2 12 16 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/38d5616f8ffb37922cbb6444a6fad084.pdf a836a70dadd09deb02b81a0619a72813 PDF Text Text -------------'-~ O_!: !...!~:....:; T I N G C_.::: N_F R O N:....,:_ C U L T U R A L E X T I N <T I 0 N y ( Reversing the Flow of Traffi.c in the Market of Cultural Property by Eric Bergman Indigenous nations today are struggling to preserve their cultural identity, not by placing it behind the glass of a museum, but by the active renewal of their collective and individual cultural traditional practices. The unique religious and secular items each culture creates are fundamental to its continuity. For centuries the Indigenous people of the Americas have suffered the steady loss of their cultural property. The international community is finally beginning to recognize the obvious right a community has to its own creations. The new awareness of this important link between people and cultural artifacts is resulting in the successful restitution of previously lost or stolen items. '' C onsidering that cultural property export, and transfer of ownership of cultural property, adopted by the whether for selfish purposes or out of constitutes one or United Narions Educational, Scientific ignorance, without consideration of the basic elements and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) of civilization and at its sixteenth session in Paris on the damage done to a living culture when it is stripped of the items of its national culture. and that its true v-alue November 14, 1970. This convention is the first major step taken by the heritage. international communit>' to address The Indigenous Perspectives can be appreciated only in relation to the fullest possible information regarding its origin. history. and traditional setting." So reads the preamble of the the centuries of plunder of cultural property of Indigenous peoples. Vast theft, continues today. Items are taken, To many people who trace their Convemion on the means of prohibit· quantities or anwork. religious arti· ing and preventing the illicit import. facts. and even funerary remains have roots to European cultures, the scien~ tific study or museum preservation of found their way into museums and cultural property is considered of great private collections worldwide. This value. h is important, however. to rec~ traffic, often in the form of outright ognizc that these views are not neces- Eric Bergman is an intent al SAIIC and resemdtes arlitles for Abya Yala News. Vol. 10No. 2 13 �C 0 H F R 0 H T I H G C U l T U R A l'--~E X T-!...!'-.:::...! I...,:::.....:.:.,._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ ~~ ~~ 1 H C T_ : O N sarily shared b)• Indigenous peoples. Items of cultural or religious value created by Indigenous .peoples were not intended to be placed in museum collections. The removal of cultural materials to museum archives severs the living connection and contact a people has with its works and past. This is especially tme of cultures with an oral rather than written tradition. Museums and cultural scientists must strive to maintain the vigor of the cui· ture that created the objects they seek to study. All too frequently archeologists and anthropologists consider the dead to be objects of curiosity and study: "a storehouse of biological information" as anthropologist johan Reinhard says. referring to the frozen bod)' of an Inca girl that he exhumed in Peru (see accompanying story). For Indigenous peoples, however, the dead are not scientific objects. thC)' are their ancestors. perhaps even their family. AncestOrs were interred with careful attention to respect and ritual that will see them to their proper destin)' after death. These efforts are disturbed by archeologists, grave robbers, scientists and other col· lectors who continue to violate burial sites and the remains therein. Restitution and legal Recognit ion Standards for the protection of and respect for the cultural property of Indigenous peoples are greater today than ever before. Major museums and even some governments are cooperat· ing whh l ndigenous nations to volun· tarily repatriate obj ects to their cultures of origin. The United Nations and the United States are beginning to legally recognize the claims of Indigenous peoples to their cultural property. Unfortunately, individual governments and police forces are doing lillie if anything to cooperate with the Unhed Not Dead Yet: An lncan Mummy Find Rekindles the Fire Over Science and Ethics wo men enter an Inca ceremonial burial site. They spot some feathers: the headdress of a small statue. The men scramble down a ledge. There they find a carefully prepared grave. Taking out their axes they begin hacking awtrf. Soon they uncover the body of a young woman. A little more ax work and they completely exhume the body. One man stuffs it in a sack and the other removes the remaining funerary arti· facts. They depart into the darkening sky. Returning later with more accomplices. the two men scour the area for any remaining items. including two more corpses. Another sacred burial site has been picked clean and the bodies removed from their graves. The two men. American archeologist Johan Reinhard and his Peruvian partner Miguel Zarate. found the grave·site last September atop Nevado Ampato in the Andean Cordillera of modem·day Peru. The bodies were originally buried on top of the remote 20. 700·foot mountain as part of a religious ceremony and remained there. frozen. for an estimated 500 years until Reinhard and Zarate arrived. Since then. the body of the young Inca woman was brought to a laboratory at Catholic University in Arequipa. stuck into an ice box and stripped of her clothing including a beautiful wool Alpaca dress. Scientists then conducted a battery of tests. took body tissue and fluid for tests. and then shipped her off to Washington D.C. to be put on display as an item of curiosity at the offices of the National Geographic Society. National Geographis 's display of the Inca woman's body and the archeologists' treatment of the burial site in general has drawn international criticism. ..The dis- T 14 play of mummies or any human remains stands in con· tradiction to the ethics regarding the handling of the dead.