Canadian first Nations have
been vigorously opposing a proposed Northern
Gateway Pipeline project by Enbridge (which this winter was spending at least $550 million to clean up a spill in
Michigan), which would run a $5.5 billion twin pipeline carrying
bituminous crude from oil sands in northern Alberta to the Pacific coast. About 60 people attended a hearing and
question-and-answer session in St. Georges, BC, February 16, while British Columbia First Nations peoples marched to
Enbridge's Vancouver office protesting the pipeline plan. The Yinka Dene Alliance is strongly opposed to the pipeline, and, on February 16, 2011, the coalition of five First
Nations whose lands lie on about a quarter of the proposed route rejected a set
of financial incentives from Enbridge. Chief Jackie Thomas of Saik'uz
stated after the decision, "Our Nations will not be turned. We won't trade the
safety of our rivers, lands and fish that are our lifeblood. Enbridge knows it
can't guarantee there will be no oil spills into our rivers" ("First Nations
Vociferously Oppose Enbridge Rockies Pipeline," Indian Country Today, February 18, 2011,
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/02/first-nations-vociferously-oppose-enbridge-rockies-pipeline/).
"Panama: Stop Human Rights and Environmental Abuses,"
Cultural Survival, March 2011, http://www.culturalsurvival.org/take-action/panama-stop-human-rights-and-environmental-abuses,
reports, "Indigenous Peoples, environmental
groups, and labor organizations in Panama are outraged over new laws that
undermine human rights and erode environmental protections. When thousands of
protesters took to the streets in early July [2010], the police responded with unprecedented violence, killing at
least two protesters, blinding dozens with lead birdshot, and injuring and
arresting hundreds more. Indigenous leaders say more people were killed,
but the government has not released complete information to human rights
investigators.
To quiet the protests, government officials hurriedly set
up a 90-day negotiation period, but they excluded many sectors of the
population from the negotiating process (notably the Indigenous Peoples and
environmental organizations). Ignored by their own government, these
organizations are now asking global citizens and agencies to persuade Panama to
comply with internationally recognized human rights and environmental
standards." In November, the Panamanian government yielded to domestic and
international pressure, restoring the requirement for environmental impact
studies on all proposed development projects; the right to strike; and holding
Panamanian police accountable for actions that violate human rights. In
March, Indigenous Ngšbe protesters forced Panama's president and legislature
to revoke a law that threatened their lands and rights. In April, Cultural
Survival and its partners took the fight over a Panamanian dam to the company
responsible, challenging executives of the AES Corporation over Indigenous
rights and environmental violations at the company's annual shareholders'
meeting. Ngšbe community member Bernardino Morales joined representatives of
the Center for Biological Diversity and the Harvard International Human Rights
Clinic in condemning the company for its failure to follow through on promised
compensation plans for Ngšbe communities that will be flooded and destroyed by
the dam being built on the Changuinola River. Also, in March, Ngšbe
people from across the Panama gathered to elect a new president of the Ngšbe
Bugle Congress, Panama's largest Indigenous organization. Celio Guerra
began his term as president by demanding that Panama revoke Executive Decree
#537, which created a government-controlled electoral system.
Cultural Survival is supporting actions by The Moskitia (mos-KEE-tya) Indigenous people in Panama to
stop a Chinese dam project that threatens Central America's largest tropical
rainforest north of the Amazon and the Indigenous Peoples who live there. For more news of this see International
Developments, below ("Honduras: Don't Dam the
Patuca River!, Cultural Survival, downloaded May 14, 2011,
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/take-action/honduras-dont-dam-patuca-river).
Cultural Survival, "Mexico:
Stop Mining, Protect Sacred Sites," downloaded May 14, 2011,
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/take-action/mexico-stop-mining-protect-sacred-sites,
reports that the Wix‡rika (we-SHA-re-ka)
people (also known as Huichol) of Mexico who have made pilgrimages from their
ceremonial centers in the Sierra Madre Mountains across the Chihuahua desert to
Leunar, the sacred mountain where the sun first rose, are attempting to stop a
Canadian mining company, First Majestic Silver Corporation, from purchasing
concessions to exploit the rich veins of silver that lie beneath the surface,
desecrating their most sacred sites and endangering the fragile semi-desert
ecosystem. The sites are protected under
Mexican law, but that has not stopped the mining project from going ahead. The
Wix‡rika, with domestic and international support, are attempting to have the
government cancel the mining.
Work by Cultural
Survival and Indigenous Communities in Guatemala to legalize indigenous radio
stations in Guatemala is continuing. A new network of pilot radios stations
broadcasting in rural communities of Guatemala in local languages was initiated
on April 2, 2011 ("Mayan Priests Pray for Community Radio,"
Cultural Survival, April 10, 2011, http://www.culturalsurvival.org/category/campaigns/guatemala-save-indigenous-radio).
