oor to allow for more crops to grow and weeds to start to take over. So they then move to a nearby uncleared area. This land is traditionally allowed to regrow 10-50 years before it is farmed again. Shifting cultivation is still practiced by those tribes who have access to a large amount of land. However, with the growing number of non-Indigenous farmers and the shrinking rainforest, other tribes, especially in Indonesia and Africa, are now forced to remain in one area. The land becomes a wasteland after a few years of overuse, and cannot be used for future agriculture. EDUCATION Most tribal children don’t go to schools like ours. Instead, they learn about the forest around them from their parents and other people in the tribe. They are taught how to survive in the forest. They learn how to hunt and fish, and which plants are useful as medicines or food. Some of these children know more about rainforests than scientists who have studied rainforests for many years. The group of societies known as Europeans includes such cultures such as 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 Yanonami 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 want to 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.”(11) Indigenous peoples have been losing ...