· said Dr. Konrad Spindler. a prehistory specialist at the University of lnnsbruck and leader of the research team studying the 5300·year-old .. Iceman .. frozen corpse found in an Alpine glacier in Europe in I 99 I . Although Spindler was invited to join the research team studying the lncan woman . he eventual· ly left the project because of his displeasure over the treatment of the corpse. Yachay Wasi. a non·profit organization dedicated to sharing and supporting indigenous culture of Peru. is sponsoring a petition in protest of National Geographic's handling of the situa· tion. Indigenous people in the United States and Canada are joining Yachay Wasi in protest. Although circumstances surrounding the decision to bring the Inca body to Washington remain unclear. National Geographic has made an admirable effort to consult the Indigenous people who are descendants of the Tawatinsuyu. or lncan empire. According to National Geographic spokeswoman Barbara Moffet. the second team of archeologists sent to excavate the Ampato burial site first paid a visit to the nearby village of Cabanaconde. No formal agreement was obtained by National Geographic. but Moffet claims that the villagers. who are believed to be the most closely related descendants of the Inca. were not only consulted. but eight villagers also volunteered to take part in the expedition. National Geographic has also made small a donation of photos and money to the village for the establishment of a museum in Cabanaconde. When the body of the Inca woman was brought to the National Abya Y News ala �CONFRON TI NG CULT U RA L EXTINCTION Nations. In addition, the US legislation is not applicable nor respected outside US borders. effon and can eliminate the need for legal baulcs. The legitimacy and coordination of the repa~riation effon arc also lions. charitable groups. Jlnd other Should an lndigenous nation wish to repatriate items removed from their innuemial. Any documentation or testimony that can assist in proving the may provide contacts. publicity, coun- community, they race a difficult but increasingly possible task. First the seriousness and costs of the effon n1ust be considered. An}' individual or institution thai has gone through great expense and effort to acquire and maintain valuable cultural items will not be eager 10 give them up. Securing the goodwill and cooperation of the pany current!)• in possession of the ite1ns in question is crucial to any repatriation Indigenous entities may be sy1npathctic to repatriation efforts. These groups cil, or other forms of assistance. Some claimams position will be very helpful. communities have been successfully Also the par1y making a claim for any pursuing repatriation for many yea.rs items should consider what measures and have developed mechanisms withwill be taken 10 insure the pr01ection of in their political system 10 respond to the items once regained: no one is like- concerns in"olving culturally sensitive ly 10 pan with rare ani facts if they sus- materials. journalists may be able to pect that they will be sold, stolen. or provide publicity and help bring public mishandled in any way. opinion behind the repatriation efforts. Many resources exist to aid Some govemments (most notably the Indigenous peoples' repatriation cam- United States) and the United Nations paigns. Non-governmental organiza- may also be of assistance. Geographic headquarters for display. former residents the National Geographic Society is aware of NAGPRA of Cabanaconde now living in Washington D.C. were in and the spirit in which it was drafted and chose to attendance. There was no charge to see the Inca exhibit. ignore it by not only funding the second expedition. but Despite National Geographic's overtures to the liv- also bringing the frozen body to Washington D.C . to be ing descendants in Cabanaconde. this case has raised put on public display. The display of the Inca woman also violated the spircriticism of the ethics of archeology. Does the curiosity of scientists justify the disturbance of graves? On what it of the United Nations. The U.N. Commission on authority do universities or other institutions take pos- Human Rights drafted a resolution entitled The session of the human remains of another society? Protection of the Heritage of Indigenous People which Among many national societies. such as the United states that · under no circumstances should objects or States and Peru. and especially among academics. any other elements of an indigenous peoples· heritage such as Reinhard. there is a double standard for the be publicly displayed. except in a manner deemed treatment of the dead. The legal and moral codes nor- appropriate by the peoples concerned" <Article 23>. mally relating to the handling of human remains and " Human remains and associated funeral objects must graves are ignored for Indigenous people. Although we be returned to their descendants and territories in a culare aware of no formal protests raised by Indigenous turally appropriate manner. as determined by the indigepeoples in Peru. many Native Americans feel the dead nous peoples concerned " <Article 21>. and should not be disturbed. studied or displayed at all. · Researchers and scholarly institutions should ...obtain Native American groups in North America have been formal agreements with the traditional owners for the fighting for protection of their ancestral burial sites and shared custody. use and interpretation of their herreburial of remains held by archeologists. Walter Echo- itage· <Article 33>. Hawk. who was a lawyer for the Native American The Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Rights Fund when Congress was considering NAG· Peoples. pending approval by the U.N. General PRA. says "If you desecrate a white grave. you wind up Assembly. also specifies the protection of burial sites. sitting in prison. but desecrate an Indian grave and you <Articles 12 and t 3. see attached article> It should not get a Ph.D .... and a fat check from National Geographic require a United Nations declaration to instill basic conit seems. The Washington D.C. based non-profit orga- sideration for the spirituality of a people. whether they nization supplied a grant of $100.000. mainly to fund be the ancient Inca or living descendants. " With this the second expedition. discovery. the spirit of Mount Ampato is challenging sciHad Reinhard and Zarate done what they did in the entists" says Eliane Lacroix-Hopson of Yachay Wasi: United States they would likely have been indicted for that despite legal limitations ... all involved should know grave-robbing under the provisions of The Native they are morally responsible in front of the Creator. American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Indigenous Peoples and their friends.· <NAGPRA>. Public Law t Ot -60Hsee section I 04 Hopefully during all the lesling. prodding. studying STAT.305t C> Fortunately for the anthropologist NAG- and analysis the scientists may actually learn something . PRA only applies within U.S . borders. Nevertheless. from the Incas: that they show respect for the dead. Vol. 10 No. 2 15 �C O N F RONTING C UL TURAL The United Nations The United Nations is taking an increased interest in cultural heritage and in the prote<:li~n of Indigenous rights. