1 12 34 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/ed769d769adcaba4dafb78408e799639.pdf 39114a5b8d844770be549757f0474b50 PDF Text Text Newsletter Vol6 No 4, Fall 1992 Price $3 �Eco Fight Space at Summit ............ 4 Declaration Indigenous Peoples of the World ........ 6 Italian Oil Co. Occupies Area (Brazil) ..................... .7 Woodcutter Killed (Brazil) ..................................... 8 Patent Bill Threatens Indians (Brazil) ......................... 9 Health Pro jest Sees Increase in Malaria (Brazil) ......... 10 Crisis Affects .......................... 11 Yanomani Indians are Dying ........................ 12 Miqueas Millares, ............... 13 Reunion the Mapuche Nation (Argentina) ............. 14 Reviving Jujuymata Culture (Argentina) ..................... 16 Poetry (Argentina) .................................................. 17 Mapuche Take land Recovery Actions (Chile) ........... 18 , Guarani ................. 20 People of Beni Agents Out (Bolivia) ......... 23 Academy To Study Indigenous Cultures (Bolivia) ........ 23 Margarita FIPI ........................ .. Congress of Indigenous Medecine (Mexico) ............ .. International Meeting of Indian Press (Mexico) ......... . The Mexico Declaration (Mexico! ............................ 28 Costa Rican Indians March (Costa Rica) ................... 29 Third Continental Meeting ( Panamaj ....................... 30 Calixta Gabriei,Caqchikel Maya ........ 31 Violence Against Mom Indians (Guatemala) ............ . Indian Women and 500 Years Resistance ........... . Ecuador Oil Campaign Meeting .............................. 36 Second Kuna Women's Conference ......................... 36 Amnesty !ntemational ............................................. 38 Man Killed in Dominican Republic ........................... 38 Peace & Dignity Journeys ....................................... 39 Page Mail: Oakland, Office: 1212 Broadway, #830 Oakland, California 94612 Phone: (51 OJ 834-4263 Fax: (51 0)-834-4264 Peacenet E-mail: saiic@igc.org 2 Director: Nilo Office Coordinator: Jim Freeman Office Assistant: Rosa Alegria Accounting: Quipus Radio Program Coordinator: Carlos Maibeth Design & Typesetting: Ei Andar Publications SAIIC Board of Directors Gina Pacaldo (San Carlos Chicana),Nilo Cayuqueo IMt:~roLICI'ltl'll-Aimen­ tinal, Carlos Maibeth (Miskito-Nicaragua), Wara Alderete (Calchaqui-Argentinalu Xihuanel Huerta (Chicanlndia), lucilene Whitesell (Amazonia Native-Brasil) Guillermo Delgado (Quechua-Bolivia) The SAIIC Newsletter (ISSN 1056-5876) is published four times per year and available an annual $15 personal membership, $25 for an organizational membership, or $3 at certain newstands. For membership, you will also receive Urgent Actions bulletins. International memberships, add $1 0. We would like to thank the fallowing people and organizations for their generous assistance and donations to SAIIC. A Central Place, Eva Aguilar, Carlos Coloma, Marcela Doylet, Melissa Kelleher, Ashley Kirkman, Jennifer Kirkman, Dorinda Moreno, Grace Nicols, Glen Switkes, Toshiko, Peter Veilleux, Erica Wcmdner, Victoria Ward Thanks to the following foundations for their generous support : The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, General Service Foundation, Tides Foundation, Funding Exchange, Seventh Generation Fund, Agricu~ rural Mission, United Church of Christ, Peace Development Fund, Vanguard Foundation, Onaway Trust. COVER ILLUSTRATION )oseMarwel Ticona , Aymora Winner of the poster contest 500 Ai'ios de Lucha Anticolonial MRTKL, Bolivia 1992 as a poster SAIIC SAIIC Newsletter �I I that recognize cultural diversity, and the legal and human rights of Indigenous peoples should continue to be implemented. Indigenous peoples have expressed their will to carry on their long term struggle for the full recognition of their rights. EW msroruCAL TRENDS In recent continental gatherings we, as rearticulated Indigenous peoples have broadened our perspectives and our demands at a continental level. Indigenous people are no longer isolated entities, we have overcome the colonial boundaries imposed on us for 500 years. tQggen~ ;t:CO!ltm~nta1 reorganizing and gathering of all Indigenous have been meeting in South America, ·~on~;tmctjritgtlleiij¢qJmmmruication network and sharing their Indigenous encounters have ..· equality within current nation-states. ) Nation-state policies of "intevrnfitin~~''iililrl "!l$Similati<m' passive ways, undermining thus, Iridlige:i}olllS --·---··~..-~:..."''"''Mi~n enforced in both violent and seemingly derrigra~d h~li.i!~engps Indigenous peoples, an active Indigenous Peoples. This however, dm~n.Otln~fri. which promote equality and harmony. nations, languages and cultures. !~ tJmti®"I"'~t:JiOns have declared 1993 The Year of we mtera1ct in relation to nation-states are those 1992 can be seen as the end of this ,..,.,fl'fn,.,.,,~,-.. p¢~~ ¢)rd¢ilm:lig<~nous peoples look at it with hope. At no other time have we felt responsible for the jp~fuisiqfpfu;~xis~n&::: . . would like to warn the world community of the urgent need to rethink our human existallQ¢ un~~l:e¢ !that ®:tlura)l~~;Qm-ces are not exhausted. Having established communication !nd~gepq~1s p~pll¢$)v~n. fro.I.D tn¢ll.' "''f'"~,..v ..... ecological beliefs, continue to denounce the abuse of our planet These recent JUq~geij61~s iiiarc:nes·· that remind governments and nation-states of · the urgent need to implement the rights Ji),digenm;!S peop11e ¢el'lttuties. Recent land grants, govermnents' recognii:-ntnriir·nm,i<ll> , dialogue, understanding, but there is tion of the Right of Indigenous peoples toJh~iiocOJii~i$c*:Q; ~(pd~f l;fi.tf!; still much resistance to recognizing Inclig(~tiQ(t$.Jrigl1ts. Nevertheless, current economic trends \WOJrJ.ruil!l' aJg@.~sttli¢ realities are causing the empoverishment of Pe<)[)le~::wliO 1Lt¢~~pgly 'Wte repeatedly pointed out the structures based on inequality In this issue, we are presenting our recent thoughts, Indigenous people of the continent ,..,.,"\,.,.,,,.n;~,.., Let Indigenous people speak for themselves on these issues. world, and specifically in Latin America these to make ends meet. Clearly, Indigenous peoples have fru:StnlitiOJrlS and hopes for a better world as we dialogue with the �I Indian delegates meet withAl Gore. Photo SAIIC From a traditional Indian village constructed in the Tijuca national forest to a sweltering tent in the Global Forum on Flamengo Beach, environmentalists participating in Rio de Janeiro's Eco '92 encountered hundreds oflndigenous peoples from around the world who participated in two major Indian conferences. However despite the substantial Indigenous presence in Rio, the participation of Indian people in the Earth Summitwhere world leaders were gathered to sign treaties on fundamental environmental issues- was limited to a symbolic five minute statement by Marcos Terena, of the Terena Nation of Brazil. The first indigenous conference was the Wodd Conference of Indigenous Peoples on Territory, EnvironmentandDevelopment, organized by the InterTribal Committee-500 Years of Resistance (Brazil), COICA 4 (Amazonia), and Centro Mocovi (Argentina). About 1000 indigenous people from five continents gathered in a series of long houses built by seven Amazonian tribes in a village dubbed "Kari-Oca". Shamans blessed the land, and the village became the scene of a weeklong meeting, which brought busloads of Xavante and Kayapo Indians from Brazil together with much smaller delegations from Samiland, the Philippines, Australia, and Africa. Also featuring the participation of many indigenous peoples, primarily from Brazil, was the Earth Parliament, whose goal was to allow Indians a greater voice at the UN .C.E.D. meeting. The Earth Parliament culminated with a rally at which Congressmen and Senators from the United States expressed their support for the goals of Indigenous peoples. SAIIC Newsletter �I Indians in the First Conference of the People of the Forest, Rio Blanco, Brazil. Photo Kit Miller Despite the apparent use of Indian people at times as "window dressing" at the ecological conference, some Indian leaders, reflecting on the meeting, saw a brighter side in the events. Atencio Lopez, Kuna from Panama represented the Kuna Association United for Nabguana (Mother Earth). According to Lopez, "Never before at a world conference had so much attention been placed on Indigenous peoples and their natural surroundings as at the U.N.C.E.D. conference... Our principal task was to avoid the altering ofparts of the principal documents of the Conference dealing with Indigenous peoples after years of negotiations in the Prep Corns, which were held prior to Rio. The little bit that had remained affirmed in Agenda 21, the Declaration on Forests and others, had required a great effort on the part of our delegates. But, sadly, indifference toward the problems of Indian peoples by countries like the United States, Canada, England and France, among others, put our efforts at diplomacy in jeopardy. "For example, in Agenda21, only 3 million dollars of the 600 billion to be set aside annually (for environ- Vol 6 Num 4 mental protection) under Agenda 21 was earmarked for Indigenous peoples. This shows that for the world governments, our people are not a priority. As for the Forest Declaration, the active participation and defense by Indigenous peoples of our territories is left up to the judgment of governments. The same goes for biological resources and genetic material, which only takes into account the sovereign rights of the countries, ignoring the existence of our peoples, which for years have conserved and preserved the forests and the genetic material that is found there. "In the end, the participation of Indigenous representatives was a success, because at these moments we have no intermediaries, rather we ourselves struggle with our own voices in international forums which, despite wanting to keep us quiet, cannot We also want to praise the work realized by Evaristo Nugkuag of COICA, as coordinator of the Indigenous delegation of UN.C.E.D .. "We, the Indigenous peoples, are walking toward the future in the footsteps of our ancestors." 5 �I ro E The following is Declaration #141 of the '92 Global Forum in Rio de Jeneiro. The Indians present at the Earth Summet were forced to express their views in this alternative Global Forum, as they were not allowed to completely participate in the official conference. #141 Declaration offudigenous Peoplesofthe World (June 7, 1992) We the Indigenous Peoples of the world, manifest our concern at this moment, when people from the whole planet are gathered here in Rio to discuss the direction of our lives, our planet Mother Earth and the future of our children and grandchildren. We manifest our concern because our voices, the voices of traditional peoples, are not being heard. At this moment, the governments ofthe rich nations are discussing how to exert even more control over the less favored nations. The global community of colonial states has been meeting with each other as First, Second and Third World powers. All are recognized members of the United Natious. The Indigenous Nations are primarily considered Fourth World and are excluded. The intent of the Earth Summit is to address the necessity of developing intergovernmental agreements and policies that shall move the global community of states into a sustainableyield relationship with the natural earth's resources and biospheres. All states should bind themselves to these agreements to protect the natural environment. However, throughout this process, the Indigenous Nations have been totally excluded from the formal proceedings, except in very narrow occasions in which the appearances have been more window dressing than respect for the sovereignty of Indigenous Nations. Indigenous Nations are in agreement. Our exclusion is colonial racism in all its institutional forms. The "State" governments that are significant participants in the Earth Summit process are the most powerful colonial governments in possession of Indigenous Lands, natural resources, territories and populations. To exclude Indigenous Nations helps assure those States' control of what they mutually classify as "domestic affairs." Their domestic policies, programs and governmental relationships with Indigenous Peoples result in our destruction. Statistics of the highest infant mortality, shortest lifeexpectancy, poorest health, highest poverty and so on, are reflectionsofthe injustices againstindigenousPeoples by State governments and societies enriched by the illegal takings and thievery. 6 0 1 1 E E Indigenous Peoples demand: "' our territory and lands be protected from external invasion and exploitation; "'our air, water and lands must remain free from pollution, poison and other contaminants. "' our individual human rights and freedoms are protected; "' our rights to self-governance is guaranteed; "' our rights to self-determination protected; "' our traditional, ceremonial and spiritual sovereignty; "' our right to control and govern over all foreign persons that shall enter our territory; "' our sovereignty over our language and culture; "' our sovereign control over all economic development of our land, resources, territory and peoples; "' our protection of all our sacred sites and objects; "'the freedom from being downwind of environmentally damaging, or poisoning activities of foreign individuals or corporations that impact the quality of air, water and lands; * our forests be protected as we Indigenous Peoples have always protected our forests, theanimaiswehunt, our fish, our mountains and our P AJES (spiritual .leaders) who live in the sacred places amidst our forests. "' that treaties, paid for by our people in land and blood, be honored by those nations which have prospered by these agreements. HOWEVER, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, Indigenous Nations want the integrity of our sovereignty respected. The Great Spirit has endowed the Indigenous Nations with the same rights as other member societies of the global community. The world must hear us. Not only have Indigenous Peoples been treated in token ways, but deliberate external influences have operated to divide us form one another. This "divide and conquer" ploy has come form many United Nation leaders. We should like to tell you this moment that our Indigenous spiritual leaders are watching over and observing how your spirit moves. We ask respect for the depths of the earth, home of the fierce spirits which guarantee the protection of all the people and life forms of the planet. We know this Earth Summit will sign the Fundamental Principles governing the destiny for the future (Agenda 21). We, Indigenous Peoples of the world, desire that this document be decisive in respecting the life of all the forest and Indigenous Peoples of the world. SAIIC Newsletter �I Brazil,July 17,1992. Therecoveryofpartofthe territory traditionally occupied by Xavante Indians depends on a concrete action of an Italian corporation, Agip Petroli, the holding company of the Italian stateowned Enter Nazionali Idrocarbure (ENI). The area in question, which is located in the state of Mato Grosso, is presently known as Suia-Missu farm and was bought by ENI in 1981. Although the chairman of the company, GabrieleCagliari,announcedonJunelO at the Earth Summit that the area would be re-turned to the Xavante Indians, he has not made good on his promise so far. Cagliari had said that the area would be returned to the Indians on the 8th of July 1992. According to FUNAI (National Indian Foundation), ENI' s representatives in Brazil oppose the idea of returning the area to the Xavante Indians, defying the decision made by the board of the company in Italy. These representatives have been demanding a statement from FUNAI on the rights of the Xavante Indians over the area. The delay to give the area back to the Indians is making it even more difficult for them to recover their territory. Two thousand families of squatters invaded the Suia-Missu farm on June 15, a few days after the announcement made by ENI's chairman. The squatters were encouraged to invade the area by mayors, politicians and farmers of the region, who oppose the idea of returning it to the Xavante Indians. They even prepared a map to show to the families the places they should invade and they are threatening to react with violence if the Indians do return. There have been accusations that they are occupying parts of the farm. These politicians claim that they rely on the support of the governor of the state of Mato Grosso, Julio Campos, and perhaps this is true, considering that he has not taken any measure to prevent the invasion. Agip Petroli, on its turn, hasn't voiced a word about the invasion of the farm, which is regarded as an area belonging to the company. The Suia-Missu farm occupies most of the 200 thousand hectares of the Maraiwatsede Indian Area. Vol 6 Num 4 FUNAI initiated the demarcation of the area, but its immediate continuity depends on Agip's consent to the return of the Xavante Indians. Agip Petroli bought the Suia-Missu farm in 1981. In the 50's, small squatter families began to invade Maraiwatsede. The area was bought by farmer Ariosto da Riva, who began to refer to the Indian territory as Suia-Missu farm. In 1962, the farmer associated with the Ometto entrepreneurial group in business undertakings. Ariosto da Riva and the Ometto family are of Italian origin. Conflicts between the Xavante Indians and the invaders began to grow until in 1966 the federal administra- Representative Porter (US Congress ) meets Chief tion transferred some Oren Lyon and other delegates. Photo SAIIC of the Indians to the Sao Marcos Salesian Mission, 300 km away from the area. Not long after that, a measles outbreak hit the mission and over 100 Indians died, many of whom had come from Maraiwatsede. The Indians who had stayed in Suia-Missu were taken to another Xavante area. The Ometto group sold the farm to the Liquigas do Brasil company in 1972, which on its tum sold it to Agip Petroli in 1981. The Xavante Indians never gave up the idea of returning to Maraiwatsede. Every year groups of Indians have been returning to the traditional territory to visit their old cemeteries and villages there. But only in 1984 did the Xavante Indians of Suia-Missu manage to get together once again in a single village, making it possible for them to claim their traditional territory in an organized way. Source: Indianist Missionary Council (CJlVII) newsletter 7 �I In the state of Maranhao, in the so-called Brazilian pre-Amazonian region, the fight between the Guajajara Indians and invaders of the Cafia Brava Indian Area was resumed. In the first week of July, inhabitants of the village of Sao Pedro dos Cacetes, which is located in the heart of the Indian territory, invaded theCrioli village and abducted seven Guajajara Indians, making them hostages. The invaders wanted to malce sure that in case they are indeed forced to leave that village they will be resettled and indemnified for all improvements they introduced in the area. The Indians ended up being released on July 3rd, but almost three thousand invaders remained in the Indian area. Kuna Indian delegate at Kari-oca village, Rio. Photo SAIIC On May 14th, nine Federal Police officers invaded the Sabonete village and tortured several Guajajara Indians, including women and children, allegedly to carry out "an operation against the traffic of marijuana and hashish." The shots fired these officers were heard in the distance by other Indians, who gathered around them and seized their weapons in the ensuing fight. The first tenant farmers of Sao Pedro dos Cacetes settled in Canabrava at least 30 years ago, against the will of the Guajajara Indians. After nine pregnant Indian women were killed by the invaders, FUNAI (National Indian Foundation) provided the government of the state of Maranhao, in 1979, with federal funds to remove and resettle those families, which totaled 1247 in that year. Nobody knows what that government did with those funds, as the invaders were not removed from the area in question. Right now, the Guajajara Indians are being pressured to accept the existence of the village in their lands. In exchange for this, they would be provided with another area. But even if the Indians accept this arrangement, conflicts are not likely to end and the Guajajara people might reclaim the area occupied by the village at any moment; according to the Constitution, the rights of the Indians over their lands are imprescriptible. (Brazil), Conflicts have been exploding in several parts of Brazil in recent weeks as a result of the noncompliance, by the Brazilian government, of constitutional obligations to Indian peoples. These conflicts could be avoided if measures such as the removal of invaders from Indian lands were taken. A woodcutter was arrow-shot to death on July 3rd by Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indians in the Amazonian state of Rondonia. The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau are one of the last free peoples of the Amazon. Two brothers of that woodcutter, who were also arrow-shot, narrowly escaped from being killed also. The three men had been removing hardwood from the lands of those Indians for several months. Invasions of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau area became more intense as of the 80's. Through INCRA (Colonization and Land Reform Institute), the government itself issued several title deeds for lands included in the Indian territory, in addition to settling families of tenant farmers there. Although the demarcation of Source: Indianist Missionary Council (CIMI) this territory was finalized in October of.last year, the newsletter invasions were not halted, particular! y those of woodFor further information SAIIC recommends the cutters. The killing of the woodcutter on Friday was book by David Price, :tv'ID: a new warning that the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indians, Seven Locks Press, 1989 who live in virtual isolation, will not accept further invasions of their lands. 