w more about rainforests than scientists who have studied rainforests for many years!The group of societies known as Europeans includes such cultures as French, Spanish and German. Similarly, the broad group, Indigenous peoples, includes many distinct culture groups, each with its own traditions. For instance, plantains (a type of banana) are a major food source for the Yanomani from the Amazon while the Penan of Borneo, Southeast Asia, depend on the sago palm (a type of palm tree) for food and other uses.All Indigenous people share their strong ties to the land. Because the rainforest is so important for their culture, they want to take care of it. They live what is called a sustainable existence, meaning they use the land without doing harm to the plants and animals that also call the rainforest their home. As a wise Indigenous man once said, "The earth is our historian, our educator, the provider of food, medicine, clothing and protection. She is the mother of our races." Indigenous peoples have been losing their lives and the land they live on ever since Europeans began colonizing 500 years ago. Most of them died from common European diseases which made Indigenous people very sick because they had never had these diseases before. A disease such as the flu could possibly kill an Indigenous person because s/he has not been exposed to this disease before. Many Indigenous groups have also been killed by settlers wanting their land, or put to work as slaves to harvest the resources of the forest. Others were converted to Christianity by missionaries, who forced them to live like Europeans and give up their cultural traditions.Until about forty years ago, the lack of roads prevented most outsiders from exploiting the rainforest. These roads, constructed for timber and oil companies, cattle ranchers and miners, have destroyed millions of acres of rainforest each year.All of these practices force Indigenous people off their land. Because th...