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has taken up the issue of the protection and restitution of cuhur· al property. For this purpose UNESCO established the Intergovernmental Comminee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation (henceforth, just the Committee) which currently num- EXTINCT I ON NAGPRA: US Takes legislative Action for Repatriation In November 1990 the US Congress enacted Public Law 101-601, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. also known as NAGPRA. This law provides a legal infrastructure to aid in the protection and restitution or funerary remains~ and associated items of cultural patrimony. NAGPRA outlaws the traffic in such items. mandating a ma."<imum of five years in prison and/or a nne for "Whoever knowingly sells. purchases, uses for profit. or transports for sale or bers twenty-two member states of profit, the human remains of a Native UNESCO. h will hold its nimh session in Paris from September I 6-19. The eighth session was auended by sixty- American.. or "Native American cultur· al items"[ll70 (a)(b)) . NAGPRA also requires museums and other institu- nine nations, international customs tions receiving federal funding to sup- and legal bodies, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and the International Council of ply inventories of their items and return Museums. Several important ideas were laid down including the rights of a people to expect legal protection of cultural property and secure aid in its return. The International Council of Museums has voluntarily agreed not to admil items into museum collections that are not proven 10 be legitimately acquired and 10 inform authorities if approached with illicit material. So far the Commiuee has not discussed any cases concerning Indigenous peoples. The United Nations Economic and Social Council's Commission on Human Rights adopted a declaration at its eleventh session providing for the protection of the rights of Indigenous peoples including. "the right 10 the restitution of cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken wlthom their free and informed con- sent or in violation of their laws, traditions and customs." (Article 12). More recently. in june of 1995 the Economic and Social Council drafted the report entitled Protection of the heritage of Indigenous people. Although the repon lacks any real legal power. it helps to lend legitimacy 10 individual claims. 16 the items upon the request of a tribal authority. Thirty-four states have passed additional laws 10 fill gaps in the NAGPRA legislation. Although NAGPRA only applies 10 federally funded institutions within the United States, it has set a precedent with many museum authorities on an Zuni believe that when Spanish and US agents stole the communally owned figures from their designated resting places, it caused the spiritual imbalance that the world is suffering in this century. The return of the figures lO their shrines is necessary to reswre harmon)' and protect the Zuni communi!)< Anthropologist T.J. Ferguson, a member of the Ahayu:da repatriation effort, warns... It is extremely important that both tribes and museums recognize that the amount of time and money required 10 assemble information and reach an agreement can be substamial. • This was the case for the Zuni people, for whom the saga of the Altayu:da lasted nearly a centur)< The first objects were removed to the Smithsonian in 1897. In April of !978. Zuni leaders began repatriation effons by meeting for the first time with repre- The return of the figures to their shrines is necessary to restore harmony and protect the Zuni community. international level. Museum institutions in the US have also repatriated items to Indigenous communities in South America outside NAGPRAS jurisdiction. One notable case was the return of several rza11rtas (head trophies) from the Smithsonian Institute 10 the Shuar peoples in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Austrian president, Thoma! Klestil, returned the mantle of Montezuma 10 Mexico. The beautiful mantle of feathers and gold had been out of Mexico for over 400 years. The Return of the Ahoyu:do An early and important repatriation effort in North America was the struggle of the Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico 10 return the sacred Ahayu:da figures 10 their traditional resting places in tribal shrines. Figures representing the t"1n war gods, Uyuycmi and Maia~cwi are placed in shrines to harness their potentially destructive powers. The sentatives from the Denver An Museum. By 1992 the Zuni secured the return of 69 Altayu:da from 37 different sources. representing all known US copies. Most of the effons of the Zuni to repatriate the Ahayu:da were accomplished without any legal backing from NAGPRA, which was not passed until November of 1990. The struggle of the Zuni to mount their repatriation cam- paign was intense, but in the end they prevailed. Their success is due mainly 10 dedication and cooperation. The museums were not, at that time. required by law 10 cooperate with the Zuni requests, nor did the Zuni representatives seck a legal confrontation. Instead, the Zuni approached the maller by presenting a solid case to museum officials and embarking on a series of friendly negotiations. Cooperation and respect kept the negotiations from becoming adversarial. Although the museums stood to Abya Yala News �CONFRONTING lose valuable portions of their collections. they respected the sincerity and legitimacy of the Zuni appeals. One of the concerns the Smithsonian raised before agreeing tO return cultural artifacts 'vas the security of the figures. The Zuni developed elaborate measures. including surveillance of the shrines. to protect the Ahayt.:da from repeated theft. "Indian tribes requesting repatriation of human remains and artifacts should be ready. as the Zunis were, to address questions from museums about the security of artifacts after repatriation: says Ferguson. Repatriation appeals can even begin a friendly cooperation between muse- ums and Indigenous peoples. The Zuni provided valuable information to the museums regarding the nature and significance of items in the museum col- leclion and the museum provided a secure record of cullllral artifacts and histOry that they shared with the Zuni Pueblo. Zuni artists and ceramics stu· dems benefited from studying pottery in the Smithsonian collection . Zuni reli- gious leaders also guided the museums' curators in appropriate handling procedures for those sacred objects that remain in museum collections. "'The power and continuity of Zuni culture and religion have been reinforced by the return of the Ahayu:da to their shrine on the Zuni Indian Reservation, and that is good: says curator of ethnology and Zuni anthropologist. Edmund Ladd. The Sacred Weavings of Coroma For the Aymara people of Coroma in the southern Altiplano of Bolivia. the sacred garments of Coroma are