8 �I Mario Juruna defends his right to sell a jaguar skin, Rio. Photo SAIIC Brazil, June 22, 1992. Brazil may lose control over the genetic basis of its ecosystems. A bill on industrial property rights proposed by the federal administration and referred to the National Congress on an urgent basis provides for the possibility of patents being issued to cover forms of life. If the Bill is approved, Brazil may have to pay royalties on the use of resources that are typical of its territory and can only be found in it, as multinational companies would have the legal right to establish monopolies over the benefits derived from biodiversity. The Bill is a result of pressures from the American government and the cartel of multinational drug companies is particularly interested in its approval. The Bill will provide these companies with the right to patent a certain form of life that can only be found in Amazonia and to have full control over its use. Moreover, according to article 53 of the Bill, only the holders of such patents would be entitled to import these products, without any obligation to manufacture them in Brazil. Article 51 provides that "the patent Wanaro Indian healer, Brazil border. Photo SAliC shall remain in force for a period of20 years", and not 15 years anymore, as has been the case so far. "In all the history of mankind, we had never witnessed such an absurd reinforcement of monopolies", says Rogerio Cezar de Cerqueira Leite, one of the most renowned Brazilian physicists. "Through Continued on page 10 6 Num 4 / �I -from page 9 this provision, a foreign company files a patent application and takes hold of the Brazilian market for the benefit of its headquarters abroad, doing away with competition." In practice, it means the end of all development possibilities available to the domestic drug industry. What the Brazilian government is trying to do is precisely the opposite of what countries of the first world do, as they only recognize patents after qualifying their industries technologically and after providing them with adequate means of protection. The Indian peoples are surely being affected by this fight of giants, as the genetic bases located in their lands- particularly the ones located in Amazoniaare of fundamental importance to transnational drug The Demini region, served by a CCPY health team, has been one of the two loost affected by the departure of the FNS health workers, the other being Catrimani. Still, Dr. Deise Francisco, coordinator of the health team, reported that there are 12 new cases of malaria out of a population of 90 Yc:momami at the Demini Indian post, after months with no new cases. Mosquito breeding grounds in the area were identified by FNS entomologists but were not eradicated because of the shortage equipment and personnel. Source: Commission for lhe Ycmomami Park companies. To these peoples, the approval of the bill proposed by the Executive branch would mean the handing over of their knowledge on biodiversity to large cartels, which would save years of research and investment in the process. This is something that is already happening in other countries and represents one of the main goals of today's international economic policy. Countries such as the United States do not spare any efforts to make Third World countries adjust their patent laws to the needs of emerging transnational monopolies. For centuries Indian peoples have developed and preserved the knowledge they have on their natural resources, which are to be protected instead of becoming objects of patent protection or private appropriation. These peoples must be supported if they are to continue to preserve their knowledge and biodiversity, so that they may develop sustainable projects that can bring improvements to the quality of life of their communities without forcing them to destroy natural resources in order to survive. There are also peoples whose territories have been degraded as a result of the economic expropriation process. These areas must be recovered so that the quality of life of the communities which occupy them may be improved. This is a reality affecting Indian lands located in the Northeast, South, East and Center-West regions of Brazil. Together with steps aimed at protecting their biodiversity and knowledge, measures must be taken to ensure respect for the ethnic diversity of Indian peoples. Governments and the non-Indian society have traditionally despised the Indian logic in their handling of ecosystems. And this was the logic that ensured the self-sustainable nature of these societies and the preservation of the environment The private appropriation of these resources and know ledge, as provided for in the Bill on Industrial property, represents a blow against the interests of Indian peoples. Source: Indianist Missionary Council (CIMI) newsletter SAIIC Newsletter �I (Brazil) September 10,1992. The current crisis in the Brazilian federal government has had strong repercussions on theYanomami. As all attention and activity is centered on the corruption scandal in Brasilia, government agency budgets are not being disbursed as planned. In a letter dated August 31 health workers employed by the National Health Foundation (FNS) in the state of Roraima to work in the Yanomarni Health District notified Waldir Joao Ferreira da Silva, the then FNS coordinator in Roraima who was just dismissed, of their withdrawal from the 17 health posts in the Yanomami area. In the letter, they cited dwindling resources to fly to areas affected by malaria (the team had 20 hours of flight time available as of September 1) and Brazilian delegates at the Rio conferencs. Photo SAliC lack of essential medicines, especially Mefloquina used to combat malaria - entirely unavailable in the Yanomami Health District (DSY) since the middle of August Equipmentrequested to spray the breeding grounds of malaria-bearing mosquitoes had not been provided and the incidence of malaria is increasing. There were more than 4,000 cases recorded in the last six months. In some places, more than half the population has died of the disease. Health workers and the Indians affected by diseases did not have adequate food supplies. Furthermore, large proportion of the Indians are too ill to plant their fields, affecting next year's food supply. The letter, signed by 13 of the DSY health workers, accuses the FNS of being slow and unwilling to meet health needs in the area. In the Casa do Indio in Boa Vol 6 Num 4 Vista, about half the 120patients are Yanomami, mostly malaria victims. At the beginning of September, there was only two weeks' supply of food left, provided by the Dutch branch ofMedecins sans Frontieres. The Casado Indio would be swamped with new patients if flights continued to bring in emergency cases from the Yanomamiarea. News reports noted that theYanomami were increasingly resistant to medical treatment which has been irregular, inadequate and therefore ineffective. The garimpeiros (miners) have not missed their chance, inciting the Yanomami to react against FUNAI andFNS staff. Some Yanomami invaded a post in Baixo Mucaja!, taking food and gasoline. The garimpeiros have supplied theYanomarni with food and guns as they invade the reserve once again. They now number about 2,000. Sydney Possuelo, the President of FUNAI, met with FUNAI regional administrators last month to ask for their support to work out a strategy to rescue the agency's work. Possuelo would like FUNAI to take back responsibility for Indian health care - given to the FNS two years ago when FUNAI' s work was decentralized. At stake is the disbursement over the Cr$90 billion allocated to the Ministry of Health for health work among the indigenous population. FUNAI, with a budget of Cr$870 million, is as strapped for funds as the National Health Foundation (FNS) whose funds are embargoed because of government expenditure cuts. After meeting regional administrators Possuelo visited Clio Bmja, the Minister of Justice, requesting that military helicopters be used to visit the most critical Yanomami areas. These visits will be carried out over a period of four days to remove emergency cases, investigate invasions by garimpeiros, and will probably lead to an evaluation that will provide the basis for further FUNAI lobbying to reassume responsibility for the health work. Dinarte Nobre de Madeiro, the former coordinator of the successful operation to remove garimpeiros prior Continued on page 12 11 j �I -from page 11 to demarcation of Yanomami land, visited the CommanderoftheArmedForcesintheAmazononSeptember 3 to ask for the helicopters to be released. Meanwhile, Possuelo is calling in FUNAI employees with health care training to work on an emergency basis in the Yanomami area. The aim of the DSY health workers in Roraima, all of them committed toYanomami rights, is to force the government to take responsibility for the work. There was some friction between the group and Waldir JoaoFerreiradaSilva, who has since been asked to leave his post after being appointed temporarily by the FNS in Brasilia as part ofa team that is investigating administrative irregularities of his predecessor. The DSY workers allege that he and the FNS in Brasilia were to blame for the situation because they did not provide necessary support for Yanomami health work, which continues to be critically important. Waldir's reputation among DSY health workers worsened when, at a meeting held in Manaus in July, he untactfully declared that any permanent appointee to his post would have to be approved by Roraima politicians. If this is so, the next appointment could be tragic for the Yanomami. The FNS in Brasilia is under constant pressure by congressmen from Roraima to accept their nominees to state-level posts, including the one which was occupied by Waldir. Sydney Possuelo ofFUNAI is against intervention by local governments in the appointment of officials who work with indigenous peoples. The President ofFNS, in a meeting with CCPY on August 25, gave assurances that until the investigation ends theadministratorwill be a career civil servant in the FNS. After the investigation, it will be necessary to make a permanent appointment of someone who understands the importance of the work done in the DSY and is at the same time capable of overseeing all FNS work in Roraima. The same Roraima political group has continued to be active in theYanomamiissue; the Di rio de Roraima reported that Chico Rodrigues, a federal deputy, had been told by President Collor that he would review the demarcation of the Yanomami area. Although this would be very difficult, the statement reflects the unwillingness of this political force to recognize Yanomami land rights. 12 SAIIC Newsletter �Miqueas Millares is the president of the Inter-Ethnic Association for the DevelopmentofthePeruvianRainforest(AIDESEP). He is a member of the Aguarana people of the Peruvian Amazon. AIDESEP is an association composed of 32 organizations orregionalfederationsfrom all ofAmazonia. Indigenous regional organizations began forming in the Amazon in the 1970's. In 1980, these groups decided to create anational coordinating body, and thus AIDESEP was born. AIDESEP defends the rights and promotes the welfare ofover 500,000 indigenous inhabitants ofthe Peruvian rainforest.. This interview took place at a meeting of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, which works with the United Nations Human Rights Commission. SAIIC: What does it mean to be president of AIDESEP? MM: Well, according to our charter, we consider ourselves a completely indigenous organization, with a president, secretary, and treasurer. We are not a NGO, or nongovernmental organization, but often anthropologists and other intellectuals get confused around this issue and mistake us for a NGO. Instead, the reality is that we have gotten to the point where we as indigenous peoples are managing our own resources directly, without intermediaries. Many NGO's in the past have spoken in the name of indigenous people, and raised funds in our name, but for the most part these funds have not reached our people and remained Vol 6 Num 4 with the organizations instead. Thus we have seen that this pattern needed to be broken, and that we needed to channel funds directly into our communities. This we have managed to do, and we are demonstrating our ability, our responsibility, and our honesty. SAICC: How does the Peruvian government react to the empowerment of the indigenous people and to AIDESEP? MM: Well, the government and its representatives - the local, provincial, and national authorities- in the beginning slandered us as agitators. But we have shown them that it is not "agitation" when one is demanding one's rights. We are demanding what belongs to us, and we have been doing so for centuries- not just recently. For example, if we talk about land, we have been on this land for long before so-called "civilization" arrived and destroyed our culture, our traditional medicine, our languages. Now we have reached 500 years of colonization, which AIDESEP in an assembly decided to name "500 Years of Struggle for Life and SelfDetermination of Indigenous Peoples". Yet from here on we do not want to lament what has passed. We will remember it for the sake of our ancestors, but we are looking towards the future, to what we need to do to ensure the survival of our peoples. We have lived as exploited, marginalized, forgotten people, who have been much discriminated against. But the government is not going to solve our problems if we do not organize ourselves. Continued on page 37 13 �I • Argentina - After more than one hundred years without any official gatherings, the Mapuche nation held its First Re-encounter from May 3-7, 1992, in Neuquen, Argentina. More than a hundredLonko and Mahi Werken (traditional leaders) from Nagmapu (Chile) met with more than two hundred LonkoPinllancuse from different communities of the provinces of Neuquen, Rio Negro, Zapala, Buenos Aires, Junin de los Andes and Bariloche, Argentina. The delegates spent four days analyzing the current state of marginalization and oppression in which the Mapuche people find themselves as a result of neglect by the nation states of Chile and Argentina, and the integrationist policies of these two states. The re-encounter began with a solemn one hour We upin (traditional discussion in Mapudungu) according to the customs of the Mapuche nation, and was led by theLonko Oscar Cayuqueo ofNagmapu (Chile) and Lonko Antonio Salazar ofPuelmapu (Argentina). The topics dealt with at the meeting were the following: Integration and the Nation-state, Land and Territory, Mapuche Law and the Written Law, Education and Identity, Mapuche Nation Flag Design, Historical Significance of the Mapuche Court, and 500 Years of Oppression. 14 The following general resolutions were adopted at the re-encounter: 1. Whereas theMapucheNationexistsinNagmapu, Chile as well as in Puelmapu, Argentina, and that we have been neglected and our existence denied by both states, and given the current situation in which we fmd ourselves, it is imperative that we expand our historical struggle, creating various initiatives. One of these will be a flag, which will revive our history and philosophy, with the purpose of showing the world our reality in the perspective ofanew relationship with the peoples of the world. We agreed to promote and publicize the Flag Design, to be approved in October, 1992, in all the communities 2. Whereas the Mapuche are the original inhabitants of this territory that is currently claimed by nation states, and this territory is the place where we fmd our origin, being, philosophy, science and the roots of our language, Mapudungun, we agreed to claim a territory for our Mapuche Nation. 3. Whereas the historical Mapucheorganizational structure of the communities are vital to our identity as a people, we agreed to reconstruct these, with the purpose of strengthening the power of the traditional authorities. IC Newsletter �I Mapuche woman. Photo SAIIC 4. Whereasourpeoplehaveasystemofpolitical, religious, moral and philosophical nonns by which our communal development and living are governed, constituting the source and practice of Mapuche law, we agreed to work toward reestablishing Mapuche law in the communities. 5. Whereas language is the soul of the people and :a fundamental means of maintaining Mapuche unity, we agreed to put our Mapudungun language into practice. 6. Recognize the Mapuche court as the first recourse for maintaining internal relations and solving problems within the community and between the community and society in general. 7. Weexpressourcompletesupportoftherecently constructed community ofRagilko, and we encourage all the communities to start exercising the fundamental 6 Num 4 right to construct communities. The re-encounter ended with a traditional Nguillatun ceremony in the recently constructed community. Over 1,000 people participated. The Machi and Pillancuse women directed the ceremony, installing a rehue (altar), and the participants committed themselves to continue developing and strengthening their own culture and continue the struggle for the rights of the Mapuche Nation. On May 4, 1992, a march took place through the main streets of the city of Neuquen. The resolutions were publicly announced in a rally in the main square of the town. This had a great effect on public opinion; for over a century, the Mapuche nation had not carried out this type of action due to the oppression by the Argentine state. 15 �I (Argentina) At the end of the 19th century, in what is now the Republic of Argentina, the government began a wide-spread "schooling" camKollas Indian weavers in Tilcara. Photo SAIIC paign. This campaign imposed mandatory elementary education throughout the land. The dominant ideology of the times, similar to the dominant ideology today, reflected the desire of the Argentinian elite to join the ranks of the more "developed" nations of the planet. Europe, the great cities, and the industrialized world symbolized civilization, while the Indians represented backwardness, ignorance, and savagery. Thus, the Argentinian "procer" Domingo Faustino Sarmiento led the above-mentioned schooling campaign with the motto "civilization or barbarism". In order to become a modernized country, it was neccesary for all of the inhabitants to receive a westernized education. Once the military campaigns of extermination were concluded (the Desert Campaign and the Chaco Campaign), the indigenous people who still lived in Argentina had to be civilized. A system of rural boarding schools was created, where Indigenous children were taught foreign values. In this process of enforced acculturation, a principal objective was the elimination of the indigenous languages. In the Andean region of Argentina, it was forbidden to speak the Queshwa language. Children were punished in the schools for speaking their native language in an attempt to impose the exclusive use of Spanish. Yet the Queshwa language had been so pervasive that the Argentinian Declaration of Independence from 16 Spain, signed in the city of Tucuman in 1816, was written in a bilingual format, in both Queshwa and Spanish. To a certain extent, the objective of stamping out Queshwa was reached. By the beginning of the 20th century, Queshwa was spoken only in the province of Santiago del Estero. However, as documented extensively by the researcher and linguistRumi Nahui, founder of the Institute Qeshwa Jujuymanta, the queshwa "thought forms" persist among the inhabitants of northeastern Argentina. The distinct Spanish dialect that is spoken there, and that is often sneered at by academics, is actually the result of the incorporation of Queshwa words, Queshwa accentuation patterns, and Queshwa grammatical structures into the Spanish language. These indigenous Andean "thought forms" are being rescued and developed presently through the work of the J ujuymata Institue. We are relearning to speak the language of our ancestors. Our friends at the Institute hope to establish contact with those people interested in learning or helping to disseminate the indigenous languages of Abya Yala (America). The Jujuymanta institute also offers correspondence courses in Queshwa. It is currently soliciting funds for the publication of stories, poetry, and teaching aids for Queshwa and Guarani language instruction. For more information, please contact Instituto Jujuymanta Galena Alvear 4600 S. S. Jujuy Argentina SAIIC Newsletter �SHORT STORY HIOS (jROVP ND ETRY CONTEST V''$'f'V IPANAKVY JATVN SVYVPI JARAWIKVWAN RIMA ICTHIOS N SQVKVN '%f'%WV YaUa Wawgeykuna Awya yalla apachi q'osni patapi Tawa K'uchu tawantinsuyumanta Yawar qhocha kutipun Llajsakun sirch'i nina urqota. Awya yalla llanp'a ch'ujrikusqa Kallpa malcanakuyta mana atisqarkuchu Jatun ruphyay ukhu urqopi Sach'a ukjupi panpakuna Sallqa ch'inllan .... Unay ayllu yachaykunapi Atimullpusqa chay jina llajtakunamanta Chinkasqa nay uray janaj pachapi Winaypaj arpa atisqa simir nisqa. Mast'aspa makikunanchejta Tawa nujunakuymanta Kay pp'unchayman chhayamunchej Awya Yalla wawqeykuna Kay yuyayniyki llanthupi Ancha sinch'i Pirqapi juqarina Llakijmanta mujujjima Tukuy kayta yuaytawan Qhatisuchej chakisarukunanta Ripusqankunawan. Brothers and Sisters Abya Yala Abya Yala over the smoking reaches of the sacred land The four cardinal directions Become as bloody hells Incandescent lava melts down their potency. Abya Yala complete dislocation Battle of impossible efforts Land of majestic and ardent tropics Deep rainforests, plains, And silent plateaus... Ancestral races, deferential cultures, Ghostly peoples, Lost to the Infinite Always the victims of vain promises. Reaching out our hands From the four points of tenderness We arrive at this day My American brothers and sisters. In the shadow of this memory Let us raise a firm pillar As a foundation for our heart's sorrow and desire Remembering all this We will follow the footsteps Of those who went before us. 1) Awya Y alla = Aby a Y ala= Sutijta "Panamaj Kunan" qosqanku kay Jatun LLegtamas kunaman. 