- exposed to can help them needed.
friendly way of develop their skills with
resource mining. new capabilities.

Food Scarcity
 Agricultural  Solutions are beneficial  Creating a route to
practices should and considerate of the the market may
be shared among tribe’s future. It will be not be convenient
the indigenous used to help them improve to the tribe since
members. This will their agriculture. As a indigenous people
allow consistency result, they will learn how may still be subject
in their resources to properly care for their to discrimination
number one being fields. and they may only
food.  Organizations can provide acquire few major
 Create a route in them with more economic
the market to be opportunities, such as a opportunities. It
made available for greater variety of seeds to may be hard for
the Yanomami grow in their communities. them to adapt in
tribe. Doing so will It will not only be meals for big markets
help boost practice their family, but it may also especially without
in trading and later be a bounty that can be the help of the
on develop skills in sold outside the tribe. non-natives.
innovating more
agriculturally.
 Ecologically
finding the proper
food source
suitable for their
environment,
giving seeds and
other resources
may be useless if
it is given without
proper research
and use. Doing so
will help sustain
the food supply
avoiding conflicts
in growing and
harvesting.

Healthcare 
 Modern health
services by  There is a strong  We will have a
 providing the tribe probability that their great difficulty
with medicines traditional medical introducing the
and modern methods and herbal Yanomami tribe to
physicians that medicines will be new inventions,
consult, assess, acknowledged globally for such as medicines
diagnose, and their efficacy. They can and machines that
recommend empower them more with can improve the
medicine and the additional features that welfare of their
vaccines to will be provided, and their healthcare system,
serious diseases safety will be ensured because they have
and complications anytime they execute their a hostile
like COVID-19, rituals. perception toward
tuberculosis, and modernity and
others  white people. They
 Empowerment of can't believe what
traditional they see and it will
medicine by take a long time for
cultivation of them to trust the
herbs, providing outside world.
tools and
equipment, and
sanitary medical
kits so that the
Yanomami tribe
may perform their
own traditional
medical practices

Assumptions: Firstly, irrigation strategies are feasible but may take a little bit of time in
order to fully build its trenching and filtration systems. Secondly, food scarcity strategies
are the easiest and the most practical to prioritize since it has basic steps that the tribe
can easily manifest and adapt to. Thirdly, healthcare strategies through modern
medicines and practices, as well as empowerment may be the hardest to implement
because it will require so much effort, resources, and time from different medical
institutions, organizations, government, and international organizations to bring it to a
reality.

3. What are the agencies that can help you in realizing your strategies?

IRRIGATION - Brazil Jaiba Irrigation Project (II)

In order to irrigate roughly 740,000 acres in northeast Brazil, the Brazilian government
created the 5-year Northeast Irrigation Program (PROINE) in 1986. Given the location
of Yanomami tribe which is also in northern Brazil, the project may serve as a reference
to possibly conduct it once again with hopes of properly creating irrigation systems for
the tribe. It is worthwhile to accept the development of cutting-edge technologies and
fresh methods for maintaining systems, while combining them with local traditional
knowledge can make them more desirable and valuable for the intended use.

FOOD SCARCITY-

HEALTHCARE- Indigenous Community Health Agent Professionalization Programme

(ICHAPP)

By incorporating the cultural foundations, perspectives, and voices of the

indigenous peoples and their local community health agents, the Indigenous Community
Health Agent Professionalization Programme (ICHAPP) seeks to improve health care
services in isolated indigenous communities in Brazil, including Yanomami. It has
codified training methodology designed to adapt to the cultural and contextual realities
of these indigenous peoples. Recognizing and equipping local health agents in an
environment where indigenous peoples are frequently severely marginalized helps to
guarantee that the healthcare provided to these isolated indigenous communities is of
high quality and culturally acceptable. The training curriculum combines conventional
medicine, biomedical methods, and general education in a distinctive way. It will also
highlight the essence of modern medicine which will be beneficial especially for serious
medical conditions that cannot be treated using traditional medicine.

4. Criteria - A 5-point Likert scale with 7 statements will be used to evaluate each
solution strategies (5 = Strongly Agree; 4 = Agree; 3 = Neutral; 2 = Disagree; and 1 =
Strongly Disagree.)

Statement 1. This strategy can be executed with light financial resources.

Statement 2. This strategy requires 50 or less people to execute.

Statement 3. This strategy solves the problem of (topic problem) in the Yanomami tribe.

Statement 4. This strategy preserves the life of Amazon rainforest and its biodiversity.

Statement 5. This statement promotes the importance and welfare of indigenous

people.

Statement 6. This strategy requires help of local organizations, institutions, and

government.

Statement 7. This strategy requires help of international organizations and institutions.