communal artifacts that illustrate genealogies and are believed to embody the souls of their ancestors. Some garmems art 400 to 500 years old. In early 1988, Professor John Murra, a well·known ethnohistorian rrom Cornell University. received a postcard announcing an ethnic an exhibition in San Francisco that reatured the sacred weavings of Coroma. Vol. 10 No.2 CULT U RAL He recognized the weavings as those that had been stolen or bought illegally rrom the Aymara community in the late 1970s and 80s. He contacted the Bolivian embassy and social scientist Cristina 6ubba Zamora who was inventOrying the Coroma weavings at the time through HISBOL (a Bolivian grassroots development organization). Concerned community elders emphasized the importance of the weavings and considered the discovery of the art dealer~ collection as a sign of their ancestorS spirits wishing to return home. "When a sacred gannent is taken from the community, a Coromei\o believes that the spirits of the ancestors have been kidnaped: explains Susan Lobo, one of the advocates of the Coroma repatriation efforts. The Boli,;an embassy and two reprt· sentatives from Coroma comactcd United States authorities and in February of 1988 US Customs officials confiscated about 1000 objects (mOstly weavings) from the dealer. Delegates from Coroma then went to California to identify the collection confiscated by US Customs. ..Our ancestors must be so sad and lone· ly: oommemed one of the delegates viewing the weavings Native Americans in the US and academics joined Cristina Bubba Zamora in rallying support for the people of Coroma. A San Francisco law finn also aided the ooalition. With the backing of the UNESCO convention. signed by both the US and Bolivia. the return of Conynine of the weavings was secured. 1n September 1992, Bolivian President Zamora received the weavings from the US government on behalf of the people ofCoroma. The extreme difficulty and expense in tracing, identifying and proving that the weavings were purchased illegally 'vas a major obstacle in this case. Many items could not be detennined to be illicitly obtained and had to be returned to the dealer. The return of the weavings attracted renewed interest and respect for the ancestral religion among many younger Corome1\os who had previously shown less interest it\ traditional culture. EXTINCT I ON The success of the Zuni and Aymara in recovering sacred artifacts from museums and unscrupulouS collectOrs is an important step in the prevention of the extinction of Indigenous peoples' living culture. Currently. the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is slowly taking shape. Now is the time for Indigenous peoples' to par· ticipatc in this document and work on the issue of repatria<ion rights. Perhaps most importantly, everyone can help by being vigilant for the appearance of sacred items in the ethnic an markeL 't' Thanhs to the followblg individuals who volunteered their time <md expertise to the n:s«>rch of <his al'ricle: Lynde! V. Prou, UNESCO ()'aris); Marie Samuet Yachay \Vasi, Inc.; Pollyarma Nordscr-<md, American Indian Ritual Objul Repatriation Found<llion. References Feest. Christian F. 1995 "REPATRIA· TION": A European View on the Question of Restitution of Nalive American Artifacts. European Review of Native American Studies. 9:2 pp33·42 . F owler. Brenda. Sunday, June 16, 1996. Should Just Anyone Be Allowed to Stare? The New York Times. Lacroix-Hopson, Eliane. The Inca Challenge. Winter 1995196. Yachay Wasip 'Simin' (Vol.ll No.3) Lobo, Susan. Summer 1991. The Fabric of Life. Repatriating the Sacred Coroma Textiles. Cultural Survival. Vol. 15. Merrill, William L.; Ladd, Edmund J.; Ferguson, T.J. 1993. The Return of the Ahayu:da: Lessons for Repatriation from Zuni Pueblo and the Smithsonian Institute. Cuffent Anthropology Chicago v.34 no 5, pp.523-567. Metz, Holly. April 1993. Remains to be seen: Relic repatriation fuels Native American activists. Student Lawyer. Vol. 21 No.8. Moffet, Barbara. National Geographic. Public Affairs Spokeswoman. (Phone lnteNiew July 16, 1996). R einhard, Johan. June 1996. Peru's Ice Maidens. Nationcl Geographic. pp62-81. 17 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 2 (Summer 1996) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reversing the Flow of Traffic in the Market of Cultural Property Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Eric Bergman Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1996 Language A language of the resource English English Zotero Title Reversing the Flow of Traffic in the Market of Cultural Property Item Type Journal Article Author Eric Bergman Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 13-17 Publication Title Abya Yala News: Journal of the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC) ISSN 1071-3182 Date Summer 1996 Language English Abstract Note Indigenous nations have been conquered and exploited, thus their cultural icons being dispersed to countries all over the world. This article details the efforts of indigenous nations and the United Nations to return these cultural items to their rightful place. Attachment Title Reversing_the_Flow_of_Traffic_in_the_Market_of_Cultural_Property.pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Cultural Identity Cultural Property Indigenous Peoples UNESCO United Nations http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/5e3d298dc18dc3d97bea91dc5e1a94c9.pdf 4fdba902e28b309ab938e4ba64e732cb PDF Text Text 5 E L F DETERMINATION AND TERR I TORY Venezuela: Amazonian Indians Request Support Indigenous peoples. Under the law, the new State of Amazonas has been divid- The Indians demand that instead their land rights be properly recognized and that subsequently consultations take place to devise an administrative regime that suits their cultures and ipalities. Indigenous peoples claim this ed inlo 'municipios: each with elected coincides with their customary systems law is unconstitutional and are chal- 'alcaldes' (mayors), and each in turn divided into a number of ·paroquias' of decision-making. The challenge to the 'Ley de with their respective elected heads. These areas and institutions do not correspond with traditional Indigenous political systems. Moreover. they over- Division Politid... .' is the second court V enezuela has passed legislation that threatens to undermine Indigenous peoples' control of their lands and destinies by dividing the state of Amazonas into electoral munic· lenging il in the courts. However, while the courts have delayed hearing the case, the local government has gone ahead with the dismemberment of the area. The Indigenous peoples are calling for international support to urge the courts to consider the case. The 19 Indigenous peoples of the Venezuelan Amazon are represented by ORPIA (Organizaci6n Regional de Pueblos