2) Nuqa jap'ikuni qellqanata Runa Tantanakuj Uajtapi, Yachachikunaku-sqankumanto Paz-tapi 1954. Vol 6 Num 4 l)Abya Yala = Awya Yalla =Name for the American continent in the language of the Kuna people of Panama. 2) For the written Qheshwa the conventions adopted in 1954 by the Indigenous Congress of La Paz were used 17 �I nTHERE WILL NOT BE ENOUGH ALL OF THE MAPUCHE" Aucan Huilcaman Paillama was provisionally released on August 10, 1992 after spending 53 days in jail for leading a campaign of Mapuche land recovery. Aucan Huilcaman, a Mapuche Werken (messenger) of the organization Auldn Wallmapu N gulam, or Council ofA11Lands,basedinTemuco,wasoneofll6Mapuche who were arrested between June 17 and 26, 1992 in a wave of government repression which involved beatings and several serious injuries. Most of the Mapuche were released soon after the arrests, but Aucan Huilcaman was held for nearly two months, at times incommunicado, because he was a vocal spokesman for Mapuche land rights. The government plans to prosecute members of the Council of all LandsandhasissuedarrestwarrantsforseveralMapuche leaders. ! ' I "If the government attempts to prosecute all of the Mapuche from the Council of All Lands who participated in the land-recovery actions, it will need to begin by building largerjails," saidPabloHenteleo, the werken (spokesperson) of the Huenteche (plains people) community ofQuilaco, near Nueva Imperial, 55 km west of Temuco in southern Chile. Huentleo said that about 300 Mapuche communities of the Ninth and Tenth regions belong to the Council of All Lands, and participated in the process of land recovery which took place in June in eight locations within Araucania and in Choshuenco, the Lake Region. For the Council of All Lands, the actions of landrecovery in the Andean foothills has meant over 100 police arrests during the land occupations, and about thirty charges of "illegal entry onto private property". The visiting Minister, Antonio Castro Gutierrez, who was designated by the Chilean government to 18 "investigate and create sanctions against the activities of the Council", has advised that charges be pressed for "usurpation of property" and "illicit association". The actions of Minister Antonio Castro are certain to please the Minister of the Interior, Enrique Krauss, who as soon as the land-recoveries began hastened to insult not only the members of the Council of All Lands, but all Mapuche people, by stating: "We will not appeal to the Law oflnternal Security of the State, but instead to the Penal Code, because that is what befits common delinquents." The Council of All Lands is in danger of being dissolvedifitisdesignatedas"illicit". Thebreak-inand burglarizing of its offices, on the 27th of June, was only the last of a long list of hostile measures it has met with. "They took away a large number of documents, but fortunately we had taken some precautions with the photographs and had previously taken them to a safe place," stated Elisa Loncon, a leader of the Council. When the conflict began, Minister Krauss advised the landowners to take part in the case against the Council for "usurpation of lands", and suggested that they bring lawsuits as well. In tum, the visiting Minister decreed, as one of the first measures taken, a blanket of secrecy on the judicial progress of the case. The suggestion made by Krauss was not taken up, for example, by Carlos Hettich Arriagada, a landowner and candidate for councilman in Cuneo, 60 kilometers from Temuco. Arriagada was one of the few landowners willing to return some land to its original owners. He ceded, with no major objections, some hectares to the Mapuche community of Quinenchique. However, twoweeks later, he presented the visiting Minister with a complaint of "usurpation of property". Minister SAIIC Newsletter �I Castro did not delay in ordering the arrest of three Mapuche women who had participated in the occupation of Hettich's claim. The Mapuche who are charged with "usurpation of property" face monetary fmes. And if they are unable to pay them, they also face jail terms. "We don't know what the Minister will decide," explained Fernando Perez, of the Nagche (lowlands people) community of Aguas Buenas, near Galvarino, 50 kilometers northwest ofTemuco. Perez spent five days in the Lautaro jail for participating in the occupation of the predio of landowner Emilio Reidel in the end of June. Perez tells that in his area there are 15 Mapuche communitieswithabout2,100families. 'Thepeopledo not have lands to cultivate. Each family has about half a hectare, at most 4 or 5 hectares. We live in great poverty, and if the judicial system condemns us to payingfines, wewillsimplynotbeabletopaythem. We will have to go to jail, because we have no funds," he stated. However, he added, "We have been very clear and responsible about what we are doing. As Mapuche, we will have to rise to the accusations that have been made against us, and the sentences that they impose. Our people will only experience democracy when we have recovered our lands. As it stands, we have only made use of our rights as a people, which the Chilean state has never wanted to nor wants to recognize." Meanwhile, the administrator of the Ninth Region, FemandoChuecasMunoz,aChristianDemocrat, threatened anyone who supports the Council of All Lands in Temuco. "I am going to create my own tribunal to judge AucanHuilcaman," he announced. Chuecas' threat had a double effect It further worsened the negative perception of him held by Mapuche organizations, and it caused them to close ranks and rally behind the demands of the Council. "We do not share in the actions of the Council of All Lands, because we consider the means of land recovery inadequate, and in the present time, inopportune," stated leaders of some Mapuche organizations which collaborate with the government-led Special Commission on Indigenous Peoples (CEPI). But they emphasize that "the government has handled the indigenous problem very badly." Elisa Lancon, spealcing for the Council, gave an evaluation of the land reclamation actions and the judicial process: "The land-recovery actions were largely symbolic, in order to again bring the land problem to the Vol 6 Num 4 forefront But they were also intended to insist once again on the need to recover our rights as a people. If no headway is made on these two issues, the government is failing to keep its own commitment to respect and promote the rights of the native peoples. The government has so far ignored the fundamental issue: our demand for our lands. It has minimized the conflict and has reduced it to a mere problem of illegality and even of delinquency, which is unacceptable to us. It is another sign of the culture of domination which pervades Chile." The leader of the "Pascual Colicheo" community in Carahue, 50 kilometers from Temuco towards the coast, was detained on the day of municipal elections, hours after having participated in a land-recovery action. His vision follows: "We need greater understanding on the part of Chilean society, and we need land in order to ensure the historical continuity of our people. All of our culture, our language, and our identity is directly linked with the Earth. Our lovefortheEarthcomesfrom the fact that we descend from Her. If we lose the land, we lose our language, and we shall slowly disappear as well." Mapuche Indian. Photo SAIIC Please send letters of protest to: Sr. Enrique Krauss, Ministro de Interior, Casa de Ia Moneda, Santiago, Chile; Fax. (56) (2) 696 8740 Sr. Fernando Chuecas, Intendente de Temuco, Temuco, Chile; Fax (56) (45) 21 30 64 For more information contact SAIIC or Aukin Wallmapu Ngulam, Casilla 448, Temuco, Chile; Phone (56) (45) 23 45 42, Fax (56) (45) 21 30 64 Source: SAIIC and Semenario Aqui, Bolivia 19 �The following is an interview with Mateo Chumira and Enrique Camargo, Guarani from Bolivia, at a meeting in Genoa, Italy to raise European conscience about what the arrival of Columbus in the Americas means to Native Peoples. side). So, more or less, I don't have exact figures, but there are seventy or eighty thousand in Bolivia, excluding those in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. MateoChumira: MynameisMateoChumira.Iam the representative of the Guarani People. There they call me captain, traditional chief of the Guarani people. We, the Guarani people, after four hundred years of struggle, had our last battle at Kuruyuqui where the Bolivian army mutilated us-massacred us, and from then on we have lived crippled, in silence until six years ago. And now we have once again reorganized '6urselves as a people - all the people (because there are many of us in the Santa Cruz mountain range of Bolivia). So, during the commemoration that was held on the 28th of January, making the hundredth anniversary of that massacre, we decided to undertake a new plan of action. We invited the president of Bolivia to our village, to defy the belief that we do not exist as a people, to prove we live, have our own language, culture, way of life- everything. So, we are organized as a people, we have representatives at the national level and community level, we have begun a work plan which included production, health and education. And we are beginning to fight for the future of the Guarani people. Well, that title was conceived by government officials, but in our language it would be the principal chief who has last say in the peoples behalf, for the people are the ones who decide, and the chief has to accept what they say. SAIIC: How do you say "Captain" in Guarani? MC:Uruwichawazu. And also Tentaruwichwazu. SAIIC: What do you think about traveling with a young leader like Enrique? MC: Well, we feel very happy because the young and the old now have a way to communicate and trust one another. SAIIC: I understand that there is great respect for the elderly in Indian cultures. Please explain this. MC: Yes. This is also true of the Guarani culture. SAIIC: Speaking of older people, do you remember your father and your mother? (Here Mateo Chumira pauses. It is obvious he gets aknotinhisthroat. Thequestionisveryintimate,andthe memory gets the better of him. We look at each other, and while this happens, some tears roll down his cheeks. The recorder captures the silence, which is his answer. After a few moments, Mateo Chumira regains composure and speaks). MC: Of course. My father died when I was thirteen or fourteen. My mother died when I was really young. My father was the only one who helped me. I was also the youngest. I thought a lot when I became an orphan, but in the Guarani community, thereis always room for SAIIC: How many Guarani people are there today? MC: We believe that there are about 70 or 80 thousand Guarani in the province of the Cordillera de Santa Cruz. There are more in other provinces like Luis Calvo de Chuquisaca and Gran Chaco, which belongs to Tarija and Argentina. They too have organized themselves as Assembly of the Guarani People (Argentinean 20 SAIIC: What does it mean to be captain of the Guarani nation? SAIIC Newsletter �I an orphan. So I became attached to one family until I was sixteen, at which time I was able to become independent and work. SAIIC: How do you remember your family? MC: My father's name was Benedicta Chumira, and my grandfather's name was Francisco Chumira, butidon'tremembermuchaboutmymother.Hername was Evarista Arnungui. Her family is still alive. They lived in the town where the massacre took place. I believe that my grandfather and grandmother died in that massacre. (Mateo Chumira looks at the Genoa bay and through his silence he communicates that the memory is far too vivid and causes infinite pain. The direction of the interview changed towards Enrique, who is the young Guarani.) SAIIC: How do you feel, Enrique Camargo, to hear the words of the great captain Mateo Chumira,? Enrique Camargo: The Guarani people have a legendary custom, as do some other Indian peoples of Latin America, of listening to the leaders, because being the great captain signifies that he is a great leader. He is the one that gives advice, he is the advisor of the people, The young people cannot decide for themselves. They need the approval of an authority. So the times that I must give my opinion it has to do with obtaining the consent of our authority. Now when I sometimes speak, and I know that everything is O.K., I feel confident that! am not contradicting the principles of the Guarani people, and much less contradicting an authority that has a lot of respect in the Guarani society. SAIIC: What is the future plan for the Guarani people? EC: Six years ago the Guarani people organized themselves out of necessity. As our captain said, we have been silent for nearly one hundred years. But we have remained silent not because we were defeated, although it is true that in the last battle (1892) five thousand young Guarani died. We call them Kerembas, Warriors, like the Mapuches , the Indians of North America, that is our history. We have been the most 6 Num 4 I resilient in Latin America. So five thousand Kerembas died. We have kept silent because we were divided, because our society has been de-structured. But six years ago, we have reorganized ourselves, and that organization we call the Assembly of the Guarani people. In addition to political strategies, we are seeing a strategy to develop the standard of living of our people, because in the end, that is what we are interested in. All societies PhotoSAIIC which have delineated political strategies, have them because they want the betterment of their people. And we, as Guarani, that is what we want. That is why we have proposed a farming and animal husbandry plan, an education plan, a plan to build schools, housing, and a cohesive plan for better health. And also a strategy to reconquer our territory. So we have five strategies of development. But we don't call it a plan of capitalist development, but one of ethnic development, a Guarani development. Which means without destroying our identity, without forgetting our culture, in keeping with our won way of being. It is a development that will permit the resurgence of the Guarani people, on the political level as well as the educational, economic and social realms. SAIIC: As a young Guarani, Enrique Camargo, what are the teachings that the great captain Mateo Chumira leaves you with? EC: Well, as I have delineated our strategy, I am responsible for education, we are sure about what we are doing. For example, some are critical and we too criticize some extremely anthropological tendencies, who say we must hold our line. We have to maintain the 21 �I I status quo; to maintain our belief system, this would mean to remain marginalized. So, we want to advance a little more while keeping our culture and way of life intact Bolivian. Photo SAIIC 22 This is our goal. We have intercultural bi-lingual education programs for elementary school aged children. We are now developing a program to the third grade. We want to expand to include up to the fifth grade and after that a middle school. In the middle school there will be more linguistic and cultural courses for the recapturing ofour own identity and the strengthening of our unity. Another aspect of the program is the literacy campaign. We started on the 28th ofJanuary,precisely on the lOOth anniversary of the last defeat we suffered. We forced the government to make official intercultural bi-lingual education. We have contributed to the country the officialization of the inter-cultural bi-lingual education. Not only for the Guarani, but also for the Quechua and the Aymara. So since the president, Jaime Paz, has visited us, this is not to sell out because he wanted to ascertain whether or not we exist as a people. So his visit was an opportunity for him to ascertain that we do exists. Well, that was when we launched the literacy campaign. The function of the literacy campaign is not just to solve the problem of knowing how to read and write but to keep the oppressive system from taking advantage of our ignorance. So we, as of the 28th of January, commemorate the last battle and beginning the commemoration of the SOOth anniversary to make this period between the 28th ofJanuary and the 12th of October the great literacy campaign and eradicate illiteracy. This is our goal. So we plan on making 20,000 Guarani literate in two different ways. Those who don't know how to read and write will learn to read and write in Guarani. Those who are literate in Spanish will learn how to read and write in Guarani. This iswhatwecalltheGuaranizationmode. But the goal isn't only reading and writing but the awakening of our people. So we think that it is very important because ignorance is not only measured in the ability to read and write, but also in the extent to which one has been assimilated and alienated. So, we want an educational system that awakens self-reflection, that is a liberating education. That is our goal. SAIIC: What do you think, Mateo Chumira, when the young people organize themselves for their own struggle? MC: As a veteran I have fought for those goals. I am happy that the young people have taken up the struggle for education. So I see with my own eyes that we are gaining ground even though we are new at this. SAIIC: From your vantage point, how do you view your people? MC: I would like to say thatl in my advanced years I have been able to see what I desired when I was young: liberation, liberty. Since I was eight I have noticed that my father and others were enlisted by the police to perform forced labor. So, my beliefs came from seeing the Guarani people organize themselves. What's more, I don't have much of an education, I know how to read and write, nothing more. With my authority which comes from the people I have set the goal that the young people be able to move forward. As Guarani we have been forgotten. SAIIC: Do you think that the so called Bolivians know about the Guarani? MC: One time, in front of the Bolivian Congress a senator said that where we live "there aren 'tanypeople." So I started thinking that they haven't counted us as peoples but as animals. This is because there weren't very many capitalists in our region but those capitalists were "people." That has given me the strength, a kind of Guarani pride that the Guarani are undertaking education. Because in the past, we have not had technicians, agronomers, or engineers, not to mention lawyers. But in the future we will be able to accomplish more with the help of our friends in solidarity. That's whywearehere. SAIIC: Are there any last remarks? MC: Yavetun pandiveno opati payrnpibaretaltalia, po pate Europa. SAIIC: Enrique? EC: Tunpandiveno,opaetepekareocuatentanareta ieyku, ubujipulpi bae, ipotameteyarami ieyku iporebareyret. This means that we are calling upon the unity of all the indigenous people of the new continent, which is really an old continent, wrongly called America. In the end, its not names that are important. What's important to us is the unity that we need to have to be able to overcome the frequent obstacles that are imposed upon us. SAIIC Newsletter �I I Bolivia - The indigenous communities of the Isiburo-Secure National Park, south of Beni, ratified a document denouncing the agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a threat to the Bolivian people and made a public demand for the expulsion of DEA agents from Bolivia The demand was announced on July 7,1992, in San Lorenzo de Mojos, and broadcast at noon of the same day by a local radio station. This indigenous position is in response to the detention of two indigenous leaders within a four-day period, and to the seizure of their radio equipment, which was part of a network installed with international aid. Furthermore, indigenous people testified that the anti-drug agents are constantly entering their homes without permission, and destroying everything in their path. Also condemned were the abuses which have taken place in Trinidad, the regional capital, where the home ofa universityprofessorwas "erroneously"broken into by agents. The indigenous statement declares that the presence of armed agents from the United States is "not only for the purpose of fighting drug trafficking, but also for the purpose of taking over our country, step by step." It asks the Bolivian government to "not allow yourselves to be manipulated by the Gringos". Meanwhile, the Bolivian national government hasgivenassurancesthattherewillbenofurtherinstances of the assaults and abuses for which the DEA has been denounced. Carlos Saavedra, Minister of the Interior, promised the Central Office of Indigenous Peoples of Beni (CPIB) that there would be no further assaults on the communities under the pretext of the "war on drugs". News of these events was taken to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, by the leader Marcial Fabricano, president of the Sub Central de Cabildos of the IsiboroSeure National Park, who met with Minister Saavedra. As Fabricano pointed out, the indigenous radio network, consisting of approximately 30 stations and dedicated to the purpose of helping the indigenous movement unify, promote, and defend itself, has been fully authorized by Carlos Aponte, the governmental head of Transport and Communications. source: Presencia, Bolivia Vol 6 Num 4 23 J �MEXICO TODAY: TIME TO TAKE CONTROL OF OUR LAND Margarita Ruiz is a Tojolobal Maya from the state of Chiapas in Mexico. He is the General Coordinator of the Independent Indian Peoples' Front (FIPI) which was founded in 1988as an umbrella organization for the different indigenous people of Mexico. According to Margarito, there are 15 to 18 million Indians in Mexico, belonging Margarito Ruiz. Photo SAIIC to 56 different The Peoples. Mayans in Mexico number about 400,000. AN INTER..VJEW WITH MA.R..GA.R..ITO SAIIC: What are the main problems facing Indigenous people in