20 12 1190 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/4bb227e260abd32e1a79268c5220a2d9 564f5a3c3d1ffa05628513e08e6b5f5c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (4).pdf PDF Text Text N B R I E F french Guiana: Indigenous Peoples legal to Protect Their land Rights he Federation des Organisations Amerindiennes de Guyane (FOAG) held its Second Congress in the Kalina community of Awala, 13-15 December 1996. FOAG is a coordinating body representing more than 20 Indigenous organizations in French Guiana. French Guiana, a French Overseas Department, lies on the North-eastern coast of South America, to the North of Brazil and to the East of Suriname. It is home to a number of Indigenous peoples, some of whom like the Kalina and Lokono live on the coast, while others like the Wayampi live along the main rivers of the rain forest interior. One of the main subjects discussed at the Second Congress was land rights and the position of the French Government with regard to the recognition thereof. On the national level, two legal decrees exist in French Guiana concerning land titling for Indigenous peoples, Maroons and others, but for a number of reasons they are considered to be of limited utility by FOAG. One of the most important reasons is that titles issued under the decrees are subject to taxation. On the international level, the French Government has consistently been one of the most vigorous and outspoken opponents of the recognition of Indigenous people's rights. At the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which is presently working on a draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the French Government opposes Indigenous rights on the grounds that the French Constitution states that all citizens are equal and, therefore, Indigenous peoples may not enjoy "special rights". In common with other countries it is also opposed to the recognition of collective rights. At its Second Congress, FOAG decided that, although French President Chirac has taken a more conciliatory stance on land rights since a meeting of Indigenous peoples from the Americas in Paris in May of 1996, the French government is not taking Indigenous land rights seriously enough. Consequently, the Second Congress resolved to establish a legal commission to examine the feasibility of enforcing land rights through the French legal system. Given the limitation of French law, it was also decided that option of utilizing the European human rights system must also be examined. Should the FOAG file a case in the European human rights system, it will be the first time that Indigenous peoples have used that system, widely regarded as the best available; to enforce their human right to own and control their ancestral lands and territories. Also discussed in connection with land rights, was the French Government's proposed National Park. This park covers approximately one third of the country and encompasses the traditional territories of the Wayana, Oyapoc and Wayampi peoples. As presently conceived, land rights in the park amount to nothing more than loosely defined "living zones," which are narrow strips along the major waterways, in which the affected people have use rights. Also, it is unclear how future regulations relating to the park will affect the Indigenous peoples living therein and how the extent and impact of increased tourism will be controlled. The position that FOAG has taken is that it will not discuss the park until land rights are fully recognized in accordance with international human rights standards. 4 For further information please contact the Forest Peoples Programme, lc Fosseway Business Centre, Stratford Road, Moreton in Marsh, GL56 9NQ., U.K.; Tel: 44 1608 652893; Fax: 44 1608 652878; E-mail: wrm@gn.apc.org; The Forest Peoples Programme is an affiliate of the World Rainforest Movement. Suriname: Kwamalasemutu fight Canadian Mining, Seel< land Rights from the Government delegation from the Association of Indigenous Village Leaders in Suriname went to Kwamalasemutu last week to investigate complaints raised by village leaders concerning the activities of Canadian mining company, Golden Star Resources and Surinamese company, NaNa Resources. They want Golden Star and NaNa to leave their land and they want their land rights to be recognized by the Government so that they and future generations may leave in peace and security. Kwamalasemutu is located in the South of Suriname near the border with Brazil and is one of the largest indigenous villages in Suriname, with approximately 1500-2000 persons from nine tribes. Kwamalasemutu is also located in a gold and diamond concession held by NaNa Resources, that also includes the Sipilawini Nature Reserve. The Nature Reserve is the only place on Earth where the endangered Oko Pipi frog can be found. The VIDS was asked to investigate by the Head Captain of the village at the Gran Krutu of Indigenous and Maroon peoples held recently in Galibi. Complaints were also raised at the Third Annual Meeting of the VIDS held last year. The VIDS was informed that in November 1995, late Granman Pesife and the Captains of the village had signed a letter to the Ministry of Natural Resources stating that they had no objections to Henk Naarendorp of NaNa Resources obtaining a concession to prospect for gold and diamonds on their land. The leaders had refused to sign the letter, that was written by Naarendorp claiming to represent Golden Star, on more four separate occasions before finally giving in. The village leaders said that Naarendorp had put a lot of pressure on the village leaders to sign; that he had used a translator who had misinformed them about the contents of the letter and that even today , over a year later, they still do not fully understand what the letter means. After obtaining a large prospecting concession, Naarendorp allowed Golden Star to work there. Since then, village leaders have had a number of meetings with Golden Star, Naarendorp and NDP Chairman, Bouterse. Each time they said that they do not want Golden Star on their land, that they did not understand the implications of signing the letter and that they want their land rights recognized. In the last of these meeting, late Granman Pesife was told by Bouterse that Golden Star will work on their land and that there will be no more discussion on the subject. International law states that a lack of understanding of the law on the part of Indigenous and Maroon peoples may not be taken advantage of by government, multinationals or anyone else and that any agreement or understanding concluded in this way are void and unenforceable. Golden Star is not working in the area now, but the people of Kwamalasemutu are afraid that when they return they may be forced to relocate, be denied access to their hunting grounds and agricultural plots and be mistreated and intimidated by Abya Yala News � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 French Guiana: Indigenous Peoples Contemplate Legal Action to Protect Their Land Rights Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title French Guiana: Indigenous Peoples Contemplate Legal Action to Protect Their Land Rights Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (4).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Abstract Note Indigenous communities in French Guiana face difficulties in protecting their land rights due to legal positions taken by the French government. Pages 4 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/04933821a3cdf5216daced73626cc8bc ed26811cc381546795c279cc635746f9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (4-5).pdf PDF Text Text N B R I E F french Guiana: Indigenous Peoples legal to Protect Their land Rights he Federation des Organisations Amerindiennes de Guyane (FOAG) held its Second Congress in the Kalina community of Awala, 13-15 December 1996. FOAG is a coordinating body representing more than 20 Indigenous organizations in French Guiana. French Guiana, a French Overseas Department, lies on the North-eastern coast of South America, to the North of Brazil and to the East of Suriname. It is home to a number of Indigenous peoples, some of whom like the Kalina and Lokono live on the coast, while others like the Wayampi live along the main rivers of the rain forest interior. One of the main subjects discussed at the Second Congress was land rights and the position of the French Government with regard to the recognition thereof. On the national level, two legal decrees exist in French Guiana concerning land titling for Indigenous peoples, Maroons and others, but for a number of reasons they are considered to be of limited utility by FOAG. One of the most important reasons is that titles issued under the decrees are subject to taxation. On the international level, the French Government has consistently been one of the most vigorous and outspoken opponents of the recognition of Indigenous people's rights. At the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which is presently working on a draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the French Government opposes Indigenous rights on the grounds that the French Constitution states that all citizens are equal and, therefore, Indigenous peoples may not enjoy "special rights". In common with other countries it is also opposed to the recognition of collective rights. At its Second Congress, FOAG decided that, although French President Chirac has taken a more conciliatory stance on land rights since a meeting of Indigenous peoples from the Americas in Paris in May of 1996, the French government is not taking Indigenous land rights seriously enough. Consequently, the Second Congress resolved to establish a legal commission to examine the feasibility of enforcing land rights through the French legal system. Given the limitation of French law, it was also decided that option of utilizing the European human rights system must also be examined. Should the FOAG file a case in the European human rights system, it will be the first time that Indigenous peoples have used that system, widely regarded as the best available; to enforce their human right to own and control their ancestral lands and territories. Also discussed in connection with land rights, was the French Government's proposed National Park. This park covers approximately one third of the country and encompasses the traditional territories of the Wayana, Oyapoc and Wayampi peoples. As presently conceived, land rights in the park amount to nothing more than loosely defined "living zones," which are narrow strips along the major waterways, in which the affected people have use rights. Also, it is unclear how future regulations relating to the park will affect the Indigenous peoples living therein and how the extent and impact of increased tourism will be controlled. The position that FOAG has taken is that it will not discuss the park until land rights are fully recognized in accordance with international human rights standards. 