Ecuador's largest indigenous organization, CONAIE, The
Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, launched an unprecedented
legal attack, at the end of March, against the government, accusing it of
'ethnocide' against uncontacted tribes. Accusing the government of endangering
the lives of uncontacted Indians by allowing oil companies to operate on their
lands, the case brought before the
Attorney General's office targets President Rafael Correa, the ministries of
environment, mining and oil, and Ecuador's ambassador to Spain, among others.
The tribes face extinction if they are contacted by oil company workers as they
lack immunity to common diseases brought by outsiders. In a statement, CONAIE
said, '(Uncontacted tribes) depend entirely on their natural environmentsÉ Any
significant impact on their land creates cumulative problems that end in their
physical and cultural decline, which we consider to be ethnocide.' Two groups
highlighted in the appeal are the Tagaeri and Taromenane Indians who live in
the southern Ecuadorian Amazon both are members of the Waorani tribe. Just
across the border in neighboring Peru, oil companies Perenco and Repsol at work on land
inhabited by uncontacted Indians. Both companies have failed to acknowledge the
danger their work poses to the survival of these vulnerable groups ("Ecuador's government under Indian attack," Survival International, April 5, 2011,
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7161).
Over 700
Brazilian Indians from more than 230 tribes set up camp in the country's
capital city, Bras’lia, in early May, to urge the government to respect their
rights. Outraged by the advance of large scale infrastructure projects which
threaten to devastate their land, the Indians marched, chanted and debated in
the streets, calling on the government to act quickly to prevent this
destruction. The Madeira dams,
currently being built in the Amazon, are putting immense pressure on uncontacted Indians' lands as migrants are
arriving in the area and deforestation is increasing. The Belo Monte dam planned
for the Xingu river in the Amazon threatens the livelihoods of thousands of
tribal people, who have not given their consent for the dam to be built.
The protestors stated in an open letter, 'We will not allow our Mother Earth,
which we have been preserving for millennia and which contributes to the social
and environmental sustainability of our country and of the world, to be torn
away from us yet again, or destroyed irrationally'. In April, the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights called on the Brazilian government to suspend the
Belo Monte project, but Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has refused to do so,
and ordered an immediate break in the country's relationship with the
Commission. Guarani Indians at the
camp warned that the government is proceeding extremely slowly with its
program to map out the tribe's ancestral land, and that meanwhile, thousands of
Guarani are living in overcrowded reserves or on the sides of main roads.
The current boom in sugarcane and ethanol production is of particular
concern to the Guarani, some of whom have seen their lands taken over by
sugarcane plantations. Survival International
is calling on energy giant Shell
and its joint venture partner in Brazil, Cosan, to stop using sugarcane planted
on the Guarani's ancestral land to produce ethanol ("Hundreds of Brazilian
Indians set up protest camp in capital, Survival International, May 14,
2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7274).
Yanomami Indians in the Brazilian Amazon, at the end of
May, captured an airplane used by health workers, in protest of corruption
within the health service. The Yanomami are outraged by the nomination of a new
indigenous health coordinator, who has little connection with indigenous
peoples, and who is thought to be favored for political reasons. Yekuana Indians have also joined the protest. In
2007 political appointees to the regional health office were arrested in a
major police operation, which revealed that US$19 million designated for
indigenous health care had been stolen. In a letter sent from the Yanomami
organization Hutukara to the Minister of Health, the Indians state, 'We are
very angryÉ the politicians did not consult the leaders in the Yanomami
territory. We do not know what the authorities are up to behind closed doors,
when it comes to the health situation'. Yanomami and Yekuana health is
suffering as thousands of goldminers operate illegally on their territory bringing
diseases and polluting the rivers the Indians use for drinking and bathing.
Earlier in May, Yanomami protested outside the regional health authorities'
office, and held another plane captive. Survival International's Director,
Stephen Corry, said June 2, 2011, 'The Indians' health is a serious matter
which cannot be subject to politics. The replacement of the health coordinator
against the tribes' will is surely a recipe for disaster'. Approximately
32,000 Yanomami Indians live in Brazil and Venezuela. They are one of the
largest relatively isolated tribes in South America and are extremely
vulnerable to diseases. The Yanomami's letter to the Ministry of Health
can be downloaded as a PDF in English or Portuguese at:
http://survival-international.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b14580b05b832fb959c4ee444&id=9a3e9ac9e6&e=CqQTrZoCrQ.
For more information contact Lindsay Duffield, Tel. +44) (0)20 7687 8734 or
(+44) (0)7504543367, ld@survivalinternational.org, or in the US: Christina
Chauvenet (before 12 pm EST) (202)525-6972, cc@survivalinternational.org, or
Tess Thackara (after 12 pm EST) (415)503-1254, tt@survivalinternational.org, or go to:
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7346 ("Yanomami Indians seize plane
in health protest," Survival International, June 2, 2011,
http://survival-international.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b14580b05b832fb959c4ee444&id=e9c4a2d601&e=CqQTrZoCrQ).