lndrgenas de Amazonas). They have received the support of the Human Rights Office of the Catholic Church in Puerto Ayacucho. They have been demanding since February 1995 that the law creating the political divisions of the Amazon State in Venezuela be declared invalid by the Supreme Court. For eight months the Supreme Court of justice took no action over the case. It was only after concerted pressure from the Indians that the court finally declared in November 1995 that the case required an urgent hearing. Despite the initial sense of urgency, the court still has not declared its judg- mem. Until recently the Venezuelan Amazon was administered as a Federal Territory and run pushed through the 'ley de Division Politico-Territorial del Est ado Amazonas· without consulting with the lap with Indigenous territories for which titles have yet to be gained according to Venezuelan law. municipal use. Indigenous peoples have argued appointed from Caracas. More recently, as part of a nation-wide program of decentralization, the Territory has been declared a State and opened to local electoral politics. As a part of this process, steps have been undertaken to stitutional. pointing out that Article 77 of the constitution allows for exception- divide the State up into new adminis· the towns aboUl which the new 'municipios' are being created arc far However. the local Governmem Voi.10No. 2 Amazonas. Earlier this year, ORPlA successfully challenged the local Government~ attempts to build a road from the State capital Puerto Ayacucho south to San Fernando de Atabapo. .., Despite Indigenous objections and the filing of a case contesting the legality of the law, the local government has Adapted from a reporr by the IVor/<1 gone ahead with applying the new Rainforest Mo,·ement structure and forced through elections. Already the imposed system is causing Pleas.: send fa.<es or leuers: problems. New internal divisions have been created because the boundaries of · Expressing concern for the situation in the the new •municipios' and 'paroquias' do Venczutlarl State of Amazonas as a result of not conform to Indigenous ethnic the imposed tenicorial division boundaries. Party politics has been introduced imo the communities. New - Asking the Sup••me Courr of ]uslie< to clientelistic relations have been estab- declare null attd \'Oid the Ley de Division lished throughout the territory. Poli1ico Terri101ial dtl Es1ado Amazonas as Dominant communities and ethnic n:qu<St<d by the lndige110us peoples on 2 groups have strengthened their authori- Febn.ary 1995. ty over smaller and politically marginal ones. Most serious. the new 'municip- Ora. Cecilia Sosa, Presidenta de Ia Corte ios' have begun a process of expropriat- Supn:ma de justlcia, Av. Barall, Son jc>s< de ing untitled Indigenous lands for Avila, Ctmuas, Venezuela by Governors that the law dividing the State is uncon- trative units. case that ORPIA has filed contesting Government initiatives in the State of al administrative regimes in Indigenous areas to accommodate their cultural differences. They also note that the law is contmry to established procedures, as too small to qualify. Dr. Alfredo Duchanne. Magisrrodo Po11er11e, Corte Suprema de juslicia, Caracas, Venezuela Fax number for both: 00 58 2 563 8113 For further information: Forest Peoples Programme, 8 Chapel Row, O•adling1on, OX7 3NA, England: Tel: 00 44 1608 676691; Fax: 0044 1608 6767'13; Email: wrm@gn.apc.org 29 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 2 (Summer 1996) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Venezuela: Amazonian Indians Request Support Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1996 Language A language of the resource English English Zotero Title Venezuela: Amazonian Indians Request Support Item Type Journal Article Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 29 Publication Title Abya Yala News: Journal of the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC) ISSN 1071-3182 Date Summer 1996 Language English Abstract Note The Amazonian Indians of Venezuela are slowly being threatened by legislation that wishes to take their land away, and divide them into municipalities. For many years, these people have urged the support of international agencies to help in their effort to maintain their land. Attachment Title Venezuela.pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Amazonian Indians Venezuela http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/ccf107e5fa793d6a8cb2ab42e0bec9c0.pdf ac8d5662e6a1040d2808b01001d7db76 PDF Text Text CONFRONTING CULTURAL EXTINCTION "We call the colonists ahatai which is like our words for 'spirit of the dead'(ahat) and for 'the devii'(Ahataj). When they first arrived (in 1902-3) their foods were unfamiliar to us. Our grandparents were afra1d of the flour the ahatai gave them, thinking it might be poisonous. So they left it boiling on the fire, afraid that they would die if they ate it. Then one old woman said to her children, 'I am old and haven't long to live, so I'll try it. If I die from it, you'll know not to eat it.' And so we learnt to eat ahatai foods. " tanding waist-deep in the muddy water, holding nets strung between two poles, the Wichi fl.sherman detects the fish by noting movements in the river's surface. Plunging the net over the fish and swinging downward. the catch is enveloped in the trap. Swiftly and with minimal impact on the aquat- S ic environment, a natural resource ~:~keover of their land by outsiders. What was once a fenile grassland dot· ted with bushes and trees has become a dry. sandy desert, and with the shimmering chest-high grasses have gone many of the animals the Wichi used to hunt. Today, although numerically the Wichi are not in danger of disappear· ing. their traditional way of lire is van· ishing as the outside world slowly clos- yields a nutritious meal. The fisherman$ es in. In response, the Wichi are orgaserenily. however, belies the deepening nizing and trying desperately to secure crisis faced by the \Vichi people: For 90 their land. The occupation of the Wichi pcO· years. the)' have endt.red the gradual 10 pie's land aucsts to an Argentinian version of "ManifeSt Destiny: the guiding ideology behind the colonization or the North American \Vest Since the arrival of europeans, but particularly since the tum of the century, the Wichi have suf. fered continuous harassment. inter~ spersed with serious bouts of violence in which large numbers of 1ndigenous people were killed. Along with disease, the well-armed scnlcrs introduced herds of caule, which de'"'Stated the fragile arid landscape. Today, the Wichi are still fair!)' Abya Yala News �CONFRONTING numerous. Estimates range from 20.000 to 50.000 Wich! living in south· eastern Bolivia and northern Argentina. in a semi·arid region known as the Chaco. Wich! villages