Mexico today? Margarito Ruiz: Land tenancy remains a very large problem. There are about 6,000 Indians in jail in RUIZ, GENER..AL Mexico today, and most of them are there for trying to COOR..DINA.TOR.. OF organize their people to recover their land. SAIIC: We understand that the Mexican governTHE INDEPENDENT mentis proposing to change the ejido land tenancy INDIAN PEOPLES' system. Can you explain a little about that? MR: Following the Mexican Revolution and the FR..ONT. Constitution of 1917, the government began to distribute land. Three kinds ofland tenancy were established: communal land, which belonged to Indigenous communities, private land, and the ejido system. Ejidos were small parcels of land which, by law, could not be sold. In the 1940's and 50's, credit programs for 24 agriculture were developed, but along with these programs came the pressure to increase production and to use technologies which were not part of our traditions, such as the use of chemical fertilizers. At the same time, corruption began. The Rural Bank and the Agricultural Security Bank, which were the government banks that gave credit to Indigenous people in the ejidos or communal land, sent out inspectors. The inspectors offered to report back that the crops had failed completely, and thus that the loans could not be repaid, if the Indians gave them a percentage. So after a while the Indians stopped paying back the loans completely and got used to crop failures. Thus today there is no real production in the rural sector. About three or four years ago, these banks began to fail and last year they collapsed completely, with losses of billions of pesos. The government concluded that the ejido system had never worked, ejidos were not productive, and they should therefore be returned to private property. In order to do this, they changed article 27 of the Constitution, thus allowing all lands to be sold. The logical conclusion of this change is a return to private property and large haciendas, this time owned not only by national capital, but also by transnational capital. This means that there will be foreignpatrones and the Indians will once again end up in slavery . SAIIC: Have they begun to sell the land? MR: Something very important is happening. On the one hand, many communities are still being manipulated by the government, and thus in many places the land is being sold. But most of the communities are reacting instead in a way that is very natural for Indigenous Peoples: they are organizing independently to defend their lands. Some communities in remote regions have never even heard of Article 27, yet they have already have their own declarations. They just heard that their lands are in danger. They have held general assemblies, passed motions, and said that whoever wants to sell his land can leave. So a few people SAIIC Newsletter J �I leave, and the land stays in the community. So, in many areas, this law just will not work. Some areas are very well organized, whether affiliated with us or not Whole regions have organized and held meetings of twenty or thirty communities and said that nothing will be sold here, on the contrary; we want to reclaim the private property which exists in this area and restore it as indigenous communal property. SAIIC: It seems then that there is a strong movement where the people want to stay in their communities and live on the land of their ancestors, live in the way that their ancestors did l'AR: In the work that we do, in coordination with other organizations, we always seek to educate people about the importance of the land rights for indigenous peoples. Why must we talk about territory? For us, our territory has always existed. It's just that the governments, the national states, began to divide the territory. They gave us little pieces of land, little ejidos, and of~n rigged land titles do that we would end up fightmg amongst ourselves. They also separated us. Often an indigenous region falls within several different municipalities, and at times within several different states. In our workshops - when we begin speaking about our history and how we have always lived here, how we did not arrive 500 years ago but that they began invading us 500 years ago- the people feel profoundly moved, feel moved with great love for taking care of the Earth and protecting it, regaining the land we have lost, .reviving the forests which have been destroyed. For this reason we are sure that the project of the indigenous movement -indigenous unity, indigenous liberation, the regaining of indigenous territory, self-government and selfdetermination, indigenous administration of natural resources - all this will come to pass. SAIIC : Do you also foresee a strengthening of the indigenous culture, traditions, and knowledge? l'AR: In this respect we speak of our elders. The elders are the best teachers, who know the history of each of the communities. What is happening today? Our elders are speaking of our medicine, and now indigenous medicine, natural medicine is experiencing a very powerful and very interesting resurgence in all indigenous regions. This is so despite the difficulties, for ins~ce the churches, both Catholic and Protestant Alongs1de our medicine, our music, our dance, our way of thinking -indigenous philosophy which emphasizes the relation- Vol 6 Num 4 ship between human beings and the natural world and a senseofcommunity-allofthesearegrowing. Inmany cases, if there are difficulties within an indigenous community for whatever reason, when one begins to speak about indigenous history, indigenous wisdom, a new feeling of solidarity begins to grow, which carries a more communitarian, collective approach with it. It is very impressive to see this happening. For this reason we feel that we are not inventing this project, but rather that we are taking part in a larger project which already exists, anctical so that everyone, especially young people, can begin to get to know one another. SAIIC: How do the Indigenous people of Mexico see this anniverary of the 500 Years in October, and what do you have planned? l\1R: We have always been against the idea of the so-called meeting of two cultures. There was never such a meeting; it was instead a clash. We see that 500 years ago a war for survival began when we were invaded, and that war has not ended. The struggle has not yet ended. Thus, for the last four or five years, we have hadamobilization on the 12th of October, and a Chinanteca woman. Photo Liz Reid march to the main square in Mexico City. But this year there will be a national march led by the indigenous movement, and in coordination with the student, labor, campesino, and other movements. There will be two marches, one coming from the north and one from the south. Indian groups from all over Mexico will join in along the way, and the two marches w~ meet on October 11 in La Villa, in the State of Mexico, not so much because of Guadalupe as in honor of Tonantzin. SAIIC: What is the purpose of the march? What message do you want to carry? This march will be very different from other political marches in that it will be a Sacred March of the Peoples, with indigenous music and ceremonies along the way, with flowers and candles and dances. The march will bring the message of the existence and Continued on page 26 25 �I -from page 25 presence of indigenous people today, and ofour present indigenous project It will not just be a rejection of the quincentennary, but rather a march where we seek to negotiate with the government regarding the concrete demands of the indigenous communities. That is why we are working on obtaining an audience with the President of Mexico for the 12th of October. SAllC: How do the Native people in Mexico see the project of continent-wide networking, for example the Indigenous Continental Coordinating Committe which met in Panama and in New York- how do you see the future of this re-encounter? I believe that it is something which has emerged from the needs of the indigenous communities themselves. That is to say, it did not arise from a group of indigenous people having an interest which lies outside of historical reality. It has emerged because it had to emerge; and if this is so, then we believe that it will have a great future. A true indigenous unity, with a political and philosophical understanding, an understanding of the current situation of the continent and of the world, of the danger facing humanity in the form of the destruction of Nature, of our environment, and of the danger arising from the wars that Western culture continues to create. Indigenous people feel that we have a great responsibility to share the wisdom that has been downtrodden for 500 years. This wisdom is now emerging. We, as responsible human beings whose fate it was to live in this era, are privileged to be able to reclaim this knowledge in order to disseminate it among our indigenous communities, but also among the dominant and racist society, in order to carry a message of humanity that will allow dehumanized humans to become human once more. The great work of the indigenous peoples is to reach the racist, destructive society in order to show them that we are human, that they are human, and that therefore we all deserve respect and mutual help as human beings in this world. The Second National Congress and Continental Encounter of Indigenous Traditional Medicine People took place in Mexico City, at the Palace of Medicine, from August 11 - 15, 1992. There were more than 400 participants, including representatives from the 52 organizations ofindigenous traditional medicine people of Mexico, delegates from indigenous organizations of most Latin-American countries and also from the State of Arizona, USA; as well as specialists and academics working in the area of traditional medicine. The meeting had three sessions: Speeches by Traditional Medicine People Session; the Academic Session and the Plenary Session of Conclusions and Proposals. The concurrent workshops included themes such as "Traditional Medicine and Systems of Health Care", "Organizing Strategies for Indigenous Medicine People", "Traditional Medicine and the Legal System", "Honoring and Defending Indigenous Medicine and Medicine People", "Long and Short term Programs within each Country," and " Cooperation between Doctors and Indigenous Medicine". At the site of the conference were exhibitions of medicinal herbs and pharmaceuticals prepared by traditional medicine men of the different delegations. There was also an exposition of Mexican traditional medicine entitled "Past, Present, and Future of Traditional Medicine", where ritual objects and video-tapes of ceremonies were displayed. Through the use of computers, visitors could access information about the main illnesses affecting indigenous populations. The Congress arrived at many important conclusions and recommendations aimed at governments, international organizations, universities and the indigenous organizations. A book is forthcoming which will contain the bulk of the proceedings and outcomes of this Encounter. For more information, please contact: Lie. Carlos Zolla Luque o Bioi. Arturo Argueta Villamar lnstituto Nacional lndigenista, Subdireccion de Salud y Bienestar Social AV. Revolucion 1279, Col. Tiacopac 01040 MEXICO, DF Tel: 651-4908 Fax: 593-2875 26 SAIIC Newsletter �I Three Maya women from Chiapas, Mexico. Photo Liz Reid Thirty three representatives of all the countries of the Americas, with the exception ofArgentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Honduras,andNicaragua, attended a three-day First International Meeting of the Indian Press in Mexico City from April28-30, 1992 with the purpose of evaluating the situation of autonomous Indigenous presses and their current networking. Carlos Briceno, of "Desenmascaremos el 92" (Let's unmask 1992) from Madrid, Spain, and Pierre Marande ofSami Radio, Sweden participated in the three day event as well. Messages of support were received by the organizers, Genaro Bautista, Natividad Gutierrez, Zobeyda Quinones and Otilio Atanasio, board members of E1NIAS, an Indian publication based in Mexico City. The main resolutions emphasize the need to constitute an active networking amongst indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Sami people, and all indigenous communication organizations who respect and promote the autonomy and self-determination of Indigenous peoples of the Abya Yala Continent. In an interview with SAIIC, Genaro Bautista, said: 'The meeting was a success. Although some delegates could not arrive on time, most of them let us know they were supportive of the Indigenous information networking. They saw it as a reality which will be maintained alive because of the interest of the Indigenous peoples". Natividad Gutierrez, a very active member of the E1NIAS team shared her opinion with SAIIC stressing that 'The Continental communication of Indigenous 6 Num 4 peoples is a need that can no longer wait, Indigenous peoples have to share experiences, and be supportive of our presses in order to disseminate important information". After the three days of discussions it was that the members would maintain contact together with CONIC, the Continentallndlige99~1s<:::o ordinating Commission, of which was informed in detail. All delegates, I!S····PQt~ntia,I journalists, will act as responsible cmrespi:jJ~d~·tli;<;Ji.r their own countries, and will distribute the ififc)rffill).i!;IQ \\ to all participating members and other u~.,.~5"•""'"" network. In the U.S., SAIIC will continue to play nicator role, and will channel membership to this Continental indigenous press organization. The presence of major Indigenous newspapers, magazines and journals was missed, and delegates wished to have had the chance to meet representatives ofla Taller de Historia Oral Andina (Aymara, Bolivia), The Lakota Times (USA), Yuwitaya Lakota, The Tonantzin Land Institute (New Mexico, USA), Gary S. Trujillo, of the NativeNet email system, and other established Indigenous press and journalists. For further information contact ETNlAS, Madero 67-611, Centro, Mexico, DF. 06000. See declaration on the following page. 27 �I Indigenous journalists and communicators of the Americas (ABY A YALA) and Sami Land (Sweden. Norway, Finland and ex-USSR), attending the FIRST INTERNATIONAL ENCOUNTER OF THE 5. Also, we reject the use of funds allocated for these kind of festivities because it only serves to justify indigenist and neocolonial policies of governments throughout the Americas, and it does not help INDIAN PRESS, in Mexico City from April 28 to the 30th, 1992, to concretely solve the structural problems which the Indigenous declare the following: peoples and other impoverished sectors of these societies in this After having evaluated the role of the press, in general, and in Continent live under. regard to our problems as Indigenous peoples; after analyzing, com- 6. We manifest our strong protest to the Mexican Government for menting and proposing informative criteria of our news and information broadcasting, and transmission among indigenous journalists and presenting obstacles in the issuing of visas in favor of Indigenous press delegates attending this Hrst Continental Meeting of the Indigenous communicators; after critically analyzing the effects the European invasion caused on the Indigenous peoples of the Continent, and what Press. This problem was carried on by Mexican consulates and embas- the "Celebration" of the Quincentennial means to the Indigenous peoples', and considering the rise and development of our own means of Indigenous communication as the first step to recuperate and strengthen our identities so weakened South America; as well as by the lack of confidence of immigration officials in Mexico City in accepting the legitimate origin of legal identity of Indigenous delegates. Because of all these, by nation-states policies of integration and or extermination, and because of the consumer ideology of the cultural monopolies sies in the American Continent, particularly consulates in Central and WE DEMAND WE DECLARE: 1. That all means of communication provide space to the free expression of the Indian press, because it is the legitimate voice of the 1. That we do not agree with the image of Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples. These spaces will be coordinated by presented by non-Indigenous means of communication. Usually, this Indigenous journalists and Indigenous communicators who be- image does not correspond to Indigenous daily life because, such long to indigenous journals. 2. Equal treatment to Indigenous and non-Indigenous journalists images, are produced by non-Indigenous communicators who ignore specific problems that our peoples face, as well as distort our own image due to ethnocentrist visions which misinterpret the way different Indigenous communities of the Continent think and behave. These centralist attitudes and the lack of adequate information reinforce the stereotyping which the media present to the society in general, in relation to the life and history of our Indigenous peoples. 2. That the Indigenous press is the legitimate instrument of our peoples and thatit will transform the distorted images of contemporary indigenous cultures. 3. That the Indigenous press will be the means by which to openly inform, without commitment to governmental and private interests, about the plunder, injustices, and trampling experienced by the Indigenous peoples of the Continent. Also, through this Indigenous press, Indigenousvoices can alert the concerned international community about the irreversible damage caused by transnational companies on current ecosystems within our territories; as well as individual and collective human rights violations of Indigenous peoples. 4. That we reject the festive nature of the so-called Celebration of the Discovery of America, or "Encounter of Two Worlds", because, other than remembering the massacres of our ancestors, it presupposes the reaff'mnation of economic, political, social and cultural dependent links of Indigenous peoples to national societies in general, and in relation to the hegemony of economically and militarily powerful countries. 28 during the development of their professional tasks. 3. Freedom of movement of Indigenous journalists and communicators throughout the countries of the Americas and the World during the development of their informative tasks. 4. Respect for the physical integrity of Indigenous journalists and communicators throughout the different countries of the Continent Mexico City, April30, 1992 Among the participants were publication coordinators of the following newspapers, journals: AIDESEP(Peru) COOPA (Costa Rica) CHIRAPAQ (Peru) SANS RESERVE,Communications Autochtones (Montreal, Canada) GRUMIN-Grupo-Mulher (Brazil) SAIIC (Oakland, California, USA) OYENDU-CIDOB (Bolivia) Nuestra Palabra, Instituto Nacional Indigenista (non-Indian), (Iztapalapa, Mx) SIGU (Kuna, Panama) Unidad Indigena, ONIC (Colombia) El Tequio- Mixteco (Fresno, California, USA) CO'ILA (Canoga Park, CA, USA) TV-Canal "6 de Julio" (Mexico) BINIGULAZAA (Oaxaca, Mex) ETNIAS (Mexico) SEJECTO, La VrYL del Indio (Costa Rica) AUKIN VOZ MAPUCHE (CHILE) M.A.Y.A.S. (Guatemala) Cultura Huichol (Mexico) EJ Financiero, Sistema Nacional de Informacion Indigena (Mexico) Consejo Nacional de la Cultura Maya (Mexico) Sami Radio (Sweden) Casa de la Unidad del Pueblo (Mexico) Rutjozil (Guatemala) INFORCOOPA (COSTA RICA) Visitor: Elisa Avendano, AD-MAPU (Chile) SAIIC Newsletter �Ruben Dar{o Peiwranda- Quechua, second prize, poster contest, "500 Aiios de Lucha Anticolonial". MRTKL, Bolivia, 1992 The national Hmnorogo Council, comprised of grassroots organizations representing all ofCosta Rica's indigenous communities, organized a great march on Aprill9, 1992 with the participation of 17 (of a total of 21) "Indian Reservations." The marchers who represented 6 Indian Nations from throughout Costa Rica, walked to the city of Buenos Aires de Puntarenas some walked for more than ten hours. In the Buenos Aires de Puntarenas district, four of the country's eight Indian Nations live in six "Indian Reservations." Approximately 1000 children, women, elderly, sutias & traditional leaders participated in the march. The marchers represented the Guaymi, Bribri, Cabecar, Maliku, Brukaj and Teribes Nations. The marchers called on the government, public and private institutions, and the general public to respect their historical rights to land and culture. Using banners & posters, each community identified its principal concerns, from which we have extracted the following: 1) Solution the land problem , by granting commu- Vol 6 Num 4 nal property titles and the means to produce them. 2) Constitutional recognition of the historic rights of the indigenous populations in the framework of a multicultural as well as a multinational state. 3)That the legislative assembly ratify the 169 Treaty of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which recognizes the rights of the indigenous population. 4) Stop permitting the exploitation of the natural resources in territories that belong 10 indigenous people. 5) No to the construction of the inter-oceanic highway on indigenous terri10ry, which we consider an aggression against nature and culture. 6) No to the construction of the Hydroelectric powerplantin Boruca, which would displace more than 40 indigenous and campesin.o communities. 7) Opposition to the negative and disrespectful politics of the National Commission of Indigenous Affairs, which is declared to be displeasing 10 all indigenous communities all over the country. 