4 For further information please contact the Forest Peoples Programme, lc Fosseway Business Centre, Stratford Road, Moreton in Marsh, GL56 9NQ., U.K.; Tel: 44 1608 652893; Fax: 44 1608 652878; E-mail: wrm@gn.apc.org; The Forest Peoples Programme is an affiliate of the World Rainforest Movement. Suriname: Kwamalasemutu fight Canadian Mining, Seel< land Rights from the Government delegation from the Association of Indigenous Village Leaders in Suriname went to Kwamalasemutu last week to investigate complaints raised by village leaders concerning the activities of Canadian mining company, Golden Star Resources and Surinamese company, NaNa Resources. They want Golden Star and NaNa to leave their land and they want their land rights to be recognized by the Government so that they and future generations may leave in peace and security. Kwamalasemutu is located in the South of Suriname near the border with Brazil and is one of the largest indigenous villages in Suriname, with approximately 1500-2000 persons from nine tribes. Kwamalasemutu is also located in a gold and diamond concession held by NaNa Resources, that also includes the Sipilawini Nature Reserve. The Nature Reserve is the only place on Earth where the endangered Oko Pipi frog can be found. The VIDS was asked to investigate by the Head Captain of the village at the Gran Krutu of Indigenous and Maroon peoples held recently in Galibi. Complaints were also raised at the Third Annual Meeting of the VIDS held last year. The VIDS was informed that in November 1995, late Granman Pesife and the Captains of the village had signed a letter to the Ministry of Natural Resources stating that they had no objections to Henk Naarendorp of NaNa Resources obtaining a concession to prospect for gold and diamonds on their land. The leaders had refused to sign the letter, that was written by Naarendorp claiming to represent Golden Star, on more four separate occasions before finally giving in. The village leaders said that Naarendorp had put a lot of pressure on the village leaders to sign; that he had used a translator who had misinformed them about the contents of the letter and that even today , over a year later, they still do not fully understand what the letter means. After obtaining a large prospecting concession, Naarendorp allowed Golden Star to work there. Since then, village leaders have had a number of meetings with Golden Star, Naarendorp and NDP Chairman, Bouterse. Each time they said that they do not want Golden Star on their land, that they did not understand the implications of signing the letter and that they want their land rights recognized. In the last of these meeting, late Granman Pesife was told by Bouterse that Golden Star will work on their land and that there will be no more discussion on the subject. International law states that a lack of understanding of the law on the part of Indigenous and Maroon peoples may not be taken advantage of by government, multinationals or anyone else and that any agreement or understanding concluded in this way are void and unenforceable. Golden Star is not working in the area now, but the people of Kwamalasemutu are afraid that when they return they may be forced to relocate, be denied access to their hunting grounds and agricultural plots and be mistreated and intimidated by Abya Yala News �armed security guards and the police just like the people of Nieuw Koffiekamp. They are also afraid that Brazilian gold diggers will invade their land when they discover that Golden Star is working there and that their environment will be destroyed by the garimpeiros or the company The people say that Golden Star has already polluted the water where they were working and they have seen desert where forests used to stand in Brazil and they do not want this to happen to their land. The VIDS supports the people of Kwamalasemutu in demanding that Golden Star leaves their territory and that their land rights, as defined by international law, be recognized and respected by the Government. The same applies to all other Indigenous and Maroon peoples in Suriname, especially those that find themselves in concessions held by Golden Star, NaNa Resources or any other of the multinationals that are presently invading their ancestral lands. This is especially the case for the Indigenous community of Kawemhakan, also located in a concession held by Golden Star and NaN a Resources, where Golden Star recently announced drilling results at a site called Antino that indicates that there may be commercial quantities of gold in the area. Like the people of Nieuw Koffiekamp, the people of Kawemhakan were not consulted or even informed about the granting of a concession on their land. We urge the Government, as did the Gran Krutu held in Galibi, not to give any further concession until their land and other human rights are fully recognized in the Constitution and other laws of Suriname. For further information please contact the Forest Peoples Programme, 1c Fosseway Business Centre, Stratford Road, Moreton in Marsh, GL56 9NQ, U.K. Tel: 44 1608 652893 Fax: 44 1608 652878 E-mail: wrm®gn.apc.org Youths Indigenous CapitaiBrasilia, Brasil Visiting hile visiting the capital, our brother Galdino Jesus dos Santos of the Pataxo tribe was the victim of a vicious crime in Brasilia, Brasil. On the evening of April 20th, 44 year old Galdino was returning to his pension after attending a FUNDAl meeting. When he arrived, it was after 9:00 PM, the hour at which the hostel locked its doors. Unable to enter, Galdino was forced to spend the night outside, sleeping about 20 meters from the hostel at a bus stop. It was here, late at night, when five youths came upon the sleeping visitor and doused his body with a flammable liquid and lit him on fire. The flames quickly spread, engulfing Galdino's entire body as he fell to the ground, trying to roll and screaming for help. By the time Galdino arrived at the hospital, 95% of his body was covered with third degree burns. By dawn he was dead. The perpetrators responsible for this hate-crime were five upper class youths, the sons of a judge and an ex-minister of justice. All five have been incarcerated. The minister of the interior of justice, Milton Seligman, has called this incident a crime of extreme perversity In a letter from Rio de Janeiro, Felicitas Barreto has said that Galdino's death "demonstrates the depth of the hatred and scorn that the colonizers have for their victims, the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas." Vol. 10 No.3 For more information regarding the death of Galdino jesus dos Santos contact: Marcos Terena, Dirigente del Comite Intertribal-ITC, Brasilia, DF Phone: (55 61) 273 9897 or 321 8751 Fax: (55 61) 347 1337 Ecuador: are the last hope women feel that they ransnational corporations are tightening their squeeze, but the women of the Amazanga community of Pastaza refuse to succumb to temptation or threats and demand that their ancient voice be heard and their traditional wisdom not be forgotten. As the men fall into the trap of corporate deceit, they close all means of expression and communication to these visionary women. While their husbands and fathers refuse to listen, the women of Amazonia clearly stated that they are committed to the preservation of our "continent of life." Since the First Congress of Women of the Amazon last Sept., 2427 1996, in Union Base Pastaza, Ecuador, a bad situation has deteriorated into near hopelessness. Through the Panshpanshu Biological Reserve, Atlantic Richfield Oil Co. has begun construction of a pipeline. Not only does this endanger the reserve, but the Villano river valley and the entire watershed of the Curaray river as well. If this is allowed to continue the natural indigenous ways of life of these traditional Shuar peoples, a small community of Quichua, and their vital ecosystem will surely face eminent destruction. Once happy and free in their beloved rain-forests, these women are faced with the grim choice of trying to raise their children on petroleum contaminated, clear cut 'dead zones' or migrating to the cities. While the Shuar peoples search for legal assistance to help protect the Pashpanshu Biological Reserve, they also begin the process of caring for the sacred lagoons of LLushino and recovering stolen lands from colonial encroachment. Against insurmountable odds, these brave women are organizing. Providing bi-cultural and bi-lingual education, the Jeri-Juri Indigenous Children's Boarding School is actively teaching and preserving traditional knowledge and natural ways of life for future generations. They have also created a Natural Indigenous University, Univeridad Natural Indigena. Here, foreign students are allowed to explore direct experience natural living and health restoration traditions. T Information from: Christina Gualinga, Coordinadora Regional de Mujeres, Casilla 10-16-704 Puyo, Pastaza, Ecuador or 3330 North Shore Circle Tallahassee, Florida 32312 tel: 904-997-6042 email:amozonwomen@applicom.com 5 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 Surinam: People of Kwamalasemutu Fight canadian Mining, Seek Land Rights from the Government Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Surinam: People of Kwamalasemutu Fight canadian Mining, Seek Land Rights from the Government Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (4-5).