Obituary: Darrell Posey: Anthropologist who championed the rights of Amazonian tribes

• Published in: The Guardian (London)
• Main Author: Girardet, Herbert
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: London (UK) Guardian News & Media Limited 30.03.2001
• Subjects: Anthropology; Deaths; Posey, Darrell Addison
• ISSN: 0261-3077

In one instance, the Gorotire Kayapo acquired a share in a gold mine, and were suddenly in a position to acquire a plane, trucks and a diesel generator. But [Darrell Addison Posey] was closest to the village traditionalists, the shamans Beptopup and Kuruka, who had taught him Kayapo cosmology, forest management and the use of medicinal plants. He had a deep reverence for these two men, who, he said, taught him more than anybody ever did at university. In 1987, Darrell made his most audacious move, taking two young Kayapo chiefs to the World Bank in Washington to campaign against a series of hydro-electric dams that would flood their land. The visit became headline news. The Brazilian government was not amused, and, on their return, detained all three. But Darrell was only slightly shaken, and continued investigating whether tribes like the Kayapo could make more efficient use of rainforests than modern cattle ranchers. After Rio, Darrell made his home in Oxford, as an associate fellow at Linacre College, and research associate at the Oxford Forestry Institute. His most important work was as director of the programme for traditional resource rights at the Oxford Centre for Environment, Ethics and Society, at Mansfield College. But his time there was not easy, and his views were often felt to be a threat by other academics more concerned about their own pro fessional advancement than scientific innovation.