ha,·e their own territory, but often six or se"en villages will share the use of the overlapping areas. Each community usually consists of one or more dans. People belong to their mothers' clans: in matrilocal Wich! CULTURAL Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to single out efforts to combat desertification as a top priority. For the \:Vichf, desenification trans· lates into starvation: starvation because their traditional sources of food are disappearing. ln the winter they depend on fish from the Pilcomayo river and in the summer on vegetables grown in relationship with their surroundings. their gardens on what little land they have left. All too often, the settlers' cattle trample the gardens. undaunted by the Wichrs fences of thorn bushes. The \vild fruits and berries they used to Their small houses of mud. branches and leafy boughs are well adapted to the gather and the animals they used to hunt are gone. Now. even the scorching temperatures that reach 50° C in the shade in sum1ner. During the dry wimer momhs they depend on fish Pilcomayo river is threatened by the Hidrovfa development project (see below). from the Pilcom3yo River. In the wet summers. they cultivate corn , water· melons, bear"s and pumpkins grown in their gardens. which they encircle \\fith U state government of Salta province society. men move to their wife's village upon marrying. The Wich! people live in an intimate thorny branches to try to prevent the settlers' cattle from invading. They hum deer, amtadillo, peccary and iguana, and search for wild honey throughout the year. Members of some of the neigh· boring peoples-the lyojwaja, Nivaklt, Qomlec and Tapy'y-often live amongst the \· ichf, sometimes marrying into V nderlying all these problems is the EXTINCTION In 1987. the provincial government passed a new law that recognized the se11lers as having legal rights to the land. and proposed to give each se11ler. as well as each of the 30 Wichf communities in the area. title tO a small parcel of land. By this time, the se11lers had established themselves on the most fertile areas of land, and the Wich! knew that such an action would split up the region into hundreds of pieces, jeopardizing their access to much of the land. This would not onl)• be intolerable but was also illegal under international and Argentinian law. In 1991 the Indians. working with Survival International. an NGO based in England. prepared a land claim repon that demonstrated that at least 162,000 acres spread over the two State Plots traditionally belonged to them. L1ter that year, the provincial Governor signed a decree (No. 2609/91) recog- and its continuing refusal to grant the nizing that the area was indeed \Vichf title to their territory. In the area Indigenous land, and pledging to recognize this in law. The succeeding Salta under dispute. known as State Plots 55 and 14, which comprise about 138,000 and I 86.000 acres, respectively, live about 5,000 Wichf. along with a few small communities of Chorote, Toba government failed to take any decisive action, and allowed the situation to deteriorate dramatically. Shortly before leaving office at the end of last year, the and Chulup! peoples. same government presented a draft their society. W known periods of hunger. never hile the Wich! have always has life been as hard as it is today. with most of the animals gone, and their emoronmem drastically desenified-a s.'ndy desert where a grassland ecosys- tem once thrived. According to UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme), 'desertification' is not the spread of deserts but the creation of desert-like conditions in the dry lands, which make up 35 per cent of the Earth's land surface. It is a -- - phenomenon which it estimates may threaten the livelihood of one billion people worldwide. including the Wichl. In November 1995. a coalition of donors, governments. NGOs and grassroots groups met in a two-day confer- ence convened by the UN International Vol. 10 No. 2 Wichl fisherman on the Pilcomayo rivet. 11 �C O N~ ~~N T I ~~~ U l T U R A ~--~ X_T I~ ~~_O N --------------------------~~~ F~R O ~~~N G C l E~ ~ N_C T I ~~ be channeled. straightened, and dredged, with tributaries of the river blocked off and rock outcroppings in the channel detonated. The Pantanal, the world's largest wetland, figures among the 93 sites needing dredging. For the Indigenous peoples depen· dent on the rivers targeted by Hidrovfa, which includes the Wichl, the environ· mental impacts could be devastating. worsening their already precarious li\r. ing conditions. (See article page 30) n 1990, Wichf chose course of They contacted Survival I action . therequesting the ahelp of two International, Wicht men enjoy roasted fish on a honey collecting trip. land bill to the provincial parliament thm is completely against the interests of the Indians and, if approved, would dcpri\'e them of huge traCtS of their ter· free-market system. the Argentinian government undertook a regional development plan linking Paraguay ritory. mately, Chile with Brazil and the Pacific with the Atlantic. This 'dcveloptnem' process means that Indigenous peoples will be gradually pushed out. and that the connicts over land will intensify. Without the slightest consultation of the Wichf, a bridge is currently being built across the Pilcomayo River (which forms the border between Argentina and Paraguay) beside an Indian village called Nop'ok ·wet (La Paz). The \Vichl were told that their village is scheduled to be replaced by a frontier town. ln. addition, the government plans to construct a major highway that would cut through Wichl territory to link this town ' vith Tartagal. As a result of the general disintegration of the environment. the non· Indian criollos arc also becoming poorer. But in a desperate attempt to salvage a living. they are increasingly preventing the Indians from using the few remaining fertile areas. Men are barred from hunting (sometimes at gunpoint), women gathering wild fruits are threatened, and in some cases the Indians have even been denied access to muchneeded water holes. The criollos' cattle, no longer having grass to feed on. invade the Indians' vegetable gardens. often destroying a whole crop overnight. "They threaten us s.1ying. 