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Abstract Note The Kwamalasemutu, whose lands are located in gold and diamond concessions, are seeking government protection from the actions of Golden Star, a Canadian mining company. Pages 4-5 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/1475f40301bab89b100df459865f273a d41261384fff462398b0e14711d65a30 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (5).pdf PDF Text Text armed security guards and the police just like the people of Nieuw Koffiekamp. They are also afraid that Brazilian gold diggers will invade their land when they discover that Golden Star is working there and that their environment will be destroyed by the garimpeiros or the company The people say that Golden Star has already polluted the water where they were working and they have seen desert where forests used to stand in Brazil and they do not want this to happen to their land. The VIDS supports the people of Kwamalasemutu in demanding that Golden Star leaves their territory and that their land rights, as defined by international law, be recognized and respected by the Government. The same applies to all other Indigenous and Maroon peoples in Suriname, especially those that find themselves in concessions held by Golden Star, NaNa Resources or any other of the multinationals that are presently invading their ancestral lands. This is especially the case for the Indigenous community of Kawemhakan, also located in a concession held by Golden Star and NaN a Resources, where Golden Star recently announced drilling results at a site called Antino that indicates that there may be commercial quantities of gold in the area. Like the people of Nieuw Koffiekamp, the people of Kawemhakan were not consulted or even informed about the granting of a concession on their land. We urge the Government, as did the Gran Krutu held in Galibi, not to give any further concession until their land and other human rights are fully recognized in the Constitution and other laws of Suriname. For further information please contact the Forest Peoples Programme, 1c Fosseway Business Centre, Stratford Road, Moreton in Marsh, GL56 9NQ, U.K. Tel: 44 1608 652893 Fax: 44 1608 652878 E-mail: wrm®gn.apc.org Youths Indigenous CapitaiBrasilia, Brasil Visiting hile visiting the capital, our brother Galdino Jesus dos Santos of the Pataxo tribe was the victim of a vicious crime in Brasilia, Brasil. On the evening of April 20th, 44 year old Galdino was returning to his pension after attending a FUNDAl meeting. When he arrived, it was after 9:00 PM, the hour at which the hostel locked its doors. Unable to enter, Galdino was forced to spend the night outside, sleeping about 20 meters from the hostel at a bus stop. It was here, late at night, when five youths came upon the sleeping visitor and doused his body with a flammable liquid and lit him on fire. The flames quickly spread, engulfing Galdino's entire body as he fell to the ground, trying to roll and screaming for help. By the time Galdino arrived at the hospital, 95% of his body was covered with third degree burns. By dawn he was dead. The perpetrators responsible for this hate-crime were five upper class youths, the sons of a judge and an ex-minister of justice. All five have been incarcerated. The minister of the interior of justice, Milton Seligman, has called this incident a crime of extreme perversity In a letter from Rio de Janeiro, Felicitas Barreto has said that Galdino's death "demonstrates the depth of the hatred and scorn that the colonizers have for their victims, the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas." Vol. 10 No.3 For more information regarding the death of Galdino jesus dos Santos contact: Marcos Terena, Dirigente del Comite Intertribal-ITC, Brasilia, DF Phone: (55 61) 273 9897 or 321 8751 Fax: (55 61) 347 1337 Ecuador: are the last hope women feel that they ransnational corporations are tightening their squeeze, but the women of the Amazanga community of Pastaza refuse to succumb to temptation or threats and demand that their ancient voice be heard and their traditional wisdom not be forgotten. As the men fall into the trap of corporate deceit, they close all means of expression and communication to these visionary women. While their husbands and fathers refuse to listen, the women of Amazonia clearly stated that they are committed to the preservation of our "continent of life." Since the First Congress of Women of the Amazon last Sept., 2427 1996, in Union Base Pastaza, Ecuador, a bad situation has deteriorated into near hopelessness. Through the Panshpanshu Biological Reserve, Atlantic Richfield Oil Co. has begun construction of a pipeline. Not only does this endanger the reserve, but the Villano river valley and the entire watershed of the Curaray river as well. If this is allowed to continue the natural indigenous ways of life of these traditional Shuar peoples, a small community of Quichua, and their vital ecosystem will surely face eminent destruction. Once happy and free in their beloved rain-forests, these women are faced with the grim choice of trying to raise their children on petroleum contaminated, clear cut 'dead zones' or migrating to the cities. While the Shuar peoples search for legal assistance to help protect the Pashpanshu Biological Reserve, they also begin the process of caring for the sacred lagoons of LLushino and recovering stolen lands from colonial encroachment. Against insurmountable odds, these brave women are organizing. Providing bi-cultural and bi-lingual education, the Jeri-Juri Indigenous Children's Boarding School is actively teaching and preserving traditional knowledge and natural ways of life for future generations. They have also created a Natural Indigenous University, Univeridad Natural Indigena. Here, foreign students are allowed to explore direct experience natural living and health restoration traditions. T Information from: Christina Gualinga, Coordinadora Regional de Mujeres, Casilla 10-16-704 Puyo, Pastaza, Ecuador or 3330 North Shore Circle Tallahassee, Florida 32312 tel: 904-997-6042 email:amozonwomen@applicom.com 5 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 Youths Burn Indigenous man Visiting The Capital Brasilia, Brasil Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Youths Burn Indigenous man Visiting The Capital Brasilia, Brasil Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (5).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Abstract Note Galdino Jesus dos Santos, a Pataxo, was killed by five assailants while visiting Brasilia, Brasil. Pages 5 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/59aafc35ee4bfe12edf97b23a3c6a454 d41261384fff462398b0e14711d65a30 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (5).pdf PDF Text Text armed security guards and the police just like the people of Nieuw Koffiekamp. They are also afraid that Brazilian gold diggers will invade their land when they discover that Golden Star is working there and that their environment will be destroyed by the garimpeiros or the company The people say that Golden Star has already polluted the water where they were working and they have seen desert where forests used to stand in Brazil and they do not want this to happen to their land. The VIDS supports the people of Kwamalasemutu in demanding that Golden Star leaves their territory and that their land rights, as defined by international law, be recognized and respected by the Government. The same applies to all other Indigenous and Maroon peoples in Suriname, especially those that find themselves in concessions held by Golden Star, NaNa Resources or any other of the multinationals that are presently invading their ancestral lands. This is especially the case for the Indigenous community of Kawemhakan, also located in a concession held by Golden Star and NaN a Resources, where Golden Star recently announced drilling results at a site called Antino that indicates that there may be commercial quantities of gold in the area. Like the people of Nieuw Koffiekamp, the people of Kawemhakan were not consulted or even informed about the granting of a concession on their land. We urge the Government, as did the Gran Krutu held in Galibi, not to give any further concession until their land and other human rights are fully recognized in the Constitution and other laws of Suriname. For further information please contact the Forest Peoples Programme, 1c Fosseway Business Centre, Stratford Road, Moreton in Marsh, GL56 9NQ, U.K. Tel: 44 1608 652893 Fax: 44 1608 652878 E-mail: wrm®gn.apc.org Youths Indigenous CapitaiBrasilia, Brasil Visiting hile visiting the capital, our brother Galdino Jesus dos Santos of the Pataxo tribe was the victim of a vicious crime in Brasilia, Brasil. On the evening of April 20th, 44 year old Galdino was returning to his pension after attending a FUNDAl meeting. When he arrived, it was after 9:00 PM, the hour at which the hostel locked its doors. Unable to enter, Galdino was forced to spend the night outside, sleeping about 20 meters from the hostel at a bus stop. It was here, late at night, when five youths came upon the sleeping visitor and doused his body with a flammable liquid and lit him on fire. The flames quickly spread, engulfing Galdino's entire body as he fell to the ground, trying to roll and screaming for help. By the time Galdino arrived at the hospital, 95% of his body was covered with third degree burns. By dawn he was dead. The perpetrators responsible for this hate-crime were five upper class youths, the sons of a judge and an ex-minister of justice. All five have been incarcerated. The minister of the interior of justice, Milton Seligman, has called this incident a crime of extreme perversity In a letter from Rio de Janeiro, Felicitas Barreto has said that Galdino's death "demonstrates the depth of the hatred and scorn that the colonizers have for their victims, the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas." Vol. 10 No.3 For more information regarding the death of Galdino jesus dos Santos contact: Marcos Terena, Dirigente del Comite Intertribal-ITC, Brasilia, DF Phone: (55 61) 273 9897 or 321 8751 Fax: (55 61) 347 1337 Ecuador: are the last hope women feel that they ransnational corporations are tightening their squeeze, but the women of the Amazanga community of Pastaza refuse to succumb to temptation or threats and demand that their ancient voice be heard and their traditional wisdom not be forgotten. As the men fall into the trap of corporate deceit, they close all means of expression and communication to these visionary women. While their husbands and fathers refuse to listen, the women of Amazonia clearly stated that they are committed to the preservation of our "continent of life." Since the First Congress of Women of the Amazon last Sept., 2427 1996, in Union Base Pastaza, Ecuador, a bad situation has deteriorated into near hopelessness. Through the Panshpanshu Biological Reserve, Atlantic Richfield Oil Co. has begun construction of a pipeline. Not only does this endanger the reserve, but the Villano river valley and the entire watershed of the Curaray river as well. If this is allowed to continue the natural indigenous ways of life of these traditional Shuar peoples, a small community of Quichua, and their vital ecosystem will surely face eminent destruction. Once happy and free in their beloved rain-forests, these women are faced with the grim choice of trying to raise their children on petroleum contaminated, clear cut 'dead zones' or migrating to the cities. While the Shuar peoples search for legal assistance to help protect the Pashpanshu Biological Reserve, they also begin the process of caring for the sacred lagoons of LLushino and recovering stolen lands from colonial encroachment. Against insurmountable odds, these brave women are organizing. Providing bi-cultural and bi-lingual education, the Jeri-Juri Indigenous Children's Boarding School is actively teaching and preserving traditional knowledge and natural ways of life for future generations. They have also created a Natural Indigenous University, Univeridad Natural Indigena. Here, foreign students are allowed to explore direct experience natural living and health restoration traditions. T Information from: Christina Gualinga, Coordinadora Regional de Mujeres, Casilla 10-16-704 Puyo, Pastaza, Ecuador or 3330 North Shore Circle Tallahassee, Florida 32312 tel: 904-997-6042 email:amozonwomen@applicom.com 5 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 Ecuador: Amazonian women feel that they are the last hope Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Ecuador: Amazonian women feel that they are the last hope Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (5).