29 �E The Third Meeting of the Continental Coordinating Commission of Indigenous Nations and Organizations took place in Panama from September 24 to 27,1992. The Meeting was originally planned for Chile, but lack of resources forced the Commission to hold the Meeting in Panama. This was the third meeting following the meetings in Panama in December 1991 and in New York in March 1992. Delegates from fourteen different Indian nations of South and Central America and Mexico, attended the meeting. Indigenous people of North America were represented by the Indigenous Peoples Alliance (IPA). The Continental Commission reaffirmed the objectives and principles established in the previous meetings, which include the following: 1. To seek Indigenous unity on a continental level, recognizing that we have a common past and present, and that we have decided to work together beyond the year 1992, respecting the situation and strategies which each Indigenous Nation may adopt to reach their liberation and self-determination. 2. To develop a continental communication network which would directly involve the grass-roots communities in order to strengthen our ties and make known the critical situation in which we the Native Peoples live, and seek solutions for our future. 3. To promote a process leading to dialogue and consensus based on our spiritual values, life styles and 30 millennia! knowledge. 4. To form a common alliance to reconstruct our Nations which were dispersed by colonization and to fight to curb the destruction of our Mother Earth and her harmony. The Commission will organize a Second ContinentallndigenousEncounterinMexicoforJulyl993. The meeting will be hosted by the Independent Indian People's Front and the Yalalteca People of Oaxaca. The Continental Indian Commission will meet on December 8 and 9 to plan the Continental Meeting in Mexico. The First Continental Indigenous Encounter was held in Quito, Ecuador in June 1990. The opening of the United Nations Year oflndigenous People will be on December 10, 1992 in New York. Three Indian representatives from the Continental Commission have been designated to address the UN at the opening ceremony. The Association of Kunas United for Nabguana of Panama will continue as the continental coordinating office in cooperation with the regions. For copies of the resolutions of these meetings of for more information contactAsociacion Kunas Unidos por Nabguana, Apartado 536, Panama 1, Panama; Phone (507) 63 88 79; Fax (507) 69 35 14 or Indigenous Peoples Alliance, c/o Tonantzin Land Institute, P.O. Box 40182, Albuquerque, NM 87196; Phone 505 766 9930; Fax 505 766 9931. Copies of the resolutions are also available from SAIIC. SAIIC Newsletter �AN INTER..VIEW WITH CA.LIXTA. c;A.BR..IEL The following is excerpted from on inteNiew with Colixto Gabriel, a Coqchikel Mayo, of the Traditional Council of Guatemala. This inteNiew was conduded by SAIIC on September 3, 1992 Vol 6 Num 4 SAIIC: What is your perspective on Mayan women? CG: We as Mayan women have an important role, not only today, but historically as well. Within the Mayan cosmovision, there has always existed a great respect for women. The function of women is seen as an :iritegral part of our society. Within the Mayan world view, woman is not oppressed. However, throughout time, we can see a growing separation between man and woman. I believe that our spirituality has been kept alive in our Mayancommunities,andtherearemanywomenworking in that area, especially in the field of health. There are many midwives who fulfill the important roles of nurses and psychiatrists and whose main role is to care for the women and the children. I believe in that sense, we are the teachers, the guides of the new generations. In the spiritual aspect of the Mayan culture, there does not exist discrimination against women. There are Mayan women who are priests as well as the men, and they conduct their own ceremonies. The Mayan women priests carry out the same purpose and function as the Mayan men priests in regards to their celebrations and activities. SAliC: Is this how it was in the old days? Because it is said that machismo was a Spanish imposition carried out through the Church. How did this come about in Guatemala? CG: According to thePopul Vuh, the sacred book of the Mayas and the Quiches, when human beings were created, there were four men and four women created originally - two where the sun rises, two where the sun sets, two where the air spirits live and two where the water spirits live. Thus, at no point in our own history were we told that women were lesser beings. Rather in the story of creation, both man and woman have important roles. When Ixmukanec took the com, he formed humans and that is why we are children of the com. What that means is that the com is the spirit of life, and it represents the nine months of pregnancy. In no instance is there a reference to woman being created from man. On the contrary, women are an important part of our history, and that is manifested in our lives, in the relationship of women with nature, with animals life, with all of life; there is no separation. According to the MayanNaguales, there are dual forces. There is duality of man and woman, and of woman and man, and this is manifested in spirits. There are very powerful spirits that accompany us and orient us toward our destiny so that we can fulfill our destiny of what we are here to do. This is not only for man, but for women as well- and in that sense it is never said that man is stronger than woman. When the white people or the Spaniards came to invade our lands, they also enslaved the woman so that she could be their servant, their slaves. So that when the invasion took place, it did not just affect the men but it affected our whole culture. That is when the role of Mayan women began to change, and she had to begin to submit herself to another person who is seen as more powerful in order to protect her economic and political interests. Christianity and Catholicism in Central America took advantage of this; they also came side by side with the invasion; they played a large part in the exploitation and displacement of our grandmothers. Not only did they divest them of their hierarchical, spiritual, social and political roles, but also in many instances they killed them. So in spite ofall of the oppression of the women, we have maintained a very strong spiritual position, because if that didn't exist, all respect would have been lost. And with all of the western education we have received, we would all be dead. Continued on page 32 31 �-from page 31 SAICC: We hear a lot about Mayan spirituality, how it has not disappeared, but how it has been impacted by colonization and the imposition of foreign religions such as Christianity. Today, after 500 years, what is the state of Mayan religion? CG:Well, there have been different stages. The political violence in our country has really battered our communities, and the life of the peoples in general. There have been times that have felt very hopeless, but after those lows new forces have emerged. For instance, many movements had not realized previously that religion is like the umbilical cord of the people, that spirituality is a very potent weapon for the survival of any peoples, of any nation. Spirituality is the root and the essence of culture. Thus, in the case of Guatemala, wecanseethattherearemanypeople,especiallystudents, who are trying to regain their spirituality. They have felt alone and isolated within an alienating educational system, and thus they have felt the need to regain their spirituality. Today there is a very strong movement of people who are taking up their cultural identity, and this gives me much hope. Ifone does not look for it,itmay not be apparent, but when one becomes involved, one sees how much spiritual activity is taking place. In Guatemala today, there are more than 5,000 Mayan priests, men and women, each one with his or her own specialties and qualities. Some are specialists in taking care of bones, others are specialists in prognosis, others in medicinal plants or in ancestral medicine, and others specialize in healings. It gives us much hope that there are people who still practice our religion despite the persecution. Our religion was being practiced secretly, because Christianity had threatened us, killed us, and accused our religion of being witchcraft, and of being evil. Many times even some Indigenous people may think this way, but it is not their fault. It is a foreign system that we are all wrapped up in, that attempts to destroy our culture, or force the disappearance of the Mayas and other Indigenous people. So right now there has been a reaction to all of the political violence; there are many more women and youth that have become involved, including Mayan priests, in various seminars, information exchanges, and workshops on the ethnic and national levels. For example, there have been some three-day gatherings, week-long gatherings, where for the flrst time Mayan 32 priests are showing themselves publicly and realizing that, "Yes, I am a Mayan priest. I can say, accept and be who lam." Before,itwassomethingthatpeoplefeltshy about, that was very hidden, but now everyone is rallying to the realization that this is their right. In Guatemala we have always had in our Constitution the right to freedom of religion, but before when it came to Mayan religion it was seen as a different matter altogether. Yet now we are reclaiming our spiritual place. Presently, we are in the process of organizing a congress ofMayan priests and of the elders and spiritual leaders of other Indigenous people throughout the American continent, to be held around the time of the winterequinox-December23, 1992. Wehopetohave the participation of Native elders from North America, South America and Mexico. SAICC: As a spiritual woman and Mayan priest, do you have a message for your Indigenous sisters throughout rhe continent? CG: My brothers and sisters of this continent, I believe there are no differences in the way we pray and think. I hope that even if we are told otherwise, we can truly feel our oneness. As the Popul Vuh says: "May no one go on ahead, may no one stay behind, may we all walk forth together;" this is the prophecy that we believe shall be fulfllled. It is also said that we will go and we will return. I believe that even in the case of indigenous groups where there are few survivors, we are not alone; the spirits of our ancestors, our grandparents live with us. I believe that their spirits have illuminated our wisdom so that we can continue to go forward, and so that there will be more of an encounter and spiritual exchange between ourselves as indigenous peoples, as well as cultural and maybe political exchange. I would like to say to our brothers and sisters that we acknowledge the existence of our relatives, and we ask to be included in your prayers for peace on this earth, our Mother Earth that embraces us in her arms, with her huipil. I would also like to say that may the heart of the sky and the earth give you many blessings and illuminate you. I hope that those of you who are able to can meet with us so that we can participate together, communicating and exchanging our experiences. May the heart of the sky, the spirit of the eagle, the spirit of the buffalo, of Quetzalcoatl and of the Condor illuminate all of my brothers and sisters. Thank you. SAIIC Newsletter �OnJuly21, 1992,agroupofabout500MayaMarn Indians from the town of Cajola, Quezaltenango, was attacked by Guatemalan security forces while on a peaceful march to demand their right to the possession of their land. Several people, including children, were wounded. The protesters had just arrived in the capital, Guatemala City, and were gathered at the Plaza Mayor to demand a hearing and deliver their petitions to government officials. Moments after a delegation was received in City Hall, the riot police were given orders to remove the protesters from the Plaza by force. The Indians took refugee in the University of San Carlos, where they will remain until they get an answer from the government The Marn Indians have begun this mobilization because they have been removed from their own territory several times during the last four years. One of the region's landowners is claiming it as his own. However, according to a land title on fll.e in the City of Quezaltenango, the Las Pampas del Horizonte ranch, which is in dispute, was granted to the inhabitants of Cajohi through an agreement signed in 1910 by then President of Guatemala Manuel Estrada Cabrera. The land dispute ofLas Pampas del Horizonte began on May 22,1989, when the Marn Indians proceeded to take possession of their lands after obtaining the legal authorization from the National Institute of Agrarian Transformation (INTA). However, when the ranch's boundaries were marked off, it was found that Mariano Arevalo Bermujo, of Coatunco Ranch, had annexed the ranch as his own. Since then, there has been a long process of tedious dealings with state entities. The Mam People have been subjected to violent attacks: ranches have been burned, crops have been destroyed, and they themselves have been physically seized and displaced. Having nowhere else to go, they set up camp in the road, hoping that the Serrano government would focus some attention on their situation. Eventually, they managed to Vol 6 Num 4 get a audience with the president. During this meeting, the president committed himself to solving the problem within 15 days by means of negotiation. This promise was not kept, forcing the Indigenous People to remain on the road. Exposed to bad weather, many of them became ill, and during this time about 20 children died of malnutrition. In light of these abuses, the Marn organized a march to the Central Plaza to demand that the agreements made by the national government be kept. After three days, a few accomplishments were made, such as the formation of a tri-partite commission to look for a provisional ranch and to continue the legal process ofresurveying the Coatunco and Pampas del Horizonte ranches. Eventually it was decided that the government would proceed to hand over some of the territory to several families. Preceding this, the Marn had waited over a year for the government to comply with the petitions they had presented. In view of this official negligence, they decided to occupy the ranch on May 1 with 500 families. Theywerelegallyrepresentedbythemayorof the town ofCajola. After a month ofoccupying the land, a court decision was made finding them guilty of usurpation; they were thrown off the land once again. In spite of this, within hours of their displacement, they went right back and retook possession of their lands. Another displacement took place May 19th , this time under the threat of forcible arrest. At that time, the villagers returned to the road to set up camp. Faced with the harshness of elements, they decided to mobilize for their march on the capital. There they have received support from the inhabitants of the capital, from peasants and indigenous peoples, students, and union and church organizations, among others. At this moment, the president has decided to order the INTA to carry out an investigation of the case of Cajola, and within a couple of weeks a decision is to be made in reference to the Marn demands. 33 �THESE STA.HMENTS WEJ!...E MA.D E BY WOMEN A.T THE INDic;ENOUS INDIGENOUS WOMEN A.ND 500 YEA.R.J OF RHISTA.NCE TESTIMONY BY LIDIA ANITY- BoLIVIA I would like to begin by saying that for us, as indigenous people, these 500 years have not been cause for a celebration. Instead, we are mourning the genoJUNE 2.8 -30, 1992 IN cide and ethnocide that our indigenous nations of Abya SA.NTA. CJ!...UZ, Y ala have suffered. IWLJVIA.. THE The violence carried out under the pretext of civi<:;A.THEJ!...IN<:; WAS lization has cost us the loss of our language. In our classrooms, we areprohibitedfrom speakingourmother SPONSOJ!...ED BY THE tongue, and wearing our own forms of dress. We are WOMEN'S forced to change our eating habits, our health is endanINHJ!...NA.TIONA.L gered, and we are exposed to all that is harmful to us. LEA.c;UE FOJ!... PEA.CE This is the way that many programs have been in Latin America, that is to say in our own nations. For A.ND Ff!...HDOM. example, OFASA arrives, telling us what we indigenous people should eat, and then the production of our own food diminishes. Along with that, they want to control our birth rates. As women, weaskourselves, "Why do they want to exterminate us?" Also in our towns and villages there is an exchange or barter economy. To them this seemed very dangerous, as it promotes much contact among ourselves. That is why Strong participation of women at they imposed the monetary system, the conference. Photo SAIIC so that what we create and produce can turn into commerce. A clear sign of this in Bolivia is the sale of land to foreign groups, because they say that foreigners generate income. As for us indigenous people, they say that we don 'thave the capacity to make a profit That is what the capitalists say, and thus the government favors the WOMEN'S HMJNA.f!..., 34 foreigners. Before and after colonization, we women have had the power to make decisions. That is why when we exercise authority, we exercise it jointly as husband and wife. In fact, often the influence of the woman is greater, since she is the principal element within the home. Thus, we see that indigenous women are capable of deciding for themselves in their husband's absence. Also in the name of civilization, religion personified in statues was introduced. How can a plaster God hear? However in our indigenous nation there exist our own gods. For example, for each activity a ''Wajt' a" or offering is made to the Earth Mother, thanking her for her gifts; and an offering is made to Tata Illimani thanking him for the rains, etc. There exists much discriminationagainstourpeople and our communities, since we are seen as second- and third-class people, saying that we are like wild animals. For us it is a humiliation, that investigations of our life-styles are carried out and published about us. Because we, as nations, can make known our own reality. We have the ability to write about our lives without putting Nature aside, without losing sight of all that surrounds us. INDIGENOUS SUR..VIVA.L A.ND RESISTA.NCE TESTIMONY BY GLORIDALIA GoNzALES-PANAMA After the conquest and colonization, those who remained on our Island devoted themselves to fishing and cultivating rice, com, and coconuts. The women were the ones who took care of the seeds, watered, tended the plants, and harvested. At the same time, they were the ones who have maintained our culture, which they have transmitted to their children from generation to generation, thus preserving the wisdom and knowledge of the Kuna culture and people. SAIIC Newsletter �Through the making of the MOLAS, and the WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND INDIGENOVS CHAQUIRAS (headwork) that we call WINI, we as RIGHTS Kunawomenaretheoneswhoprovideagreatpartofthe TESTIMONY BY CARMEN GUAL.AN- EcUADOR income of our communities and our families. In sum, women have participated and continue to Weindianshavetherighttolife,notdeath; to land, participate in production, women have beenresponsible not poverty; to education, not ignorance; and to create for household income, for culture, handicrafts, plant our own political strategies based on Indian thought knowledge, and family unity within the Kuna commu- We have the right to our territories where we can nities. develop our culture, because the Earth is Mother to the While recognizing women's participation in Re- Indians. We have aright to our own medicine, our own sistance and in survival, we see that they still remain diet, our own government, our own laws. marginalized and discriminated against, both without We have the right to our own original spirituality, and within their own culture. toourowntraditions. As women, wewantourchildren While indigenous men are marginalized in rela- to be respected, that they not be vaccinated with chemitionship to non-indigenous men, in terms of education, health, work, and political life, that is to say in all spheres, it hurts us to see that indigenous women are marginalized and oppressed for their condition 1) as women, 2) as poor people, and 3) as indigenous people. So we have the situation that regarding education, the majority of indigenous women are illiterate and as a result do not have jobs. If a Kuna woman and a Kuna man perform a job, the woman receives a lesser salary. The same thing happens in our political life. For example, in our community congress wedonothave the right to vote nor to speak. This does not mean that we want our Kuna brothers to lose their rights, rather that we have the right to participate and exercise the same rights as them. I want to emphasize that even if we obtain these same rights, th~t is not even a small portion of the rights Delegates to the conference in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. of indigenous peoples, both men and women, that we Photo SAIIC are struggling for. As indigenous women we participate in and lay claim to the struggles of indigenous commu- cal medicines. That our mothers not be controlled by nities, and it is on their behalf that we ask that the contraceptives. struggle of indigenous women be a part of this great Aswomenandascommunities, we want to particieffort to reclaim our culture and our rights, which were pate in the national parliament, where we can express taken from us 500 years ago. and shape what we want and feel. Again I point out that through our participation, we Enough of 500 years of exploitation and maintain our own culture and identity. We have been marginalization, wherelndianshavenot been respected. protagonists in the history of the Resistance and survival We do not want any more machismo, but want for men of our communities. Today we demand that our rights and women together to have the same rights. As women, we are the base of an organization, we be recognized, that the blood of our anonymous women who fought culture be recognized, for having allowed are the ones who maintain our culture, identity, and me, my daughter, my mother, and my people to be here traditions. Weare the ones who truly cultivate the earth. today, 500 years