Survival sent a letter,
in November 2010, signed by more than fifty leading NGOs, including Amazon
Watch and Save America's Forests, to oil companies Perenco, Repsol-YPF and
ConocoPhillips to demand their immediate withdrawal from oil blocks 39 and 67 inhabited by uncontacted tribes in Peru.
Despite strong opposition from Peru's indigenous organizations, Anglo-French Perenco has applied to the
Peruvian Energy Ministry to build a pipeline in block 67 that will cut across 207 kms of land and affect the rainforest
for 500 meters on either side ("International
NGOs unite against oil giants," Survival
International, November 16 2010,
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6680). In May, ConocoPhillips announced it
is pulling out of the controversial oil block 39 in the northern Peruvian
Amazon ("Oil
giant ConocoPhillips pulls out of controversial Amazon project," Survival
International, May 13, 3011,
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7271).
Two experts on the Matsigenka
Indians of the Amazon, Dr.
Glenn Shepard, an anthropologist who has worked with the tribe for 25 years and
Ron Snell, the son of US missionaries, who grew up with the Matsigenka, have made
a string of highly damaging public accusations, saying that the travel
television program, Mark & Olly: Living with the Machigenga' shown
on the Travel Channel in the US, and on the BBC in 2010, was 'staged, false,
fabricated and distorted'. The two experts, who are fluent in the
Machiguenga language charge: In order to present a 'false and insulting'
portrayal of the tribe as sex-obsessed, mean and savage, many of the
translations of what the Indians are saying are fabricated. Many events
presented as real in the show must have been 'staged'. A key scene in the
show in which Olly is subjected to painful ant stings, since "according to
Matsigenka tradition he must be cleansed" and "endure the ancient punishments"
for buying deer meat is denounced by Shepard as 'fabricated and [with] no basis
in ethnography.' Ron Snell, in an article on his blog, accused the film-makers
of 'paying the Machiguengas to perform for them, saying things the Machiguengas
wouldn't ordinarily say and doing things the Machiguengas wouldn't normally
do.' After interviewing two of the Indians in the series, Snell reported, 'Our
suspicions were correct. They [Mark and Olly] entered the village on a well
travelled path and only veered a few feet off the path to film themselves
'hacking their way through the jungle.' They contracted someone to make new
cushmas [cotton tunics] so everyone would be wearing one. They staged the whole
drama about one of the guys being accepted and the other treated as a lazy
outsiderÉ 'The translator quickly became disillusioned with the whole thing,
but kept going because of the money. He is ashamed and embarrassed that he had
anything to do with it.' The series was previously at the centre of a media
storm when a scouting expedition for the show was accused in Peru of provoking
a flu epidemic amongst isolated Indians, which caused the deaths of four of
them. The show was eventually filmed a short distance from this incident.
Cicada, the production company responsible for the series, had made no comment
on the accusations at the time of Survival's report. Stephen Corry,
Director of Survival International, said, ''Mark & Olly: Living with the
Machigenga' was a depressing example of the way tribal people are routinely
portrayed on TV. One stereotype followed another, with the Matsigenka variously
portrayed as callous, perverted, cruel, and savage. Is this what the film
crew really thought of those whose guests they were? Broadcasters wouldn't dare
to make similarly false claims about other such minority groups: imagine the
same descriptions applied to any ethnic minority in the industrialized world.
Sadly this is all too common TV is now getting away with portrayals which
wouldn't be out of place in the Victorian era.' In response to a worrying
trend to portray tribal peoples in a negative manner, Survival is drawing up a
code of practice for documentary makers to follow when filming with them. A
background briefing with further examples of mistranslations and inaccuracies
in the show is available at:
http://survival-international.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b14580b05b832fb959c4ee444&id=651674f9a7&e=CqQTrZoCrQ.
A longer version of Dr. Shepard's article can be found on his blog:
ethnoground.blogspot.com. For more information go to:
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7549.
SFCG Update: April 2011, "Restoring Peace to the Forest: Community Reconciliation in
the Democratic Republic of Congo," www.sfcg.org, reported, "Two years ago,
thousands of residents fled DRC's Equateur province to neighboring countries to
escape the violence that cost hundreds their lives and destroyed their villages.
Over 130,000 people were displaced. Most of those who fled were from the
Munzaya community, in the equatorial forest in northwest DRC. Up until then the
Munzaya lived in relative harmony with their neighbors, the Enyele, until a
dispute over access to fishing and farming rights escalated into a violent
conflict. The first eruption happened when over 200 Munzaya homes were burned.