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Abstract Note Amazonian leaders are at the forefront of resisting threats and bribes from corporate entities in Ecuador. Pages 5 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/aa4c499d321b8ce5c2cbc3f55cdbce7d a5270903214b2733a0d57c85afd672bb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (6-9).pdf PDF Text Text �I N D I A N C I T Y Anyone who has traveled to Quito, Ecuador, and seen the now very touristic historic quarter can testify to that city's Indigenous character. Underneath all the glitter, however, lurks a harsher reality: the majority of Indigenous migrants in Quito live lives of economic and social marginalization. In this article, Narciso Conejo and Robert Andolina provide us with a glimpse of migrant life in the capital, and most importantly, how Indigenous peoples have mobilized to insure their survival as distinct peoples inside the metropolis. osa, an Indigenous girl from Chimborazo province, bags mandarins and limes in the Alameda park. Rosa, her parents, and friends from Chimborazo, prepare for another day of selling fruit to the people of Quito. Rosa lives in el Panecillo, a hill in central Quito known not only as an important Prelucan center of astronomy but as a famous lookout for locals and visitors alike who seek a good view of the capital. This mount is not only home to Rosa and her family but to many Indigenous peoples of the central and southern provinces. Quito, like many other cities in Latin America, is the home and working place of tens of thousands Indigenous peoples who have migrated from rural areas. The contemporary Indigenous migrations in Ecuador, particularly to Quito, have their beginnings in the middle of this century Although the majority of the migrants are Quichua people from the mountainous regions, there are Indigenous people from all the various cultures in the country The migrations in Ecuador are largely the result of the disruption of the hacienda system (where poor campesino laborers work for rich landowners) brought about by the agricultural reform laws passed in the 1960s and 70s. These reforms involved the distribution of huasipungos (parcels of land) to the head of each family The campesinos and Indigenous families received the poorest and most overexploited lands-inadequate for the most basic needs. This shortfall forced Indigenous and campesino people to migrate to the cities. The policies of Narcizo Conejo is Quichua from Peguche, Ecuador. He has studied anthropology and social communications, and has worked in the Communications Department of CONAIE and FICI. Robert Andolina is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of Minnesota. He has worked as a volunteer at CONAIE. Vol. 10 No.3 sacrifice suffices only for la sopita (food)," says Juan Jose Toaquiza Tipanga, Indigenous laborer from Cotopaxi province and one of the 100 workers in the Mercado Mayoristas in the south of Quito, "and so we can't send our huahuas (children) to the city's schools. With the help of friends, we have, thank God, been able to give our children an education. There they don't require uniforms, or other expenses; this is the only way we can educate our huahuas." According to Julio Agualongo, president of the COINDIA (Comunidad Indigena del Desarrollo Integral y Autogesti6n - Indigenous Community for and SelfIntegral Development Management), Juan Jose Toaquiza and his companions carriers of the Mercado Mayoristas suffer from clear exploitation in their work. Despite migrants' harsh reality; there are special cases like that of Laura Bonilla, Otavalefia from Imbabura Province, who has received a good education and is now the owner of an artesanias (craft) shop in Quito's modern center. "For what we have today; we had to make many sacrifices, and be dedicated. We had to make an effort to study and later we worked as maids. I first started in my uncle's shop (another Indigena from Otavalo) where I learned to manage this kind of business. Since we came from a family of weavers, that experience helped us in some ways. After five years of each one of us working on our own, my husband and I decided to become independent. So we founded our own shop. Here in Quito, you can't live if you don't work. It's really hard ... " Hard labor Although Laura is not thinking of The work of Indigenous migrants in returning indefinitely to her community the city is diverse. Among the most com- because of the realities of work and life, mon are cargadores (carriers), construe- the large majority oflndigenous migrants, tion workers, street vendors, merchants, upon not having any success in the city; maids, and janitors. wish they could return to their communiThe life of Indigenous migrant work- ties. Rosa, a young Indigenous girl who ers in Quito is hard, and often dangerous. works in the Alameda park, says "I surely "The money we earn through so much would like to return to my native land, to _______ ___________C_on_tinue on page 8 agricultural modernization implemented by subsequent administrations have tended to benefit the powerful landowners who continue to occupy the best lands, leaving the poor no other option than to migrate. On the other hand the boom in petroleum production in the 60s and 70s allowed the economic growth of the cities-especially Quito, the capital, and seat of the largely state-controlled oil industry The oil boom allowed the city budget to grow, and contributed to urbanization, especially of the middle-class northern neighborhoods. These abrupt economic changes in the country lead to increased labor demands in the cities, especially in the area of construction. The processes outlined above have been the principal causes of rural migration to Quito. In recent years, neoliberal economic policies have become dominent, jeopardizing the Indigenous ways of life, and producing a massive internal migration-not just of men or youths, but of entire Indigenous families. Indigenous migration does not occur out of curiosity or vagrancy Many believe Indigenous people migrate because they are tired of working their land, and blame them for Quito's urban problems. But migration must be understood as a strategy for survival, for the diversification and complementation of Indigenous economies, and as a form of cultural survival. Migration processes create enormous challenges for those involved, particularly in the areas of labor, gender, and identity 1 �I N D I A N CiTY my community, if only our terrenito (land parcel) provided us with enough to live on. But since that's not the case, we have to live somehow. .. " Women in Migration Migration to the city is difficult for all the Indigenous peoples involved, but it affects men and women differently, both in the city and country When men are the only ones to migrate to Quito, the women who remain in the communities assume all the responsibilities in the home, of production and reciprocity, of the transmission of culture and identity, and participation in the community Despite women's assumption of this enormous task, their work is rarely valued by men and the larger society, on pretext that it isn't paid work. This differs from a traditional Andean Indigenous economy which has its own internal logic. Every culture varies in its economic practices, resulting in a complementarity in the roles and expenditures of men and women. In contexts where these values are still practiced, the traditional role of women as well as new roles resulting from migration are valued by men and society The responsibilities of Indigenous women in the city don't vary very much with respect to traditional roles, but the context changes, and takes a crucial place in the family economy Migrant Indigenous women prepare meals for their husbands and family members who work in construction and other sectors. Indigenous women's lack of education makes their lives in the city very difficult. "The situation here for the compafieras is terrible, it's more complicated than that of men," says jose Atupafia, from the Quito Indigenous Organizations Movement (MOIQ, Movimiento de Organizaciones Indigenas de Quito). "Generally they work as empleadas (maids), street vendors, or as cooks in city markets. In some cases they have to confront machismo and cannot defend themselves. The compafieras are not accustomed to this kind of conduct. To solve these problems, they have few alternatives other than to get organized." Indigenous Identity: Challenges and Threats in the City "Society must understand Indigenous identity in the city a; a specific identity of Indigenous peoples who live in the city This is not the same identity as in their communities. Here there isn't the same relationship with nature. It's another context, practically a different world," says Agualongo of COINDIA. This recognition is an important step in the strengthening of the identity of Indigenous peoples not only in Quito, but in other cities as well. Many Indigenous migrants are clearly losing their language, particularly children. This is because in the city, Indigenous children are the laughingstock of the other children because they speak Quechua, and as a defense their parents prefer to speak Spanish in their houses and even do away with traditional dress to "pass" as mestizos. Their intention is simply not to suffer the racial and cultural segregation handed down by Quito's urbanites. Children are not the only ones to have these problems. Frequently, adults also face discrimination based on their language and culture. In public services, if Indigenous migrants speak Quechua, they are not well attended. Speaking Spanish is a necessity for them to receive the attention they require. Sometimes, economic success can lead to a loss of Indigenous identity "Our children understand Quichua, * but they don't speak it," says Laura Bonilla, an Indigenous woman from Cotacachi. "We don't speak Quichua in the home. We'd like to teach Quichua to our children, but our surrounding doesn't allow us. The kids learn English in school as a second language. To remedy this reality, what we do is return to the community every weekend, so that the interaction with the family and the community can strengthen their identity" In other cases, especially for Indigenous migrants from the central provinces of the country, the loss of cultural identity is more pronounced. "They are successful economically;" says Agualongo, "but they forget their relatives and friends and don't help them out. They integrate better with mestizo society and try to pass as one of them." The urban world often brings out this new individualism among Indigenous migrants. Their private realities and lives in the city limit their relations with their own people. 