later. We also want for our Indian doctors to be reAnd in honor to her, to that original Kuna woman, spected, because we want the right to have our own our mola workshop bears her name, KIKADIRYAI. hospitals. We want all of these to be respected- our She was the first woman who taught us to sew and to hills and mountains, our sacred places, the lakes, the design molas; who maintained the mola tradition animals, our land, the sky - , because they are all throughout the years, which has been the economic base sacred to our people; but to the capitalists these are only for many Kuna families over time. things to use for business. They believe that they own The resistance and survival that the Kuna women the whole world, they divide it up amongst themselves, had in face of the Spanish, is the same that we have today only to make themselves richer and richer. in face of the North American government 6 Num 4 35 �I I INTERNATIONAL TRmUNALS OF THE WoRLD's INDIGENous PEoPLES EcUADOR On. CAMPAIGN MEETING The meeting entitled "Popular Strategy and Alliance for the Oil Exploitation in the Ecuadorian Amazon" will be held in Coca, Ecuador from September2628,1992. The Ecuadorian indigenous organizations: CONAIE,CONFENIAE,andFCUNAE; the Oil Workers Union (FETRAPEC); the environmental coalition "Campana: Amazonia por la Vida", and Observatorio Socio-Ambiental de la Amazonia are organizing a working meeting to develop a unified strategy between indigenous people, workers, «eologists and international organizations to campaign against the oil exploitation in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This meeting is a unique occasion where all the parties affected by the oil industry will meet to develop a united platform. .. For more information contact Observatorio SocioAmbiental de la Amazonia, Tel: 593-2-506-617 or 5932-550-658 or Accion Ecologica, Tel: 593-2-547-516. P.O. Box 17-15-246C, Quito, Ecuador. SECOND KUNA WoMEN's CoNFERENCE The Second Kuna Women's Conference will be held in the Kuna community of Dad Nakue Dupbir in Kuna Yala, Panama from September 25 to 27. . For more information contact Fanny AvilaEleta, Taller de Mujeres Kunas, Apartado Postal 536, Panama 1, Panama. Tel: (507) 63-40-27, Fax: (507) 69-35-14 HONEYBEE An informal quarterly newsletter to document innovations produced by farmers, artisans and farm workers; generate debate around sustainable alternatives based on people's knowledge systems among farmers, scientists, political leaders and social activists and lobby for protecting intellectual property rights of grassroots innovators. Honey Bee asks farmers to contribute specific innovations in the field of sustainable technologies and institutions with the name and address of the innovating individuals and/or community. .. You can receive a four issue subscription to Honey Bee by sending $30 to Honey Bee, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Vastrapura- 380015,India 36 The International Tribunals of the World's Indigenous Peoples will be held from December 12-16, 1992 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Indigenous Peoples' Alliance and the Continental Indigenous Coordinating Committee (CONIC) endorsed the proposal to host regional tribunals on a continental level on issues of Indigenous sovereignty and rights, and to deliver a report of the findings to the United Nations in 1993. A council of 12 Indigenous Listeners will be formed to hear the testimony of the Indian Nations and prepare the report. Indigenous Nations, organizations and community groups who are interested in giving testimony should contact the Indigenous Peoples Alliance, P.O. Box 40192, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87196 The North American Tribunal of Indigenous Peoples and Oppressed Nations THE NORTH AMERICAN TRmUNAL Willbeheldfrom0ctober2to4, 1992inSanFrancisco, CA, led by the American Indian Movement. This gathering will hear testimony and hold discussions about the massive, systematic violations of human rights and international law against people of color within the US and the right to self-determination for these peoples and the release of political prisoners and prisoners of war in the US. . For more information contact the American Indian Movement, 2940-16th Street, #104, San Francisco, CA 94103; Phone (415) 552-1992; Fax (415) 431-1492 REBUIWINGOURCOMMUMTIES: A VlSIONFORTHEFUTURE Program willbe aired on Deep Dish Cable TV on December 15 and 17, 1992. Six indigenous leaders from Central and South American discuss the 500 Years Campaign, which began as an Indian response to the Quincentenary celebration and has developed as an ongoing dialogue among indigenous activists. Produced by the South and Meso American Indian Information Center. For more information contact Deep dish TV Network, 339 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012; Phone (212) 273-8933; Fax (212) 420-8223 SAIIC Newsletter �' -from page 13 Thus we have seen a great need to organize ourselves, to gain strenth through unity, to develop common understandings in order to be able to solve our problems. We do not only want to make demands, but also to propose solutions to how we can solve the grave problems we face in the Amazon. We have developed strategies around how to safeguard our territories. We need large territories for our people, not just titles to small plots of land, because in that way we can defend the environment and the ecology of our planet. We have made progress. In the last three years we have obtained land titles for 221 communities. This has been the result of AIDESEP's work in coordination with the government officials. Some of them, not all, but some, have developed an understanding that whatwearedemandingisjustlyours. Before,theydid not understand, and accused us of being troublemakers, terrorists, drug-traffickers, in order to demoralize us. But as we see that the indigenous cause we defend is a just one, we will not be frightened off by threats, imprisionment, or blackmail. We will always continue to struggle to regain our culture and our land. SAICC: As president of AIDESEP, what are the problems you would like to solve during your term? MM: Our primary project is the land issue. All of the communities of the Amazon have agreed that we want to obtain land titles for the communities which still lack them. This is the project we have agreed upon for 1992. We also have a long-term reforestation program, to recover land which has been despoiled. Another project is a health project, involving the recovery and promotion of medicinal plants alongside western medicines. We have determined that medicinal plants are even better in many cases than Western medicine. As part of this project, we are training young people to be health promoters in each community throughout the Amazon. Also, we are working towards the creation of bilingual schools throughout Amazonia. Here we have another achievement, in that the DepartmentofEducation has publicly accepted our goals in a government decree. SAIIC: I understand that it is the first time you have Vol 6 Num 4 attended this meeting at the UN. What is your opinion on this working group? MM: Well, on a personal level I have found that what we at AIDESEP are demaning is what all indigenous people of the world are seeking. We all share similar problems and needs. Here at the United Nations, I think that we, too, are nations. I believe that here we are pooling together our strength in order to be able to solve the problems that we face. If we unite our strength, make our demands and put some pressure on the governments of each country, I think that we can educate them , improve our economic and social situation, and change the racial discrimination we experience as indigenous people all over the world. Indigenous organizations themselves need to be proactive, and present proposals to the government saying how they mean solve the problems we all face. Especially the environmental problems, which are being talked about all over. the world. If we as indigenous people do not demand that the agreements made in Rio de Janeiro be respected, I think that the governments are going to forget, because of their desire to profit from the resources that exist in the rainforest SAIIC: I understand that it is the first time you have attended this meeting at the UN. What is your opinion on this working group? MM: Well, on a personal level I have found that what we at AIDESEP are demaning is what all indigenous people of the world are seeking. We all share similar problems and needs. Here at the United Nations, I think that we, too, are nations. I believe that here we are pooling together our strength in order to be able to solve the problems that we face. If we unite our strength, make our demands and put some pressure on the governments of each country, I think that we can educate them , improve our economic and social situation, and change the racial discrimination we experience as indigenous people all over the world. For more information, contact AIDESEP Av. San Eugenio 981 Lima 13, Peru 37 �I I On Sunday, September 20th, a human rights activist was killed in Santo Domingo during a peaceful march protesting the Quincentennial celebrations in honor of Christopher Columbus. Rafael Efrain Ortiz was shot in the forehead and two other people were wounded when plain clothedpolicemenopenedfireon the 300 marchers. A lieutenant and two officers are being held under investigation. This was the first march in the Dominican Republic organized by groups protesting several different aspects of the celebration, the most tangible of which is the enormous lighthouse dedicated to Christopher Columbus.In a later protest, another man was killed. The government has not disclosed any figures, but the most often quotedcostforthe project is somewhere around $250 million pesos or $40 million dollars. Not only can the country not afford such an expense, but a major part of that cost revolves around the evacuation and demolition of the homes and land where the lighthouse now stands. Thousands offamilies were to be relocated in modern apartments, but reports say that has not happened. At most, some people have received $50 dollars before watching their home be bulldozed. It is ironic for a poor country like the Dominican Republic to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on this grandiose project and other beautification and renovation projects when the country's basic services are crumbling. Many areas of the city receive only 34 hours of electricity per day; streets have large potholes (making off-road vehicles the preferred mode of transportation for the wealthy); rubbish remains uncollected on the streets causing terrible rat problems. 38 I The lighthouse itselfis a grey,recumbent, parldng garage looking structure, 800 feet long and 150feet tall, in the form of a cross. It is located across from the colonial city on the other side of the Ozama River and will house museums from "all the countries of the world" as well as offices. "Beautification: or "hiding eyesore" projects include the 1-mile between the two tourist destinations so that tourists don't have to see poverty on their way to the lighthouse. The lighthouse is supposed to illuminate the sky in the shape of a cross, visible all over the Caribbean. Needless to say, there is a lot of skepticism about that claim. In response to criticism that the whole country would have to remain in the dark in order to provide the electricity for the lighthouse, the government claims that the lighthouse will be powered on solar energy. In addition, the money for the solar power plant is supposed to have been donated. Many people think that president Balaguer has built this lighthouse as a monument to himself. After six terms as president he would no doubt like to leave his mark. Contrary to popular belief, the Pope will not inaugurate the monument although he will be in the country at the time for the Latin American Church Conference. He will be co-officiating a mass on the esplanade of the lighthouse, on October ll,justone day prior to the official celebrations on October 12. The Pope has been to Santo Domingo once before in 1978. He chose it as the first place to visit in America, as it was the first land in America that the church imposed Christianity on. SAIIC Newsletter j �The Peace and dignity Journeys, which began on May 2, 1992, in Alaska and South America. have become an interlacing of native runners from different nations throughout Canada. the United States, South and Central America and Mexico. The march has been going through small towns and urban capitals, and on August 29 the northern leg reached El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The people from different towns have welcomed the runners with public events, sacred ceremonies, planting of trees, medicinal offerings, official government proclamations, food and lodging, and more runners have joined all along the way. In Tortugas, New Mexico eighty runners representing over fifty nations met to continue the march south. For us, seeking solidarity among ourselves, expanding communication, and sharing the work for the fullfillment ofour prophecies, are priorities- especially now in the face of the so called celebrations of the five hundred years of the continental encounter, which goes against all the ideals of indigenous America. Out of the many events and actions taken by the global resistance movement. Peace and Dignity has emerged as an important group promoting a network of organizers throughout the American Continent These journeys were mobilized in the North and the South of the hemisphere under the advice of a great nurnberofindigenousnations who seek unity throughout the continent with the support of all the races who respect our culture and our Mother Earth. Peace and Dignity Journeys was organized by Aurelio Dias Pekpankalli and Alfonso Perez Tenoch, Mexicans who are based in Chicago, Illinois. The March will end in Teotihuacln, Mexico on October 12 with a sacred ceremony. Our presence there will add to the whole of the strategy of the Indigenous Nations. Source: Dorinda Moreno, US West Coast Coordinator of Peace and Dignity Journeys 6 Num 4 Diego Domingo Martin, a Mam leader from Guatemala, was last seen being led away by five armed men on November 8, 1991. When family members denouncedhis "disappearance," they were told they should notcareabouta "guerilla". They were warned that they might suffer the same fate if they continued their denunciation. Unfortunately Diego is not alone. Diego is only one of countless indigenous persons in the Americas singledoutforabuse. To mark the SOOth anniversary of the arrival of Columbus, Amnesty International is highlighting and stepping up its work on behalfofindigenouspeoplesthroughaspecialcampaign. In the U.S alone, approximately three hundred local Amnesty groups are already generating appeals to governments to stop the continuing violations directed against indigenous peoples. Soon, their voices will be joined by thousands of Amnesty student groups. On October 6, worldwide attention focuses on the release of Amnesty International's report entitled Hu- man rights violations against indigerwus peoples ofthe Americas. A "Day of Action" on October 12 by Amnesty groups across the U.S. commemorates the past and commits to the future. And on International Human Rights Day, December10,Amnestygroupsagainfocusonendingviolations against indigenous peoples. This anticipates further work during 1993, the UN.'s year of the Indigenous People. Amnesty International offers its report and its work through local and student groups, and thousands of individual members. The world must realize that the massacres, the "disappearances," the torture and other egregious human rights violations against indigenous people have not stopped: they continue and it is high time the governments of the an end 1:0 them. For more information on Amnesty International's campaign work or to obtain the report , please contact the Campaign Office at 655 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94102 or (415)441-2114. 39 �SAIIC WELCOMES YOUR CONTRI BUTIONS! Please pass on to us any information you come across on indigenous peoples's strugles for self-determination. We are always in need of photos, publications, newspapers, and articles pertaining to these issues. Allof our projects and programs are financed by donations. We are in need of financial contributions, and volunteer workers. Please contact SAIICto find out how you can best help. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. All :contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. AMAZONIA: VOICES FROM THE RAINFOREST SAlle T-SHIRTS T-shirtswith the colorful SAIIClogo,available in: red, black & turquoise. "500 Years of Indian Resistance" printed above the logo. Please specify size (S,M,l,Xl). $12.00 + $1.75 shipping & handling, (bulk discounts). ANEWYIDEO COLUMBUS DIDN'T DISCOVER USI CRISTOBAL COLON Native people's perspectives on the Columbus Quincentennial. 24 minutes. In Spanish and English/ VHS, color. A coproduction of SAIIC, CaNAlE, ONIC and Turning Tide Productions. Video price $39.95 + $1.75 for shipping & handling. 1992 INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY & RESOURCE GUIDE FOR 500 YEARS OF RESISTANCE A resource guide for community organizers, teachers and other interested people with a directory of international organizations working on quincentennial activities, testimonials from Indian people in South & Meso America, educational resources and other tools for action. $10.00 + $1.75 for shipping & handling. South and Meso American Indian Information PO Box 2B703, Oakland, CA 94604 A resource and action guide with a comprehensive listing of international rainforest and Amazonian Indian organizatiions. The guide is suplemented by an overview designed to give added force to grassroots groups in the Amazon fighting in defense of the rainforest and basic human rights of the indigenous people there. Co-authored by SAIIC with the Amazonia Film Project, International Rivers Network and published by the Rainforest Action Network. $8.50 plus $1.50 shipping ($4.50 airmail). Also available in Spanish. NEW SAlle VIDEO REBUILDING OUR COMMUNITIES: VISION OF THE FUTURE A Six indigenous leaders from Central and South America discuss the 500-years campaign, which began as an Indian response to the Quincentenary celebration and has developed as an ongoing dialogue among indigenous activists. Produced bySAIIC. $19.00+ $1.75 for shipping and handlin.s. FORTHCOMING DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAS (VOICES OF INDIGENOUS WOMEN A book by & about Indian women. Interviews, testimonies, statements from Indigenous women leaders from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego. For more information contact SAIIC. Center (SAIIC) Non.profit Organization US Postage PAID Oakland, CA Permit No, 79 � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) "A New Beginning" Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1992 Zotero Title Vol. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) "A New Beginning" Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Volume 6 No. 4 (English).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 4 Language English Pages 1-40 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 6 Amazon Andes Indian Women Meso America Southern Cone http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/5db10504da097cd6e4d37e4ec8867e48.pdf 189d6f1cba5c03fbdb9034a8803c0bdb PDF Text Text Newsletter Vol6 No 4, Fall 1992 Price $3 � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Cover Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1992 Zotero Title Cover Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (1).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note Cover Issue 4 Language English Pages 1 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 6 500 Years of Struggle A New Beginning http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/c6daeecbb255d583b6daae68b459aa08 3cf47a8b0b48ace142342d569dd92d7a 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. 6, no. 4 (2).pdf PDF Text Text Eco Fight Space at Summit ............ 4 Declaration Indigenous Peoples of the World ........ 6 Italian Oil Co. Occupies Area (Brazil) ..................... .7 Woodcutter Killed (Brazil) ..................................... 8 Patent Bill Threatens Indians (Brazil) ......................... 9 Health Pro jest Sees Increase in Malaria (Brazil) ......... 10 Crisis Affects .......................... 11 Yanomani Indians are Dying ........................ 12 Miqueas Millares, ............... 13 Reunion the Mapuche Nation (Argentina) ............. 14 Reviving Jujuymata Culture (Argentina) ..................... 16 Poetry (Argentina) .................................................. 17 Mapuche Take land Recovery Actions (Chile) ........... 18 , Guarani ................. 20 People of Beni Agents Out (Bolivia) ......... 23 Academy To Study Indigenous Cultures (Bolivia) ........ 23 Margarita FIPI ........................ .. Congress of Indigenous Medecine (Mexico) ............ .. International Meeting of Indian Press (Mexico) ......... . The Mexico Declaration (Mexico! ............................ 28 Costa Rican Indians March (Costa Rica) ................... 29 Third Continental Meeting ( Panamaj ....................... 30 Calixta Gabriei,Caqchikel Maya ........ 31 Violence Against Mom Indians (Guatemala) ............ . Indian Women and 500 Years Resistance ........... . Ecuador Oil Campaign Meeting .............................. 36 Second Kuna Women's Conference ......................... 36 Amnesty !ntemational ............................................. 38 Man Killed in Dominican Republic ........................... 38 Peace & Dignity Journeys ....................................... 