'Indian, don't come around here. I own this land and 1 don't like Indians on it. If you want to hunt here, you must ask for my permission - or I'll kill you.' ...They don't own those resources. The things that we Wichf live on do not belong to anyone. They belong to God; a Wichf man was quoted saying in a 1994 report by Survival International. nder pressure to integrate its econ- U 12 omy into the emerging Mercosur with nonhwestern Argentina and. ulti~ The massive Paraguay·Param1 Hidrovfa industrial waterway project is anthropologists they trusted. They reasoned that the government might revoke the law if it could be shown that the whole area was Wichlland, and had been so for hundreds of years. They wanted the government to recognize their land rights and remove the settlers. They decided to carry out a census of all the Wichi in the region: to make a map of every village; to record an oral histo· ry of life on their lands before and after colonization; and most importantly, to compile one large map or the entire region. sho,ving all the places used and named by the Wichl. This would pro- vide irrefutable evidence of their inti· mate knowledge of the land. O n August 7, 1991, the report and map were formally presented to the provincial governor. Later that year. only hours before he left office, he signed a decree recognizing the Wichls ownership of the land. and confirming that they should be awarded a single. communal title to the entire area. As a result of the project the Wichf decided to form an organization also part of that plan. The project is headed by the five governments of the La Plata basin. It would require widen· ing and deepening the channels of the through which they could be represent· cials. They called it Thaka Honat (Our Land). Now. every village sends repre· Paraguay and Paran<\ rivers, Somh scn.uuives to its meetings. cd in meetings with government offi· 1l America~ second largest water system, to allow ocean-going ships access to the port of Oiceres. Brazil, 2,100 miles upstream from the ri,·er's mouth . Under the plan being studied, the rivers would Despite the existence of the Decree, the \Vid1t ha\'t still nor rectived title 10 rlleir Continued on page 31 Abya Yala News �ENVIRONMENT and integrity of ecosystems must be recuperated, especially in degraded needs of local populations and not external interests. Respecting this crite· areas of critical importance for the ria, all initiative must have as its origin structural restoration of hydrological and finality the needs and interests of systems. Proposed actions such as per- local communities. Even so. ils implemanent dredging and the conStruction mentation must adapt ilself to natural of dams for water regulation or for sed- conditions, avoiding negative social iment retention do not constitute solu- and environmental impacts. The govtions, but rather threats. They do I\Ot ernmental project for the Paraguaylook at the true causes of problems of Paron~ industrial waterway does not sedimentation of river beds and deteri- respond to either of these criteria. This oration of hydrological systems, but project, designed behind the back of rather the maintenance or the predatO· populations of the region, will not ry system which only seeks economic bring any benefits nor solutions for the benefits for large corporations, while needs of the peoples of the Basin, but financial and environmental costs are rather will increase even more their paid by populations and by nature. problems. generating greater impacts The infrastructure to be implanted and increasing social and environmenin the region must be in function of the tal costs, ""'ny of them irreversible. The existing resources destined for mega-projects promoted by, interllational financial institutions and entities of cooperation must be re-directed toward the tn•e needs of local populations, moving away from their current orientation to promote unsustainable projects which only benefit those small groups in whose hands ~wer and resources are concentrated. '1t From dtt curves of the Paragt,ay River. july 27, 1996 For more information: Glenn Swithes, Dircccor of the lAtin America Progmm at Ihe International Rivers Neiwoth, 1847 IJtrheley IVa)j B<rkeley, CA, 94703; Tel: 510/848·1 155; Fax: 5J0/8i8-J008 us Argentineans, they don't respect us. They cd to p<acefully takeover tl~t lands arcnmd don't recogni<e this latJd as ours. They play the bridge on lite 25 of August. \Ve will occu· land. Jn 1994, d~ey made their first trip Old- around, saying '"\Vait jusr a liule bit more... py the laml uruil the: g<wernmeru of Salta side their land to spcah at the United Bur whllt we walt, they ntO\'t ahead with give,.'$ a concrer.: n.ospon.se in regards to our Narions about dttir plight. In conrimradon. their projws: They seule Oltr latJd, lay down requests. This is an act of hop<. wt ttptoduet the latest attempt by the \Vicl1l their roads, d1eir lxlrb·wi~ ftnccs, aml dteir to secure rheir territory. towns. And rtOw thc:y a~ lmilding a bridge in IVe ash that you collaborate, by sending peo· La Paz and they that we have to paGh up and plt who belit\'t in our cause to accompany us For the Titling of Our Land: T<•keover of the gil't them space. and assure: that there be no acts of violence lnttnlational Bridge Over the Pilcomayo against our families. River (l.a Pav \V are 1101 animals n.mning loose. \Ve are e not dogs to be driven away at the whims of E\·trl aftet d1e taheo"e'; you can support our Many years have passed sinGe we requested their owner. \Ve are the flowers of the Earth, cause by sending leuers to: the go\'trnmtnt of Salta province, Argentirta, platJted by God Himself 10 and duive in to officially gmnt ItS title to the land that we these lands. Sr. Gobemador de Ia Provincia de Salta, D.& ha\·e always irdtabited. \Ve have stru ltlltrs. juan Carlos Pomero, Casa de Gobietno, Meetir1gs take place. new laws and decrees \Ve have asked the autJ1oritles to suurc: the Gra.n urg 4400, Salta, Argentina are passed, ar1d yet more topographic stud. titles 10 thestlatJdS befort: undertaking these ies... \Ve are nqw irt the fourth administra· large projeCts in rht places when: we live. Sr. Prcsideme de Ia RepUbliGa Argentina, Dr. tion. Yet they ha"e not rtSl){)ndcd to our These are fiscal lands and the Ia"~ therefore Carlos S. Mencm, Casa Rosada, Capital demands. Years pass and our lands become recognize our right of OW>ltrslt!p. Amlds1 all Federal, Argentina; Fax: 54 J 343 2249 or impoverislted, btt"m'se the people 'vho have this tall: of Mercosur. we see a more secure 54 1331 7976 come from the outside to occupy dtem Know future simply in the ownersltip of out land. not how to manage them. Years pass and we Asociaci6n de Comunidades Aborlge,les btcome poorer. Faced with no response and the upcoming Lahlta Honhat, San luis, Sta. Victoria Este, inauguration of the bridge, dtt 35 communi· Rh·adavla B. Norte, CP i58J, Pcia. Salta, Even thougl1 we lzm•e official papers making ties belonging to our QSSO(iation ha\'t decid· A~entina Continued from page 1!2 li•·• Voi.10No. 2 31 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 2 (Summer 1996) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Whichi: Fighting for Survival in Argentina Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1996 Language A language of the resource English English Zotero Title Whichi: Fighting for