'The families around here, in their own little rooms, can't invite their relatives, their friends. People start thinking only of themselves, and leave community aside," says Agualongo. Organizing as a Solution: Responses to the Problems Migrants To solve the many problems faced by Indigenous migrants in the city, many of them, especially those from the central provinces of the country, have decided to organize. One example is the founding of Escuela Tninsito Amaguafia (Tninsito Amaguafia School) which benefits of the Indigenous migrants who work in the Mercado Mayoristas in southern Quito-the majority from the central Cotopaxi and provinces of Chimborazo-with bilingual QuichuaSpanish education. The school has been functioning since 1990. In it's beginnings it had only two students. As the program took shape, enrollment increased. Today, 80 children, women, and men attend its programs, thanks to the efforts of parents and the people and institutions of Quito. "Some children have forgotten how to speak Quichua," explains Darwin Pomagualli, Indigenous professor and volunteer in the school. "We reinforce the Quichua language with classes to complement what they don't know. We make it possible for them to realize that we are Indigenous people and we instill in them the respect for what is ours." The programs offered by the Escuela Transito Amaguafia benefit not just Indigenous peoples. "In the last few years, we have had mestizo students who also learn the Quichua language and respect Indigenous culture. They can already speak some Quichua, and if they can't speak very well yet, the others teach them," says Pomagualli. The Escuela Transito Amaguafia is one of the positive ways Indigenous peoples have confronted the grave problems of education and cultural transmission. With the education that's provided, combined with the extras offered by the school (trips to students' Indigenous communities on fiesta days, during mingas (communal work), etc), Indigenous identity is strengthened and Indigenous culture is recreated within the city Although the Escuela started as an independent project, two years ago it became part of CO INDIA. CO INDIA itself began ten years ago, when Indigenous migrants were centered mostly in Quito's historic quarter, in the 24 de Mayo area, and the Terminal Terrestre bus station. Later the Mercado Mayoristas Association, Continue on page 9 Abya Yala News �I as well as an organization in San Roque, formed. CO INDIA currently works with seven migrant organizations based on different labor sectors, like the carriers of the markets. It also works with Indigenous women and students' organizations. Its program benefits 150 Indigenous families. Staff consists of one president and 10 volunteers. Aside from its education programs, COINDIA works with migrants to enhance their participation in the market. "We train the compafieros to select quality products and to make sure products arrive on time," explains Agualongo, "and to recognize and confront certain business practices. We are about to build a training center for community business, which on top of providing basic material needs, can and recreate promote solidarity Indigenous comunitarianism. To reach its objectives, COINDIA has been able to get the support of CONAIE and ECUARUNARI, as well as national and international NGOs. Still, much more support is needed to attempt to deal with all of Indigenous migrants' needs in Quito. Another important organization for Indigenous migrants is the Quito Indigenous Organizations Movement (MOIQ, Movimiento de Organizaciones Indigenas de Quito), which formed in 1992 with the objective of uniting the Indigenous migrants organizations on the basis of types of labor and geographic areas. The focus on geographic areas is to strengthen local Indigenous migrant identities and preserve diversity while unifying people. Since 1995, MOIQ has expanded its activities, and now works with Indigenous migrants not just in Quito but in the surrounding comunas as well. In addition to programs in education, labor, and legal rights for migrants, MOIQ wants official recognition from the Municipality of the Quito Metropolitan District. "We don't matter to the municipality. .. and their policies hurt migrants," says MOIQ president Jose Atupafia. "We need a political space where our voices can be heard, where we can demand our rights, where we can put forth our own proposals that correspond to our realities and have them be taken into consideration by the municipality." julio Agualongo, of COINDIA, specified what was being asked to the city: "We asked the Vol. 10 No.3 N D I A N C I T Y Indigenous children in the Escuela Transito Amaguafia mayor of Quito, Jamil Mahuad, to put together an integral municipal proposal which recognizes migrants, and he waited two years to give us a concrete answer." He adds that the movement has achieved "a little bit" with respect to city politics in Quito. We have seen organizations that exist inside cities for Indigenous migrants, but these are not the only examples of organizing that exist. Along with formal organizations, innumerable informal associations and organizations that exist in Quito, whether based on labor, cultural identity, or kinship. One of the persons interviewed for this article stated simply, "We don't have anything to do with migrants organizations, but we meet freely among ourselves, as in our community, to face down any problem that may arise." There is still much work to be done in the way of supporting Indigenous migrants in Quito. The formal organizations need to value and get involved with the specific projects of the smaller locally based organizations. There have also been difficulties between the various formal migrants organizations based on cultural, religious, and political differences. But organization leaders all agree that there exists affinity between the organizations on the basis of their common work and as Indigenous people, and this affinity could be the basis for the strengthening of the organizations, identities, and improving the quality of life of Quito's Indigenous migrants. -,.. * A variant of Quechua spoken in the Andes and Oriente regions of Ecuador. Sources Carrasco, Hernan y Carol Lentz. 1985. Migrantes Campesinos de Licto y Flores: Historias de Vida. Quito: Ediciones AbyaYala. Contreras, ]ackeline. 1989. Migraci6n Feminina y Transici6n del Agro al Capitalismo. Tesis de Licenciatura en la PUCE de Quito. Farrell, Gilda, Simon Pachano y Hernan Carrasco. 1988. Caminantes y Retornos. Quito: lEE. Interview with julio Agualongo (CO INDIA). Interview with jose Atupana (MOIQ). Interview with Maria Quintero (CEDIME). Interview with Darwin Pomagualli (Escuela Bilingue Transito Amaguafia). Interviews with various Indigenous street vendors. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 Indigenous Migration and Identity in Quito Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Indigenous Migration and Identity in Quito Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (6-9).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Author Narciso Conejo and Robert Andolina Abstract Note Indigenous communities in Quito, Ecuador have taken steps to preserve their indigenous cultures, languages, and rights in the face of discrimination and the pressure to conform to attain success. Pages 6-9 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/ee8bab9c4d2b5a5f7485ffb3a4585951 a292d803b819b47bf2643e5f6ba14fdc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (12-13).pdf PDF Text Text I N D i A N CITY il Following a census in 1992, there appeared a series of demographic studies about urban Mapuche populations in Chile. The apparent "discovery" of this hidden face of contemporary Indigenous society has initiated a sudden interest in the study of the seemingly new sector. But who are the new Mapuches, these transplanted children of cement and migration who go unrecognized in the theories and reports? To answer this question, it is necessary look beyond ineffectual studies, statistics, and anthropological theories. Jose ther than the loss of independence, self-determination, and territorial integrity, one of the most significant consequences of the politico-military upheavals experienced by the Mapuche people at the end of the 19th century is the disintegration of societal and familial relations. The sustained deterioration of traditional economic systems, dispossession of traditional lands, and the resulting urban migrations of the Mapuche people are hallmarks of this new order of subordination to the Chilean state. The urban Indigenous population is primarily a result of rural to city migrations. A situation common in Latin American countries in the last 100 years is the industrialization of the large cities and continual economic restructuring which have caused repeated crises, shaking the traditional population models and changing relations between the rural and urban worlds. What had heretofore been a silent, constant flow of Mapuches into the cities became a flood during the 1930s. In recent years, far from having abated, this process has been sustained and has even increased. In this way, a new frontier has developed-the "big city"-in the context of interethnic relations between the post-reductional* Mapuches and the Chilean nation-state. Despite the historical Mapuche presence in the cities, this undeniable reality remains in a state of semi-obscurity, poorly understood by social scientists, authorities, and-ironically-in the "official" Mapuche discourse of the day. This discourse, hegemonized and controlled by leaders and organizations, and lately by the state indigenist organ (CONADI), takes its ultimate form in a state Indigenist law (no. 19.253), which in only three of its articles (75-77) concerns the plight of the urban Mapuches. The Vision from Within The atmosphere of generalized melancholy in which postreductional Mapuche society debates itself has brought with it, as one of its principal consequences, the idea of a supposed "integration" into the Chilean state. This "integration" nevertheless occurs in the context of inequality and conflict between the two jose Ancan jara has a Doctorate in the Arts, Director of the Council of the Center for Mapuche Documentation and Study in Temuco, Chile. 