39 Page Mail: Oakland, Office: 1212 Broadway, #830 Oakland, California 94612 Phone: (51 OJ 834-4263 Fax: (51 0)-834-4264 Peacenet E-mail: saiic@igc.org 2 Director: Nilo Office Coordinator: Jim Freeman Office Assistant: Rosa Alegria Accounting: Quipus Radio Program Coordinator: Carlos Maibeth Design & Typesetting: Ei Andar Publications SAIIC Board of Directors Gina Pacaldo (San Carlos Chicana),Nilo Cayuqueo IMt:~roLICI'ltl'll-Aimen­ tinal, Carlos Maibeth (Miskito-Nicaragua), Wara Alderete (Calchaqui-Argentinalu Xihuanel Huerta (Chicanlndia), lucilene Whitesell (Amazonia Native-Brasil) Guillermo Delgado (Quechua-Bolivia) The SAIIC Newsletter (ISSN 1056-5876) is published four times per year and available an annual $15 personal membership, $25 for an organizational membership, or $3 at certain newstands. For membership, you will also receive Urgent Actions bulletins. International memberships, add $1 0. We would like to thank the fallowing people and organizations for their generous assistance and donations to SAIIC. A Central Place, Eva Aguilar, Carlos Coloma, Marcela Doylet, Melissa Kelleher, Ashley Kirkman, Jennifer Kirkman, Dorinda Moreno, Grace Nicols, Glen Switkes, Toshiko, Peter Veilleux, Erica Wcmdner, Victoria Ward Thanks to the following foundations for their generous support : The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, General Service Foundation, Tides Foundation, Funding Exchange, Seventh Generation Fund, Agricu~ rural Mission, United Church of Christ, Peace Development Fund, Vanguard Foundation, Onaway Trust. COVER ILLUSTRATION )oseMarwel Ticona , Aymora Winner of the poster contest 500 Ai'ios de Lucha Anticolonial MRTKL, Bolivia 1992 as a poster SAIIC SAIIC Newsletter � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Contents Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1992 Zotero Title Contents Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (2).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note Table of Contents Issue 4 Language English Pages 2 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 6 Amazon Andes Indian Women Meso America Southern Cone http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/e92598aaa62b45a3b15790e0e1d163fb b6108f423f80930dd030e88a9b5bf3f8 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. 6, no. 4 (3).pdf PDF Text Text I I that recognize cultural diversity, and the legal and human rights of Indigenous peoples should continue to be implemented. Indigenous peoples have expressed their will to carry on their long term struggle for the full recognition of their rights. EW msroruCAL TRENDS In recent continental gatherings we, as rearticulated Indigenous peoples have broadened our perspectives and our demands at a continental level. Indigenous people are no longer isolated entities, we have overcome the colonial boundaries imposed on us for 500 years. tQggen~ ;t:CO!ltm~nta1 reorganizing and gathering of all Indigenous have been meeting in South America, ·~on~;tmctjritgtlleiij¢qJmmmruication network and sharing their Indigenous encounters have ..· equality within current nation-states. ) Nation-state policies of "intevrnfitin~~''iililrl "!l$Similati<m' passive ways, undermining thus, Iridlige:i}olllS --·---··~..-~:..."''"''Mi~n enforced in both violent and seemingly derrigra~d h~li.i!~engps Indigenous peoples, an active Indigenous Peoples. This however, dm~n.Otln~fri. which promote equality and harmony. nations, languages and cultures. !~ tJmti®"I"'~t:JiOns have declared 1993 The Year of we mtera1ct in relation to nation-states are those 1992 can be seen as the end of this ,..,.,fl'fn,.,.,,~,-.. p¢~~ ¢)rd¢ilm:lig<~nous peoples look at it with hope. At no other time have we felt responsible for the jp~fuisiqfpfu;~xis~n&::: . . would like to warn the world community of the urgent need to rethink our human existallQ¢ un~~l:e¢ !that ®:tlura)l~~;Qm-ces are not exhausted. Having established communication !nd~gepq~1s p~pll¢$)v~n. fro.I.D tn¢ll.' "''f'"~,..v ..... ecological beliefs, continue to denounce the abuse of our planet These recent JUq~geij61~s iiiarc:nes·· that remind governments and nation-states of · the urgent need to implement the rights Ji),digenm;!S peop11e ¢el'lttuties. Recent land grants, govermnents' recognii:-ntnriir·nm,i<ll> , dialogue, understanding, but there is tion of the Right of Indigenous peoples toJh~iiocOJii~i$c*:Q; ~(pd~f l;fi.tf!; still much resistance to recognizing Inclig(~tiQ(t$.Jrigl1ts. Nevertheless, current economic trends \WOJrJ.ruil!l' aJg@.~sttli¢ realities are causing the empoverishment of Pe<)[)le~::wliO 1Lt¢~~pgly 'Wte repeatedly pointed out the structures based on inequality In this issue, we are presenting our recent thoughts, Indigenous people of the continent ,..,.,"\,.,.,,,.n;~,.., Let Indigenous people speak for themselves on these issues. world, and specifically in Latin America these to make ends meet. Clearly, Indigenous peoples have fru:StnlitiOJrlS and hopes for a better world as we dialogue with the � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Editorial Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1992 Zotero Title Editorial Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (3).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note Editorial Issue 4 Language English Pages 3 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 6 Editorial http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/f97138682f5d0dc583a6a1cedfbe1d26 a7617f4cb526634869ea3c87a3c7b4a4 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. 6, no. 4 (4-5).pdf PDF Text Text I Indian delegates meet withAl Gore. Photo SAIIC From a traditional Indian village constructed in the Tijuca national forest to a sweltering tent in the Global Forum on Flamengo Beach, environmentalists participating in Rio de Janeiro's Eco '92 encountered hundreds oflndigenous peoples from around the world who participated in two major Indian conferences. However despite the substantial Indigenous presence in Rio, the participation of Indian people in the Earth Summitwhere world leaders were gathered to sign treaties on fundamental environmental issues- was limited to a symbolic five minute statement by Marcos Terena, of the Terena Nation of Brazil. The first indigenous conference was the Wodd Conference of Indigenous Peoples on Territory, EnvironmentandDevelopment, organized by the InterTribal Committee-500 Years of Resistance (Brazil), COICA 4 (Amazonia), and Centro Mocovi (Argentina). About 1000 indigenous people from five continents gathered in a series of long houses built by seven Amazonian tribes in a village dubbed "Kari-Oca". Shamans blessed the land, and the village became the scene of a weeklong meeting, which brought busloads of Xavante and Kayapo Indians from Brazil together with much smaller delegations from Samiland, the Philippines, Australia, and Africa. Also featuring the participation of many indigenous peoples, primarily from Brazil, was the Earth Parliament, whose goal was to allow Indians a greater voice at the UN .C.E.D. meeting. The Earth Parliament culminated with a rally at which Congressmen and Senators from the United States expressed their support for the goals of Indigenous peoples. SAIIC Newsletter �I Indians in the First Conference of the People of the Forest, Rio Blanco, Brazil. Photo Kit Miller Despite the apparent use of Indian people at times as "window dressing" at the ecological conference, some Indian leaders, reflecting on the meeting, saw a brighter side in the events. Atencio Lopez, Kuna from Panama represented the Kuna Association United for Nabguana (Mother Earth). According to Lopez, "Never before at a world conference had so much attention been placed on Indigenous peoples and their natural surroundings as at the U.N.C.E.D. conference... Our principal task was to avoid the altering ofparts of the principal documents of the Conference dealing with Indigenous peoples after years of negotiations in the Prep Corns, which were held prior to Rio. The little bit that had remained affirmed in Agenda 21, the Declaration on Forests and others, had required a great effort on the part of our delegates. But, sadly, indifference toward the problems of Indian peoples by countries like the United States, Canada, England and France, among others, put our efforts at diplomacy in jeopardy. "For example, in Agenda21, only 3 million dollars of the 600 billion to be set aside annually (for environ- Vol 6 Num 4 mental protection) under Agenda 21 was earmarked for Indigenous peoples. This shows that for the world governments, our people are not a priority. As for the Forest Declaration, the active participation and defense by Indigenous peoples of our territories is left up to the judgment of governments. The same goes for biological resources and genetic material, which only takes into account the sovereign rights of the countries, ignoring the existence of our peoples, which for years have conserved and preserved the forests and the genetic material that is found there. "In the end, the participation of Indigenous representatives was a success, because at these moments we have no intermediaries, rather we ourselves struggle with our own voices in international forums which, despite wanting to keep us quiet, cannot We also want to praise the work realized by Evaristo Nugkuag of COICA, as coordinator of the Indigenous delegation of UN.C.E.D .. "We, the Indigenous peoples, are walking toward the future in the footsteps of our ancestors." 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Eco '92: Indigenous peoples Fight for Space at the Earth Summit (Brazil) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1992 Zotero Title Eco '92: Indigenous peoples Fight for Space at the Earth Summit (Brazil) Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (4-5).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note At Rio de Janeiro's Eco '92 conference, hundreds of Indigenous peoples showed up and participated. However, their presence at the Earth Summit was limited to a five minute speech by Marcos Terena, of the Terena Nation of Brazil. Issue 4 Language English Pages 4-5 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 6 Earth Summit Eco '92 Rio Rio de Janeiro http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/9ee9111c669e4db494a8210ac732bcb6 069c4d47fb2b969c3f8b83a35c068285 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. 6, no. 4 (6).pdf PDF Text Text I ro E The following is Declaration #141 of the '92 Global Forum in Rio de Jeneiro. The Indians present at the Earth Summet were forced to express their views in this alternative Global Forum, as they were not allowed to completely participate in the official conference. #141 Declaration offudigenous Peoplesofthe World (June 7, 1992) We the Indigenous Peoples of the world, manifest our concern at this moment, when people from the whole planet are gathered here in Rio to discuss the direction of our lives, our planet Mother Earth and the future of our children and grandchildren. We manifest our concern because our voices, the voices of traditional peoples, are not being heard. At this moment, the governments ofthe rich nations are discussing how to exert even more control over the less favored nations. The global community of colonial states has been meeting with each other as First, Second and Third World powers. All are recognized members of the United Natious. The Indigenous Nations are primarily considered Fourth World and are excluded. The intent of the Earth Summit is to address the necessity of developing intergovernmental agreements and policies that shall move the global community of states into a sustainableyield relationship with the natural earth's resources and biospheres. All states should bind themselves to these agreements to protect the natural environment. However, throughout this process, the Indigenous Nations have been totally excluded from the formal proceedings, except in very narrow occasions in which the appearances have been more window dressing than respect for the sovereignty of Indigenous Nations. Indigenous Nations are in agreement. Our exclusion is colonial racism in all its institutional forms. The "State" governments that are significant participants in the Earth Summit process are the most powerful colonial governments in possession of Indigenous Lands, natural resources, territories and populations. To exclude Indigenous Nations helps assure those States' control of what they mutually classify as "domestic affairs." Their domestic policies, programs and governmental relationships with Indigenous Peoples result in our destruction. Statistics of the highest infant mortality, shortest lifeexpectancy, poorest health, highest poverty and so on, are reflectionsofthe injustices againstindigenousPeoples by State governments and societies enriched by the illegal takings and thievery. 6 0 1 1 E E Indigenous Peoples demand: "' our territory and lands be protected from external invasion and exploitation; "'our air, water and lands must remain free from pollution, poison and other contaminants. "' our individual human rights and freedoms are protected; "' our rights to self-governance is guaranteed; "' our rights to self-determination protected; "' our traditional, ceremonial and spiritual sovereignty; "' our right to control and govern over all foreign persons that shall enter our territory; "' our sovereignty over our language and culture; "' our sovereign control over all economic development of our land, resources, territory and peoples; "' our protection of all our sacred sites and objects; "'the freedom from being downwind of environmentally damaging, or poisoning activities of foreign individuals or corporations that impact the quality of air, water and lands; * our forests be protected as we Indigenous Peoples have always protected our forests, theanimaiswehunt, our fish, our mountains and our P AJES (spiritual .leaders) who live in the sacred places amidst our forests. "' that treaties, paid for by our people in land and blood, be honored by those nations which have prospered by these agreements. HOWEVER, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, Indigenous Nations want the integrity of our sovereignty respected. The Great Spirit has endowed the Indigenous Nations with the same rights as other member societies of the global community. The world must hear us. Not only have Indigenous Peoples been treated in token ways, but deliberate external influences have operated to divide us form one another. This "divide and conquer" ploy has come form many United Nation leaders. We should like to tell you this moment that our Indigenous spiritual leaders are watching over and observing how your spirit moves. We ask respect for the depths of the earth, home of the fierce spirits which guarantee the protection of all the people and life forms of the planet. We know this Earth Summit will sign the Fundamental Principles governing the destiny for the future (Agenda 21). We, Indigenous Peoples of the world, desire that this document be decisive in respecting the life of all the forest and Indigenous Peoples of the world. SAIIC Newsletter � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Declaration of Indigenous Peoples of the World (Brazil) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1992 Zotero Title Declaration of Indigenous Peoples of the World (Brazil) Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (6).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note Declaration #141 of the '92 Global Forum in Rio de Janeiro Issue 4 Language English Pages 6 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 6De Declaration #141 Declaration 141 Declaration of Indigenous Peoples Rio Rio de Janeiro http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/6668335fdc822d5911376cbc97590d3a d768aa0c8ed7dc6dc732879cd880b74e 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. 6, no. 4 (7).pdf PDF Text Text I Brazil,July 17,1992. Therecoveryofpartofthe territory traditionally occupied by Xavante Indians depends on a concrete action of an Italian corporation, Agip Petroli, the holding company of the Italian stateowned Enter Nazionali Idrocarbure (ENI). The area in question, which is located in the state of Mato Grosso, is presently known as Suia-Missu farm and was bought by ENI in 1981. Although the chairman of the company, GabrieleCagliari,announcedonJunelO at the Earth Summit that the area would be re-turned to the Xavante Indians, he has not made good on his promise so far. Cagliari had said that the area would be returned to the Indians on the 8th of July 1992. According to FUNAI (National Indian Foundation), ENI' s representatives in Brazil oppose the idea of returning the area to the Xavante Indians, defying the decision made by the board of the company in Italy. These representatives have been demanding a statement from FUNAI on the rights of the Xavante Indians over the area. The delay to give the area back to the Indians is making it even more difficult for them to recover their territory. Two thousand families of squatters invaded the Suia-Missu farm on June 15, a few days after the announcement made by ENI's chairman. The squatters were encouraged to invade the area by mayors, politicians and farmers of the region, who oppose the idea of returning it to the Xavante Indians. They even prepared a map to show to the families the places they should invade and they are threatening to react with violence if the Indians do return. There have been accusations that they are occupying parts of the farm. These politicians claim that they rely on the support of the governor of the state of Mato Grosso, Julio Campos, and perhaps this is true, considering that he has not taken any measure to prevent the invasion. Agip Petroli, on its turn, hasn't voiced a word about the invasion of the farm, which is regarded as an area belonging to the company. The Suia-Missu farm occupies most of the 200 thousand hectares of the Maraiwatsede Indian Area. Vol 6 Num 4 FUNAI initiated the demarcation of the area, but its immediate continuity depends on Agip's consent to the return of the Xavante Indians. Agip Petroli bought the Suia-Missu farm in 1981. In the 50's, small squatter families began to invade Maraiwatsede. The area was bought by farmer Ariosto da Riva, who began to refer to the Indian territory as Suia-Missu farm. In 1962, the farmer associated with the Ometto entrepreneurial group in business undertakings. Ariosto da Riva and the Ometto family are of Italian origin. Conflicts between the Xavante Indians and the invaders began to grow until in 1966 the federal administra- Representative Porter (US Congress ) meets Chief tion transferred some Oren Lyon and other delegates. Photo SAIIC of the Indians to the Sao Marcos Salesian Mission, 300 km away from the area. Not long after that, a measles outbreak hit the mission and over 100 Indians died, many of whom had come from Maraiwatsede. The Indians who had stayed in Suia-Missu were taken to another Xavante area. The Ometto group sold the farm to the Liquigas do Brasil company in 1972, which on its tum sold it to Agip Petroli in 1981. The Xavante Indians never gave up the idea of returning to Maraiwatsede. Every year groups of Indians have been returning to the traditional territory to visit their old cemeteries and villages there. But only in 1984 did the Xavante Indians of Suia-Missu manage to get together once again in a single village, making it possible for them to claim their traditional territory in an organized way. Source: Indianist Missionary Council (CJlVII) newsletter 7 � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Italian Oil Company Occupies Area Belonging to Xavante Indians (Brazil) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1992 Zotero Title Italian Oil Company Occupies Area Belonging to Xavante Indians (Brazil) Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (7).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note Representatives of an Italian company in Brazil have opposed the return of Indian lands to the rightful inhabitants. These representatives acted in defiance of the board of their company. Issue 4 Language English Pages 7 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 6 Brazil encroachment Italian oil Xavante Indians Xavantes http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/1b788ce91fda346fb0f0eaca25f644f7 55b9fadf48e013fed259b05a508d6889 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. 