After that violence quickly spread. With funding and support from the United
Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (MONUSCO), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and
the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), SFCG was involved in a peace
process for the past year, opening a regional program office in the nearby town
of Dongo. SFCG staff provided mediation, conflict resolution, and negotiation
trainings for civil society and traditional leaders that helped to build
cohesion and create a network of leaders across tribes and ethnic groups. In
turn, the traditional leaders replicated the trainings and used their newly
learned mediation skills to help resolve a number of smaller local disputes.
This process of network building across the tribes was critical to the eventual
resolution of the larger conflict. We also organized dozens of participatory
theater performances to encourage dialogues, sensitize military members and
catalyze joint activities between the military and civilians." "It was the
first official mission to Munzaya in years. 'The mutual fear and mistrust had
to be confronted," explained SFCG-DRC Country Director Lena Slachmuijlder,
"the communities needed a process where everyone felt that they were
being heard in safety, and were taking part in creating a better future.' To
that goal SFCG organized a traditional reconciliation ceremony in the heart
of the forest that brought together an estimated 3,500 people from Enyele,
Munzaya and neighboring villages. The historic, three-day festival began on the
day of the second anniversary of the outbreak of violence. The event included
sermons, traditional dancing and communal activities to renew the fraternal
spirit that had characterized inter-communal relations in the past. Munzaya and
Enyele leaders affirmed their commitment to peace by signing a non-aggression
pact." SFCG;s continuing work with both communities will include the launch
a new community radio station that will broadcast radio programming to this
region for the first time. SFCG is also facilitating discussions with local and
provincial authorities to resolve the underlying issue of fishing and farming
rights.
Survival
International supported protesters angry at the Botswana government's treatment
of the Kalahari Bushmen at the
Botswana Tourism Organization's stand at the international tourism fair in
Madrid, January 22, who called for a boycott of tourism to Botswana. Survival
has called for a boycott of Botswana tourism and diamonds until the Bushmen are
able to live on their ancestral lands inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve
in peace.
For thirteen years, the Bushmen have been persecuted by the Botswana
government. In 2002, they were forcibly evicted from their lands by the
government to make way for diamond mining.
("Survival protestors target international
tourism fair in Madrid," Survival
International, January 22, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6890). Survival launched a boycott of Botswana diamonds,
November 3, over the government's treatment of the Kalahari Bushmen,
with a protest outside De Beers's flagship diamond store in London, and a letter
handed in at the De Beers San Francisco store later today. De Beers is
part-owned by the Botswana government (Botswana
diamonds boycott launched with protest at De Beers 3 November 2010, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6649).
For more news relating to Bushman see
International Developments, below.
The Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA),
established in 1997, and working in 10 southern Africa countries: Angola,
Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and
Zimbab, in July, announced the initiating of the Indigenous Rights Programme to push for
policymakers and First Peoples to talk to each other and to support civil society
in taking up the cause of Indigenous Peoples, particularly where violations of
their rights have occurred. The program is intended to advocate for the
rights and position of Indigenous Peoples and communities all over Southern
Africa, and includes capacity building and supporting research to make good on
the broader ideal of achieving equal standing for Indigenous Peoples in
southern African society, which has been largely intolerant of them (Linda Daniels, "Indigenous Rights
Programme in Southern Africa Announced to Mixed Reactions," Indian Country
Today, July 28, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/07/indigenous-rights-programme-in-southern-africa-announced-to-mixed-reactions/).
Survival
International and the Dongria Kondh tribe in the Niyamgiri Hills of India,
supported by other organizations protested against FTSE100 company Vedanta
Resources, July 27, as the company appealed the decision to deny permission to
mine the tribe's sacred mountain in the Niyamgiri Hills to the Indian Supreme
Court. As several shareholders have disinvested a total of over US$40m from
Vedanta in protest over the Niyamgiri mine project and other concerns over the
company's human rights and environmental record, and asset manager Aviva
Investors had declared that it will not support key resolutions at the then
upcoming AGM, due to concerns over the company's behaviour, many protestors
stated Vedanta should respect the resounding 'no' from the Indian
government and abandon the Niyamgiri mine. For more details go to:
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/ ("Vedanta: time to give up on
Niyamgiri mine," Survival International, July 26, 2011, http://survival-international.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b14580b05b832fb959c4ee444&id=00ad954c88&e=CqQTrZoCrQ).
The
Indigenous Studies Center at Vancouver School of Theology, "in 2010 continues
25 years of collaboration with Aboriginal partners across North America to
navigate through the shoals of colonialism into a post-colonial spiritual
harbour. By providing both academic and communal opportunities to both
Aboriginal traditional religious leaders and Aboriginal Christians to meet,
teach and learn together, the Centre's goal is a transformed religious and
educational context that takes Aboriginal culture and spirituality seriously."
For details of the Center's focus and programs visit: www.vst.edu.
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