12 sectors. These new interlocutors, the myriad organizations of ethnic resistance, have come to be known as the contemporary Mapuche Movement, and have elaborated through various strategies a discourse that, due to its extensiveness and antagonism, could be labeled as "official" in its attempt to represent an entire people. The rupture and self-denial that city existence has meant to the reproduction of Mapuche ethnic identity have transformed, by opposition, the official discourse of the Mapuche movement into one that hails the rural community as the timeless, uncontaminated, and exclusive refuge of the "real Mapuches." The rural community is seen as the last place where the most important traditional cultural elements of the Mapuches reproduce themselves freely, such as language, religion, etc. Nevertheless, this fundamentalist view has glossed over the complexities of contemporary Mapuche ethnicity, and even led to an internal discrimination that juxtaposes the "pure" and "authentic," in other words the rural, with the "impure" or "awinkado," the urban. The 1992 Census A fabric of discourses, at times contradictory; arising from the constant need of self-affirmation faced with the mostly uninformed and hostile Chilean society has marginalized and even negated the urban Mapuches. It was not until the publication of the results of the population and housing census of 1992 that, abruptly and unexpectedly, numbers came out that have challenged what had been up to that time held up as truths. The census did nothing else, however, than confirm what many already knew, and this is that for the last several decades, no rural Mapuche family can say it does not have relatives who reside permanently in the city The census results showed that around 400,000 Mapuches (44% of the 930,000 persons 14 years old or older who identified themselves as Mapuche) live in Santiago. This was a surprise to leaders in the Mapuche movement. In comparison to the momentum generated by the 500 years of Columbus and the debates surrounding the Ley Indigena (Indigenous Law), the census was not viewed as a major priority for the objectives of the "official" Indigenous circles. A few organizations made declarations explicitly about the census, while others had hoped to see numbers amounting to about 300,000 Mapuches. Many Indigenous leaders criticized and continue to criticize census figures that establish the Mapuche as one of the largest Indigenous nations of the continent, more numerous even than Continue on page 13 Abya Yala News �INDIAN CiTY -------------------------------------------~~-----~~~--- some national states, with half of its population being urban. For the "official" discourse, the need to maintain the traditionalistrural posture is, for the moment, stronger than that of reformulating ideas and proposals based on the "socio-political success" caused involuntarily by the census. Generations: All theories and postures set aside, the numbers have spoken and the Urban Mapuche is today simply a reality Even more important, an important percentage of the population that autoidentified itself as Mapuche corresponds to persons autochthonous to the city-the children of migrants, first or second generation, born and raised in the city: This is undoubtedly the most controversial sector of the urban Indigenous population, most "invisible," and most difficult to classify according to the parameters of established anthropology The census figures showed that 54% of the roughly 400,000 Mapuche population that resides in Santiago represents persons 15-34 years of age. It is possible to imagine that the majority of these people were born in Santiago, based on the fact that sustained migration to Santiago dates back to the 1930s, and that the large majority of those who migrate are single and move in their productive years, establishing themselves with their families in a corner of the urban periphery Undeniably Mapuches, these sons and daughters of migrants are the principal victims of the military and political defeat of 1881 in Araucania. They are the inheritors of marginalization, dispersal, and the discrimination of a society alienated from its most visible traits that tries to "protect" them from the larger society's scorn. The urban Mapuche defines his or her existence on the triple discrimination for being Mapuche, poor, and urban. Only the recuperation of subtle fragments of ethnicity adapted to the new frontier environment will allow for the recreation of a solid identity The most dramatic of the strategies of "protection" employed by the parents of city-born Mapuches is the abandonment of the Mapuche language and the most visible aspects of Mapuche customs. We've heard it so many times that the justification for this is now common knowledge: "I didn't teach my children to speak Mapuche so that they wouldn't be made fun of. .. like I was." This strategy is reinforced by the desire to ascend the social ladder, the desire of migrants to send their children to receive formal education "so they'll be more than we were." Extremes Mapuche The cold data of the 1992 census have brought face to face two versions of Mapuche identity, the extremes of "Mapucheness" at the end of the century: the informal that enters the mansions of the rich through the side door, who's standing on some corner of the marginal periphery: swelling the drinking crowds of bars, a masked, fleeing, contradictory apparition that, when in front of the mirror, recognizes himself through his "otherness;" and the other, official, fed by proper truths and certainties, but too a constructor of stereotypes of invented authenticity: The rupture and disintegration that migration has engendered, this feeling of one's being outside of a collective future, taken in its entirety, have caused Mapuche society to forget that the distinctive aspects of its collective memory are made up of a multitude of histories of communities, of kinship ties, of the organized movement of the 20th century: and of the life experiences of all who are part of this society The formulation of a collective identity for the urban Mapuches must pass through the recuperation of this collective memory: this knowledge of one's roots, of where one comes from, and of what family line one belongs to, the essence of the historical memory of the Weupife (Mapuche historian and orator). It must also utilize the many mechanisms that Mapuche society has elaborated through the years to maintain a minimum degree of internal cohesion. Migration to the city is a strategy for survival, and thus carries with it an inherent hope in the resolution of conflicts and problems previously insurmountable. For the Mapuche, migration has opened perhaps as many doors as it has closed, and provided a glimpse of what cultural survival will require in the future. Migration and the ethnic discrimination of the urban context that results, at the same time that they masks identities, can also result in a new Mapuche subject, able to mitigate between the interests internal and external to Mapuche society The acquisition of spheres of influence in all of the places where Mapuche society is dispersed, and the adoption of a new concept of the Mapuche movement by all of the sectors that conform it, various of them urban, will bring forth the cultural, social, and political rebirth of the Mapuche people, so urgently needed these days. For decades, a very complex web of links between migrants and their communities of origin has developed. Mechanisms seemingly trivial as the subtle reproduction of various elements of non-material Mapuche culture, symbolized in values, customs, beliefs, continue to exist. The links between city and community also translates in the economic aid provided by "successful" migrants to relatives in the community. Urban Mapuches are at a comparative advantage for access to a formal and advanced education, allowing for a rapid social ascent and assured participation in the economy On the other hand, this also brings with it the risk of identity loss upon being in contact with the maximum representatives of the "modernization paradigm." Often, if the acquisition of a formal education occurs without the reinforcement of identity, the urban Mapuche will form an identity based on conflicting oppositions. Within the internal relations of the Mapuche people, the majority urban composition of the population has led to the need to reflect on various issues. In particular, today, as we near the end of the 20th century: when we refer to our people, to their traditions, their struggles and demands, do we mean everyone, or only one part? It will be the Indigenous peoples themselves who, in the necessary identity reformulation that the new reality requires, and in the solution that what many refer to as the "tradition vs. modernity" problem, will control these important decisions.~ * Refers to the period after the wars in Araucania ---c------- - - - · - - - - - - - - - · - - - - - Vol. 10 No.3 13 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 Urban Mapuches: Reflections on a Modern Reality in Chile Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Urban Mapuches: Reflections on a Modern Reality in Chile Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (12-13).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Author Jose Ancan Jara Abstract Note Mapuche migrations to the cities has been a necessity of survival, but Mapuche identity is persisting in the next generation. However, this introduces a potential split in in the definition of the Mapuche, an urban and rural one. Pages 12-13 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/8a9d26063f56eca2a4ce50a70479f691 ea40eb5dda842d33f2ebe8e61d4eee9b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (14-16).pdf PDF Text Text INDIAN CITY Indigenous migrants from the high region of Puno arrive in Lima. "When I visited Lima for the first time in 1919," writes Jose Marfa Arguedas, "a 'serrano' was immediately regarded with curiosity or disdain; as people quite foreign and unfamiliar, not as citizens or compatriots. In the majority of the small Andean pueblos they did not realize the significance of the word 'Peru.'"