6, no. 4 (8).pdf PDF Text Text I In the state of Maranhao, in the so-called Brazilian pre-Amazonian region, the fight between the Guajajara Indians and invaders of the Cafia Brava Indian Area was resumed. In the first week of July, inhabitants of the village of Sao Pedro dos Cacetes, which is located in the heart of the Indian territory, invaded theCrioli village and abducted seven Guajajara Indians, making them hostages. The invaders wanted to malce sure that in case they are indeed forced to leave that village they will be resettled and indemnified for all improvements they introduced in the area. The Indians ended up being released on July 3rd, but almost three thousand invaders remained in the Indian area. Kuna Indian delegate at Kari-oca village, Rio. Photo SAIIC On May 14th, nine Federal Police officers invaded the Sabonete village and tortured several Guajajara Indians, including women and children, allegedly to carry out "an operation against the traffic of marijuana and hashish." The shots fired these officers were heard in the distance by other Indians, who gathered around them and seized their weapons in the ensuing fight. The first tenant farmers of Sao Pedro dos Cacetes settled in Canabrava at least 30 years ago, against the will of the Guajajara Indians. After nine pregnant Indian women were killed by the invaders, FUNAI (National Indian Foundation) provided the government of the state of Maranhao, in 1979, with federal funds to remove and resettle those families, which totaled 1247 in that year. Nobody knows what that government did with those funds, as the invaders were not removed from the area in question. Right now, the Guajajara Indians are being pressured to accept the existence of the village in their lands. In exchange for this, they would be provided with another area. But even if the Indians accept this arrangement, conflicts are not likely to end and the Guajajara people might reclaim the area occupied by the village at any moment; according to the Constitution, the rights of the Indians over their lands are imprescriptible. (Brazil), Conflicts have been exploding in several parts of Brazil in recent weeks as a result of the noncompliance, by the Brazilian government, of constitutional obligations to Indian peoples. These conflicts could be avoided if measures such as the removal of invaders from Indian lands were taken. A woodcutter was arrow-shot to death on July 3rd by Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indians in the Amazonian state of Rondonia. The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau are one of the last free peoples of the Amazon. Two brothers of that woodcutter, who were also arrow-shot, narrowly escaped from being killed also. The three men had been removing hardwood from the lands of those Indians for several months. Invasions of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau area became more intense as of the 80's. Through INCRA (Colonization and Land Reform Institute), the government itself issued several title deeds for lands included in the Indian territory, in addition to settling families of tenant farmers there. Although the demarcation of Source: Indianist Missionary Council (CIMI) this territory was finalized in October of.last year, the newsletter invasions were not halted, particular! y those of woodFor further information SAIIC recommends the cutters. The killing of the woodcutter on Friday was book by David Price, :tv'ID: a new warning that the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indians, Seven Locks Press, 1989 who live in virtual isolation, will not accept further invasions of their lands. 8 � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Woodcutter is Killed and Indians are Abducted in the Wake of Invasion of Indian Land (Brazil) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1992 Zotero Title Woodcutter is Killed and Indians are Abducted in the Wake of Invasion of Indian Land (Brazil) Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (8).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note Three men had been removing hardwood from Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indian territory for several months when members of the tribe shot at them with arrows, killing one and wounding the other two. Issue 4 Language English Pages 8 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 6 Brazil Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indians woodcutters woodcutters shot by arrows http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/c379fc19ddd25c742efe44bec8d74a21 4330e9c9bf33537ba617e1f7e09d69c7 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. 6, no. 4 (9-10).pdf PDF Text Text I Mario Juruna defends his right to sell a jaguar skin, Rio. Photo SAIIC Brazil, June 22, 1992. Brazil may lose control over the genetic basis of its ecosystems. A bill on industrial property rights proposed by the federal administration and referred to the National Congress on an urgent basis provides for the possibility of patents being issued to cover forms of life. If the Bill is approved, Brazil may have to pay royalties on the use of resources that are typical of its territory and can only be found in it, as multinational companies would have the legal right to establish monopolies over the benefits derived from biodiversity. The Bill is a result of pressures from the American government and the cartel of multinational drug companies is particularly interested in its approval. The Bill will provide these companies with the right to patent a certain form of life that can only be found in Amazonia and to have full control over its use. Moreover, according to article 53 of the Bill, only the holders of such patents would be entitled to import these products, without any obligation to manufacture them in Brazil. Article 51 provides that "the patent Wanaro Indian healer, Brazil border. Photo SAliC shall remain in force for a period of20 years", and not 15 years anymore, as has been the case so far. "In all the history of mankind, we had never witnessed such an absurd reinforcement of monopolies", says Rogerio Cezar de Cerqueira Leite, one of the most renowned Brazilian physicists. "Through Continued on page 10 6 Num 4 / �I -from page 9 this provision, a foreign company files a patent application and takes hold of the Brazilian market for the benefit of its headquarters abroad, doing away with competition." In practice, it means the end of all development possibilities available to the domestic drug industry. What the Brazilian government is trying to do is precisely the opposite of what countries of the first world do, as they only recognize patents after qualifying their industries technologically and after providing them with adequate means of protection. The Indian peoples are surely being affected by this fight of giants, as the genetic bases located in their lands- particularly the ones located in Amazoniaare of fundamental importance to transnational drug The Demini region, served by a CCPY health team, has been one of the two loost affected by the departure of the FNS health workers, the other being Catrimani. Still, Dr. Deise Francisco, coordinator of the health team, reported that there are 12 new cases of malaria out of a population of 90 Yc:momami at the Demini Indian post, after months with no new cases. Mosquito breeding grounds in the area were identified by FNS entomologists but were not eradicated because of the shortage equipment and personnel. Source: Commission for lhe Ycmomami Park companies. To these peoples, the approval of the bill proposed by the Executive branch would mean the handing over of their knowledge on biodiversity to large cartels, which would save years of research and investment in the process. This is something that is already happening in other countries and represents one of the main goals of today's international economic policy. Countries such as the United States do not spare any efforts to make Third World countries adjust their patent laws to the needs of emerging transnational monopolies. For centuries Indian peoples have developed and preserved the knowledge they have on their natural resources, which are to be protected instead of becoming objects of patent protection or private appropriation. These peoples must be supported if they are to continue to preserve their knowledge and biodiversity, so that they may develop sustainable projects that can bring improvements to the quality of life of their communities without forcing them to destroy natural resources in order to survive. There are also peoples whose territories have been degraded as a result of the economic expropriation process. These areas must be recovered so that the quality of life of the communities which occupy them may be improved. This is a reality affecting Indian lands located in the Northeast, South, East and Center-West regions of Brazil. Together with steps aimed at protecting their biodiversity and knowledge, measures must be taken to ensure respect for the ethnic diversity of Indian peoples. Governments and the non-Indian society have traditionally despised the Indian logic in their handling of ecosystems. And this was the logic that ensured the self-sustainable nature of these societies and the preservation of the environment The private appropriation of these resources and know ledge, as provided for in the Bill on Industrial property, represents a blow against the interests of Indian peoples. Source: Indianist Missionary Council (CIMI) newsletter SAIIC Newsletter � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Patent Bill Threatens Indians and the National Sovereignty in Brazil (Brazil) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1992 Zotero Title Patent Bill Threatens Indians and the National Sovereignty in Brazil (Brazil) Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (9-10).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note A bill on industrial property rights was proposed by the federal administration of Brazil. If this bill is passed, Brazil may have to pay royalties on resources and life forms that are native to its territory and can only be found there. Issue 4 Language English Pages 9-10 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 6 Brazil environmental threat Legislation patents http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/24014f61d8b726e34d9ea9618c003435 cca35edf00b58d28527d1e342dbcb79a 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. 6, no. 4 (10).pdf PDF Text Text I -from page 9 this provision, a foreign company files a patent application and takes hold of the Brazilian market for the benefit of its headquarters abroad, doing away with competition." In practice, it means the end of all development possibilities available to the domestic drug industry. What the Brazilian government is trying to do is precisely the opposite of what countries of the first world do, as they only recognize patents after qualifying their industries technologically and after providing them with adequate means of protection. The Indian peoples are surely being affected by this fight of giants, as the genetic bases located in their lands- particularly the ones located in Amazoniaare of fundamental importance to transnational drug The Demini region, served by a CCPY health team, has been one of the two loost affected by the departure of the FNS health workers, the other being Catrimani. Still, Dr. Deise Francisco, coordinator of the health team, reported that there are 12 new cases of malaria out of a population of 90 Yc:momami at the Demini Indian post, after months with no new cases. Mosquito breeding grounds in the area were identified by FNS entomologists but were not eradicated because of the shortage equipment and personnel. Source: Commission for lhe Ycmomami Park companies. To these peoples, the approval of the bill proposed by the Executive branch would mean the handing over of their knowledge on biodiversity to large cartels, which would save years of research and investment in the process. This is something that is already happening in other countries and represents one of the main goals of today's international economic policy. Countries such as the United States do not spare any efforts to make Third World countries adjust their patent laws to the needs of emerging transnational monopolies. For centuries Indian peoples have developed and preserved the knowledge they have on their natural resources, which are to be protected instead of becoming objects of patent protection or private appropriation. These peoples must be supported if they are to continue to preserve their knowledge and biodiversity, so that they may develop sustainable projects that can bring improvements to the quality of life of their communities without forcing them to destroy natural resources in order to survive. There are also peoples whose territories have been degraded as a result of the economic expropriation process. These areas must be recovered so that the quality of life of the communities which occupy them may be improved. This is a reality affecting Indian lands located in the Northeast, South, East and Center-West regions of Brazil. Together with steps aimed at protecting their biodiversity and knowledge, measures must be taken to ensure respect for the ethnic diversity of Indian peoples. Governments and the non-Indian society have traditionally despised the Indian logic in their handling of ecosystems. And this was the logic that ensured the self-sustainable nature of these societies and the preservation of the environment The private appropriation of these resources and know ledge, as provided for in the Bill on Industrial property, represents a blow against the interests of Indian peoples. Source: Indianist Missionary Council (CIMI) newsletter SAIIC Newsletter � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Demini Health Project Sees Increase in Malaria (Brazil) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Fall 1992 Zotero Title Demini Health Project Sees Increase in Malaria (Brazil) Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (10).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Abstract Note The Demini region of Brazil reported 12 new cases of Malaria out of a total population of 90. Issue 4 Language English Pages 10 Publication Title SAIIC Newsletter Volume 6 Brazil Demini Demini Health Project Malaria Yanomami http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/0e90df6c13a05bd9b573dcdf2bd88dd1 d643969eda8748bbf98c430040381ed6 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. 6, no. 4 (11-12).pdf PDF Text Text I (Brazil) September 10,1992. The current crisis in the Brazilian federal government has had strong repercussions on theYanomami. As all attention and activity is centered on the corruption scandal in Brasilia, government agency budgets are not being disbursed as planned. In a letter dated August 31 health workers employed by the National Health Foundation (FNS) in the state of Roraima to work in the Yanomarni Health District notified Waldir Joao Ferreira da Silva, the then FNS coordinator in Roraima who was just dismissed, of their withdrawal from the 17 health posts in the Yanomami area. In the letter, they cited dwindling resources to fly to areas affected by malaria (the team had 20 hours of flight time available as of September 1) and Brazilian delegates at the Rio conferencs. Photo SAliC lack of essential medicines, especially Mefloquina used to combat malaria - entirely unavailable in the Yanomami Health District (DSY) since the middle of August Equipmentrequested to spray the breeding grounds of malaria-bearing mosquitoes had not been provided and the incidence of malaria is increasing. There were more than 4,000 cases recorded in the last six months. In some places, more than half the population has died of the disease. Health workers and the Indians affected by diseases did not have adequate food supplies. Furthermore, large proportion of the Indians are too ill to plant their fields, affecting next year's food supply. The letter, signed by 13 of the DSY health workers, accuses the FNS of being slow and unwilling to meet health needs in the area. In the Casa do Indio in Boa Vol 6 Num 4 Vista, about half the 120patients are Yanomami, mostly malaria victims. At the beginning of September, there was only two weeks' supply of food left, provided by the Dutch branch ofMedecins sans Frontieres. The Casado Indio would be swamped with new patients if flights continued to bring in emergency cases from the Yanomamiarea. News reports noted that theYanomami were increasingly resistant to medical treatment which has been irregular, inadequate and therefore ineffective. The garimpeiros (miners) have not missed their chance, inciting the Yanomami to react against FUNAI andFNS staff. Some Yanomami invaded a post in Baixo Mucaja!, taking food and gasoline. The garimpeiros have supplied theYanomarni with food and guns as they invade the reserve once again. They now number about 2,000. Sydney Possuelo, the President of FUNAI, met with FUNAI regional administrators last month to ask for their support to work out a strategy to rescue the agency's work. Possuelo would like FUNAI to take back responsibility for Indian health care - given to the FNS two years ago when FUNAI' s work was decentralized. At stake is the disbursement over the Cr$90 billion allocated to the Ministry of Health for health work among the indigenous population. FUNAI, with a budget of Cr$870 million, is as strapped for funds as the National Health Foundation (FNS) whose funds are embargoed because of government expenditure cuts. After meeting regional administrators Possuelo visited Clio Bmja, the Minister of Justice, requesting that military helicopters be used to visit the most critical Yanomami areas. These visits will be carried out over a period of four days to remove emergency cases, investigate invasions by garimpeiros, and will probably lead to an evaluation that will provide the basis for further FUNAI lobbying to reassume responsibility for the health work. Dinarte Nobre de Madeiro, the former coordinator of the successful operation to remove garimpeiros prior Continued on page 12 11 j �I -from page 11 to demarcation of Yanomami land, visited the CommanderoftheArmedForcesintheAmazononSeptember 3 to ask for the helicopters to be released. Meanwhile, Possuelo is calling in FUNAI employees with health care training to work on an emergency basis in the Yanomami area. The aim of the DSY health workers in Roraima, all of them committed toYanomami rights, is to force the government to take responsibility for the work. There was some friction between the group and Waldir JoaoFerreiradaSilva, who has since been asked to leave his post after being appointed temporarily by the FNS in Brasilia as part ofa team that is investigating administrative irregularities of his predecessor. The DSY workers allege that he and the FNS in Brasilia were to blame for the situation because they did not provide necessary support for Yanomami health work, which continues to be critically important. Waldir's reputation among DSY health workers worsened when, at a meeting held in Manaus in July, he untactfully declared that any permanent appointee to his post would have to be approved by Roraima politicians. If this is so, the next appointment could be tragic for the Yanomami. The FNS in Brasilia is under constant pressure by congressmen from Roraima to accept their nominees to state-level posts, including the one which was occupied by Waldir. Sydney Possuelo ofFUNAI is against intervention by local governments in the appointment of officials who work with indigenous peoples. The President ofFNS, in a meeting with CCPY on August 25, gave assurances that until the investigation ends theadministratorwill be a career civil servant in the FNS. After the investigation, it will be necessary to make a permanent appointment of someone who understands the importance of the work done in the DSY and is at the same time capable of overseeing all FNS work in Roraima. The same Roraima political group has continued to be active in theYanomamiissue; the Di rio de Roraima reported that Chico Rodrigues, a federal deputy, had been told by President Collor that he would review the demarcation of the Yanomami area. Although this would be very difficult, the statement reflects the unwillingness of this political force to recognize Yanomami land rights. 12 SAIIC Newsletter � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Crisis in the Federal Government Affects the Yonomani (Brazil) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Crisis in the Federal Government Affects the Yonomani (Brazil) Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (11-12).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/422774765cc4070c3838dc1a74053d20 152cbb83a816be6bcc43ea388bb5ff17 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. 6, no. 4 (12).pdf PDF Text Text I -from page 11 to demarcation of Yanomami land, visited the CommanderoftheArmedForcesintheAmazononSeptember 3 to ask for the helicopters to be released. Meanwhile, Possuelo is calling in FUNAI employees with health care training to work on an emergency basis in the Yanomami area. The aim of the DSY health workers in Roraima, all of them committed toYanomami rights, is to force the government to take responsibility for the work. There was some friction between the group and Waldir JoaoFerreiradaSilva, who has since been asked to leave his post after being appointed temporarily by the FNS in Brasilia as part ofa team that is investigating administrative irregularities of his predecessor. The DSY workers allege that he and the FNS in Brasilia were to blame for the situation because they did not provide necessary support for Yanomami health work, which continues to be critically important. Waldir's reputation among DSY health workers worsened when, at a meeting held in Manaus in July, he untactfully declared that any permanent appointee to his post would have to be approved by Roraima politicians. If this is so, the next appointment could be tragic for the Yanomami. The FNS in Brasilia is under constant pressure by congressmen from Roraima to accept their nominees to state-level posts, including the one which was occupied by Waldir. Sydney Possuelo ofFUNAI is against intervention by local governments in the appointment of officials who work with indigenous peoples. The President ofFNS, in a meeting with CCPY on August 25, gave assurances that until the investigation ends theadministratorwill be a career civil servant in the FNS. After the investigation, it will be necessary to make a permanent appointment of someone who understands the importance of the work done in the DSY and is at the same time capable of overseeing all FNS work in Roraima. The same Roraima political group has continued to be active in theYanomamiissue; the Di rio de Roraima reported that Chico Rodrigues, a federal deputy, had been told by President Collor that he would review the demarcation of the Yanomami area. Although this would be very difficult, the statement reflects the unwillingness of this political force to recognize Yanomami land rights. 12 SAIIC Newsletter � 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. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) (English) 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 Yanomami Indians are Dying in Brazil for Lack of Health Workers and Medicine (Brazil) Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Yanomami Indians are Dying in Brazil for Lack of Health Workers and Medicine (Brazil) Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 6, no. 4 (12).pdf Attachment URL [No URL]