Survival in Argentina Item Type Journal Article Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 10-12, 31 Publication Title Abya Yala News: Journal of the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC) ISSN 1071-3182 Date Summer 1996 Language English Abstract Note The Wichi people of Argentina are under constant threat of land takeover, thus instituting cultural upheaval. This article depicts the organizing of the Wichi, in their attempt to secure their land and culture. Attachment Title Wichi.pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Argentina Cultural Extinction Wichi http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/2c6874b314ce1c02f454d588c0feff62.pdf 5e46ac46768096987ebd3e76d13fc254 PDF Text Text IN BRIEF citing plans for construction of two trans-Andean gas Armando Antonio Ptrez, two members of AN IS. The Perez pipelines importing natural gas from Argentina. and the brothers appealed to the Supreme Coun of justice. but to no planned construction of new gas· fired powerplants. The US. avail; the coun ruled to have them expelled from the com· based Natuml Resources Defense Council rettntly conclud· munity. ed a Study demonStrating that improvement of energy deliv· Presently. a warrant is out for the arreSt of Don Adrian cry SyStems m Chile would make Ralco unnecessary. Esquino. president ANIS. on the grounds that he has Stolen The lnternauonal Commission on J..arge Dams is an Org;t· land and murdered. On May 3. an explosion tore through the nization of engineers from 79 countries which promotes con· house of the Esquino family. but caused only structural dam· struction of dams throughout the world. Founded in 1928. age. Faced with this situation. Esqulno is urging human it is headquartered in Paris, France. rights organizations to pressure the Salvadoran state to protect the rights of Indigenous communities under fire. Information from: lntemarfonal Rivus Networl1 (IRN), 1817 Berllelcy Wily. Bcrlwley, Califomia 94703 USA; Tel: (+510) 818· Colombia: Another Zenu Leader Killed 1155: Fax: (+510) 8'18-1008; email: im@igc.al'(.O~ Lummi Indian Nation, 2616 Kwlna Road, Bellingham, \\whington 98226. USA: efore the very eyes of Indigenous and national authoriTel: (+360) 38'1·2288; Fax; (+360) 738-8863 ties, one by one the members of the San i\ndrts de Sotavento Resguardo (Indian reserve). are being killed. At 1:30pm on Sunday, August 18. on the site known as El Salvador: Deputies Threaten Indigenous La Arena (Olrdoba State), two armed men on a black motor· Organization, Target Community bike assassinated the Indigenous leader of the town council he deputies Renato Ptrez. Adolfo Varela. and acU\151 m and mayoral ex-candidate of the town of San Andrts. Albeno the rightiSI ARENA political pany jorge Rufz are present· Cheito Malo Alean. ly attempttng to evict the Indigenous residents of the J..as The Zenu leader was 38 years old. mamed. and had two Hojas county of the San Antonio del Monte Sonsonate juris· children. By profession, he was a civil engineer. lie was the diction. Ptrez. Varela, and Rufz accuse the leaders of the brother of Htctor Malo Vergara. Cacique (chicO of the San National Sah'3domn Indigenous Organization (ANIS) of Andrts de Sotavento Resguardo. who was assassinated on being land thieves and murderers. March 26, 1994, along with three other Indigenous persons. Through the Ministry of Agriculture and Ranching. the This year 12 Zenu leaders have been killed. plaintiffs presented their accusations against the members of The Zenu of the San Andrts de Sotavento protested the AN IS before the tribunals of Sonsonate. They arc accused of lack of any meeting \vith representatives of the state in search violating the agricultuml norms of the country. At this point of solutions to this crisis of civil order. Their attempts have 10 members of AN IS were summoned to appear before the so far yielded nothing. Sonsonate courts to present their testimony regarding this The Cacique Rosenburg Clemente confirmed that the situation. according to the president of AN IS, Fermin Garcia Indigenous people are scared because they don' know who woll be next or when. Guardado. Several lndogcnous nations inhabit J..as Hojas count)'. He added that the massacres ha,·e contmued unabated. mcludmg Nahuats, l.A:nkas. and Mayas. This regoon was aoded by the indifference of the authonues. This comes after acquored by ANIS on 1978 as a safe region in whoch to work those same authorities had promised on a recent meeting in with the communities. They organized cooperatl\'es and are Manillo to establish a vigilante SyStem and to assure peace working communally. In this same spot. 74 Indigenous peo· and autonomy in the Resguardo. pie were massacred in 1983 by the $ah'3doran army. It The International Brotherhood of Human Rights has proremains today a s.1cred place for them and they ask that it be posed the creation of a human rights commission in the area. respected . The Church in turn has suggested that a Reconciliation Since january a number of violent actions have been Commission be set up in conjunction with international directed at the Indigenous people of the region. such as on observers. Nothing has come of any of this. however. january 27 when unknown masked individuals entered the The Cacique requested that impunity be stopped and that community at midnight and nred bullets on the house of the the results or the inveStigations or the murders under way be spiritual leader and Indigenous leaders connected to ANI$. made public. At the same time they threatened to repeat the bloodshed of He also denounced the fact that there arc heavily armed I 983. At that time Amnesty International had led a camp.1ign mercenaries in the majority of the ranches existing in the of informing human rights organizations to pressure the region of the San Andrts de Sotavento Resguardo in Olrdoba Salvadoran Slate to inforcc jUStice. and Sucre. On the 12 of March, the national police ransacked the office of ANIS and detained Rafael Anuro Ptrez and lnformatwn from El Tiempo, Bogot4 B T Vol. 10No. 2 5 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 2 (Summer 1996) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Colombia: Another Zenu Leader Killed Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1996 Language A language of the resource English English Zotero Title Colombia: Another Zenu Leader Killed Item Type Journal Article Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 5 Publication Title Abya Yala News: Journal of the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC) ISSN 1071-3182 Date Summer 1996 Language English Abstract Note This article details the ever growing issue of indigenous leaders being assassinated. Attachment Title Colombia_in_brief.pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Colombia Indigenous Leader