* Today, after political violence in the Sierra has displaced hundreds of thousands, Lima is one of the most multicultural cities in America. This isn't only due to the multiple regional identities of the provinces-approximately 6,000-and the Afro-Peruvian influence, but also to the tide of foreign immigrants of Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Jewish, and Arab origin. Lima is a reflection of Peru in general, a country of all bloods (Todas las Sang res). Out of this cultural mosaic, Andean migrants have forged a new culture, called "chicha" culture, which, in its music, combines the most unexpected cultural elements-from rock, to distant Caribbean conga rhythms, to cumbia from Colombia, with the huayna the more traditional melodic patterns typical of Andean Indigenous ensembles. all it rock serrano, call it techno huayno, or even new-brand Andean music, chicha music is perhaps the most visible, most intense recent cultural phenomenon born of massive Indigenous migration to ~-,., the city of any region in Latin America. Although today it's driving cumbia rhythms are fading in the wake of new musical creations taking over, chicha music made its mark on the cultural consciousness of the Andean region like no other since the Andean folklore boom of the 1960s. Chicha started out almost as a joke, among the musical groups in migrant circles, of combining unexpected styles. Chicha groups have the basic structure of a rock band: three guitars, a drum. set, and a percussion section belting out a strange clockwork brand of cumbia and salsa beats. When 14 audiences responded, they took the new music to a new level, calling it La Chichera. "We started looking for character," says Oscar Carillo in an interview with Quehacer magazine, "for a musical message to give to this big public that started dancing with us, and started liking what we were doing." Soon, Chicha music exploded on Lima's increasingly drab urban periphery It became an industry, bringing with it an army of producers, organizers, promoters, radio stations, night clubs, Djs, etc ... Plazas, parking lots, and clubs-now referred to as "chichodromes" (chichodromos)-filled with fans. It paralleled another social phenomenon that was progressively changing the face of Lima, this heretofore criollo stronghold-massive migration of Indigenous and mestizo peoples from Peru's Sierra. Continue on page 15 Abya Yala News �I Peru Wakes to a Reality When the accelerated pace of Peruvian urbanization caught the attention of social scientists during the 60s, it was far advanced. Some dated the beginning of the migrant boom to Lima in the 40s, others in the 20s. In fact the "new face" of Lima began to define itself into the last century with the removal of the colonial walls that encircled the city (1872) to allow space for its growth and its transformation. At the turn of the century, the expansion of the periphery increased, and in the 1920s, no less than 34% of its inhabitants originated from other parts of the country Between 1940 and 1981, the population of Lima grew seven-fold, from 661,508 to 4,608,000. Today in 1997, it has reached 6,913,682 (Lima and Callao). One in every four inhabitants of the country lives in Lima. Migration form the Sierra has meant a dramatic shift in the ethnic character of the city, from dominantly criollo and Afro-Peruvian, to distinctly Indian and mestizo. That the separation had existed for so long is due to Peru's peculiar division into two republics: the Republic of the Spanish, and the Republic of the Indians. It is the painful heritage, not surprisingly, of European conquest. This century's massive migration to the cities, especially Lima, has exposed once and for all this dichotomy to Peruvian society Under the eyes of long-established criollo elites, huge peripheral extensions of the city-the pueblos j6venes, or "young towns"-burgeoned in the desert around Lima. The settlements of Villa El Salvador, Comas, Huaycan, San Juan de Lurigancho, Puente Piedra, San Martin de Pones, Ate-Vitarte, etc., were still sandy fields in the 50s. Today, some of these reach a half a million inhabitants, like Comas and San Juan de Lurigancho. Migrant peoples and their children in Lima, as in the other mega-cities of Latin America, live lives of profound marginality and hardship on the outskirts of the political and infrastructure network of the city As in other cities, the problem of forging an identity that responds to the immediate surroundings and maintains ties to the past is a complicated one. People's patria chica, or town of origin, becomes the basis of their identity and solidarity The panorama becomes much more complex when we examine the internal aspects of regional identities, the existence of strong local customs, which are the basis of competition and even strong rivalries. In Lima, unlike in Quito and La Paz which are clearly Andean cities, a host of factors have tended to stamp out migrant Indigenous identities and customs, as in the conservation of traditional dress for example, or the patron fiestas. The migrant has had to cohabitate with both worlds, at the same time evolving new forms of expression, this time distinctly urban. This is where chicha comes in. Continue on page 16 Vol. 10 No.3 N D I A N C I T Y Music is Chicha culture originated in the early 70s when the popularity of tropical rhythms (gueracha, mambo, cumbia, etc.) and rock merged in the bands of young migrants in Lima. The musical culture of this youth had always been fed by the melodies of their original pueblos; but simultaneously, they had assimilated to urban culture, and began to play foreign rhythms with their Andean instruments. According to a Quehacer article, there were two main formative periods for chicha music: the initial years from 1968 to about 1978, and the years from 1980 to 1987. In the first, coastal chicha music predominated, sounding very much like Colombian cumbia. When the stream of Sierra migrants became a torrent in the early 80s, the music began to change, to be dom- 15 l �C I T Y (in bad taste), marginal. Chicha has seen its share of racist criticisms, or simply indifference. As Mary Soto writes in El Peruano, "The monotony and the rigid musical structure of its compositions was scrutinized by the Conservatory; for the salseros, salsa is musically superior and its orquestras more complete; as for rock artists, they can't even pronounce the word." What is clear is that chicha is a cultural expression by and for the Lima-born community of descendants of mostly Indigenous migrants. It speaks of their marginal lives, of their confused identities, of their nostalgia for a Sierra many have never even known. But chicha is also a reaction against these realities, finding its newness and legitimacy by borrowing from other musical styles that have already internationalized. 'This urban folklore is adopted by the children of the migrants, who now don't fully identify with the legacy of their parents, but who also don't feel like equal participants in the expressions of the city," writes Mary Soto in an article for El Peruano ("El Tsunami de los Andes," May 7, 1992). A look at chicha lyrics says it all: Soy un muchacho provinciano/ me levanto muy temprano/ para ir con mis hermanos/ ayayayay/ a trabajar... ./ no tengo padre nu madre/ ni un perro que a mi me ladre/ solo tengo la esperanza/ de progresar... (I'm a provincial muchacho/ I get up very early/ to go with my brothers/ ayayayay/ to work. ../ I have no father or mother/ not even a dog to bark at me/ only the hope of progressing). huachaja inated by the haunting huaynos typical of Andean music. The spectacle, the colorful dress, the dance, all became distinctly Indigenous. The themes revolved around the musicians' urban marginality, uprootedness, and hope. Today, three distinct versions of chicha music thrive: the costefi.a (coastal), andina (Andean), and selvatica (Amazonian). Early chicha groups took on names as heterodox as their music. Among the first chicheros to combine cumbias and huaynos were Los Demonios del Mantaro and Los Destellos. Los Shapis set the fashion of the second stage (in the 1980s), with the assumption of the Andean identity: They set the Andean style in music, shows, choreography, dance, and the colors of their clothes. Their songs spoke of the joys and sorrows of life in the province in Lima. Other groups of this Andean genre are Vico y su Grupo Karicia, Genesis, Markahuasi, Los Wankas, Super Geneticos, Geniales, Super Sensuales, etc ... More than forty chicha groups exist today *Jose Maria Arguedas, Fern Vivo, Lima, Ed. Juan Mejfa Baca, 1966, pag. 12. Chicha Music, Chicha Culture Ahi va Ia generaci6n de pueblos de inmiChica music has produced, by grantes, extension, a chica culture, where the Que vivieron un mundo diferente a Ia de transgression of classical parameters sus padres, a Ia de sus abuelos, seems to be the norm. Unexpected mix- Asistieron a colegios con gente de ciutures are the norm from everything to dad, food to music. A chicha plate might Fusionando sus costumbres. consist of bright green noodles, red tomato sauce, some yellow aji pepper, Nostalgia provinciana en busca de and a glass of bright red chicha morada opportunidad, (tamarind juice). A chichero recalls Ahara pasado el tiempo, ahara somas Octavia Paz's descriptions of the muchos mas a una vida urbana, Pachuko: he passes by on his tricycle Y eso de ser marginal, adorned with a Guns N'Roses t-shirt, Hizo de nuestra raza, acero de superaci6n. Nike shoes, a cellular phone in hand. Chicha culture's heterodoxy has also been the source of its cool receptions Elias forjaron aqul otras generaciones, outside of the marginalized sectors. It Par eso salimos muy orgullosos de esta has been pooh-poohed by the conserva- nueva tierra y de nuestros padres, tive members of the provincial commu- No somas limefio de sangre mas tennity, the puritans, the intellectuals, as emos su cultura, well as the middle and upper classes. No habremos nacido en provincia mas They have referred to it as hybrid, es nuestra sangre ... 16 Nostalgia provinciana. .. {coral) Lima limefia, Lima provinciana, Lima tu presente, somas tu futuro En tus En tus En tus Desde calles como ambulantes, mercados como comerciantes, edificios, en tus pueblos j6venes, el obrero hasta el empresario. Ya me voy, ya me estoy yendo, Ya Dios mio ayudame par favor, cantaban al partir, Lima limefia, Lima limon, Lima serrana, Lima Provinciana Lima de recuerdos, Lima hermana, Provinciana... (From the song "Nostalgia provinciana," by the group Los Mojarras, from the CD Ruidos en Ia Ciudad (1995). Thanks to Javier Lishner for his invaluable help in composing this article) Abya Yala News � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 The Chicha in Lima: Migration spawns a new culture in Peru, international in scope, but with a Indigenous soul Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title The Chicha in Lima: Migration spawns a new culture in Peru, international in scope, but with a Indigenous soul Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (14-16).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Abstract Note An influx of multiple cultures in Lima has led to the creation of a new culture: Chicha. Pages 14-16 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/dd96f7bfbe260a60cb810cc515bdd62e 6a03ca81bbf8e4631dacdd9721752e37 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (17-19).pdf PDF Text Text I N D I A N C I T Y • I I @I @I I I @I I Mexico city-perhaps the largest and fastest growing city in the world-began its tormented existance as an indigenous city in 1325 on the shores of the lake of Texcoco. Invaded and set ablaze by Hernan Cortez in 1521, Mexico City nevertheless remained the center of commerce for central Mexico. By 1950, it had become Mexico's most industrial city and center of economic, political, and cultural life. The industrialization of the 1950s combined with land reform in the campo prompted a large-scale migration from the nearby cities and rural areas. As the economic conditions of rural areas deteriorated, and the demand for labor increased as industries grew, people were "pushed" from their rural existence and "pulled" into Mexico City Today, the Distrito Federal swarms with a human mass unparralled anywhere on Earth. Many are Indigenous, and conditions of poverty persist. La Jornada, Sep. 15, exico city and its surrounding urban areas, known as the Indigenous capital of the country, is home to one out of every twenty Indians in Mexico, most of them living in conditions of extreme poverty Known as "phantoms of misery" by some, approximately half a million Indigenous migrants of various ethnicities walk the streets of the capital seeking scraps of food, a chance to earn a few pesos, or sit huddled in a corner, unseen and ignored. These unseen do have faces though, they are the faces of the Mixtecos and Zapotecos who may find work in the civil service; they are the fortunate of the Triquis who may find work in the military, and they are those of lesser means who sell regional products from mobile stands. They are the Mazahuas, working as laborers and freight handlers, and the Mixtecos telling fortunes, the panhandlers, the Otomies selling Chicles, the Indian women working as servants in the residential zones. Born of malnourished and anemic parents in the poorest states of health, the poor Indigenous of Mexico City "are abused since conception" say anthropologists Carlos Avila and Alicia Vargas of the Interdisciplinary Center for Social Development. (CIDES). Their poverty is so extreme that "a child of three years is ready to begin supporting the family" Together they are 446,243 Indians trying to eek out a living under these harsh circumstances, working for pennies in the Metropolitan heart of Mexico City to stave off starvation. And together they make up 5.32 percent of the total Indigenous population of Mexico. For survival, the Indigenous people have divided the metropolitan area into five municipalities or delegations; -Iztapalapa, the largest delegation, contains 22,242 Indigenous, mainly Nahuas from the state of Mexico and Otomies from Queretaro, -the municipality of Naucalpan, numbering 18,890, mostly Triquis from Chicahuaxtla in Oaxaca. -the third largest municipality, Nezahualc6yotl, numbering some 17,582 Mixtecos and Zapotecos from Oaxaca. -Ecatepec, with 16,112 Indigenous people. -La Gustavo A. Madero with 13,743 Indigenous people representing 1.25 percent of the entire population within this demarcation. The Indigenous colonies in the Metropolitan Zone are "basically formed through an information network assisting in the occupation or purchase of urban lots," says Teresa Mora, investigator at the National Institute of Anthropology and History Researchers Marjorie Thacker and Silvia Bazua are studying the plight of the Indigenous people in Mexico city and explain some of the difficuties they face. "Life for the Indigenous person is characterized by the daily struggle for money, Continue on page 18 Vol. 10 No.3 17 �INDIAN C I T Y up to perhaps a hundred pesos a day, but food and transportation costs consume all this money These people are living in poor areas but with high costs of living." "Tension, aggression, and domestic violence are common and a majority of the people are undocumented in their own country (lacking civil registration, credentials, licences, etc.) which makes it even more difficult to gain access to institutional programs. Jobs that require identification, education, and fluency in Spanish remain unaccessible to them." Despite the difficult conditions that the capital offers, data from INEGI indicates that the Metropolitan Zone is the epicenter of Indigenous migrations at the national level. The last report of INEGI established that 1.36 percent of the Indigenous population lived in Mexico City in 1930 and by 1990 the percentage had risen to 1.5. "One can earn more begging in this city than working in the countryside" explains Marjorie Thacker, director of the Metropolitan Zone branch of the National Indigenous Institute. Nonetheless, leaving one's home for the city creates difficult strains on a per- . son. "I don't know why, but when I am here (in the city), my home town seems more and more beautiful, but when I go i home I miss the city," is a common refrain expressing the dicotomy and contradictions in their lives says Thacker. Anthropologist Teresa Mora completed a study of the Association of Indigenous Migrants, an organization established by Indigenous peoples to form a network and help their communities. Mora says that the political parties, especially the PRI, take advantage of these groups to amass votes among the electorate. The parties "insert themselves into the Popular Urban Movement" says Thacker, "only to exploit the poverty of the Indigenous people to augment their own wealth." Night falls on a shantytown, darkening row upon row of houses made from remnants; carboard boxes, old carpets. Buried in a trilogy of misery, death, and hopelessness, the urban Indigenous are chained by misfortune in the struggle to survive among an alien and agressive world surrounded by a people who despise them. The Otomles and Band-Aid Politics Caught between the laughter and tears of their memories the Indians speak il I s the urban tentacles of Mexico City steadily expand outward and overtake surrounding areas, towns and communities of Indigenous origin get pushed out of the way. The wealthy classes escape to recreational and industrial park settlements to get away from the jungled "D.E" (Federal District). But these vast playgrounds threaten the last shred of integrity of the ancient communities surrounding the city which hope to retain what traditional customs, values, and lifestyles remain after over half a millennium of suppression. Xochimilco, one of those threatened towns, is in the unfortunate position of being swallowed up by perhaps the most populous and mo~t rapidly expanding city 18 in the world. Xochimilco was settled in 1327. A canal system supplied the people with both clean water and inspired a unique method of agriculture: the chinampas. * Xochimilco used to supply Tenochtitlan (prehispanic Mexico City) with food from its chinampas. During the Porfiriato, the long rule of dictator Porfirio Dfaz (1876-1911), the canals were covered up and the government began pumping treated water in from surrounding towns. Now, most of the canals and the fields are dried up, the water has been sent to Mexico City, and the residents of Xochimilco depend upon others for food and water. As the government seeks solutions to Mexico City's appalling con- of their new lives and of death. Telesforo Arroyo Mora died thirty minutes after arriving at the Red Cross of Polanco while his more fortunate friend Juan Gabriel Dominguez lost only a leg. A cement wall fell on them. It was 4 7 days since they moved to the new home. On June 7, 1995, they finally listened to their fears and abandoned the traffic island on avenida Chapultepec and snuck into their new home: an uninhabited plot, hidden from pedestrians by a facade. It was there that the wall caved in on them. The late Telesforo and Juan Gabriel belong to a group of twenty-six Otomi families who now live in a vacant lot behind an old gate marked 346 Chapultepec Avenue. The rest of this Indigenous community shares two rooms to sleep, some pit toilets, and showers belonging to the Tabasco State sports facility This death and misfortune attracted the attention and intervention of the authorities of the Delegacion of Cuauhtemoc. Juan Sabines Guerrero, District Subdirector of the Educational and Social Developement Services, arrived promising to provide "a place with services for basic living" and brought them to a basketball court. "We ditions, it uses the surrounding areas as "steam valves," relocating problems there. In the case of Xochimilco, the massive increase in population has put enormous pressure on what used to be a peaceful outlying town. Concessions were given to large corporations to help relocate industry out of the city region. The state even built a prison on expropriated farmlands in the mountainous region. Essentially, Xochimilco, one of the last vestiges of common land in the Valley of Mexico, is now being converted into government and corporate facilities or wealthy peoples' retreats. In order to halt the increasing of Xochimilco, deterioration Secundino Beceril of FIPI (The Independent Front of Indigenous Peoples) and member of the Xochimilco Delegation has taken action to "defend the earth and water, and with it the indigenous cultural identity, " he said in an interview with SAIIC. FIPI confronts the Abya Yala News �INDIAN CITY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ·-------------------- couldn't even put down cardboard boxes to sleep in," laments one Otomi member, because according to sports administrator Peiioles an "they're eyesore." The sixty-eight Otomies bounced from athletic facilities to gymnasiums, from homeless shelters to psychiatric wards. At the Salvation IT," IT'S Army shelter they were THE forced to wake up at six A.M. to take cold showers. The and infants elderly took A SECOND sick and so they left the TIVE: "RETURN shelter. Nonetheless, the orders of Sabines were plain: "they must be housed somewhere." authorities by organ1z1ng in small groups representing each town. One is called the Permanent Commission of the Mountain Peoples. When a town is threatened with unwanted development, the delegations join together to face the developers and the government A recent example of the strength of these citizens groups occurred in December 1995 when hundreds of citizens in Tepoztlim, Morelos, closed off their city and protested against a golf course, residential zone, and corporate park project inside the Tepozteco National Park. The area of the golf course is home to many medicinal plants and is still used by the elders. The "development" of this land signifies a clear disregard of Indigenous peoples, their customs, and their values. Their actions were successful, resulting in the expulsion of corrupt city officials and a strengthening of their voice in the local politics. Vol. 10 No.3 Social worker Rocio Lopez brought a delegation of the group to what was to be their next home, the so-called "promise land" where all 26 families could be together. The destination was a psychiatric hospital. The psychiatric center houses 380 patients categorized by four levels of insanity: the helpless, the psychotic, the senile, and the self-sufficient. They are then separated into six rooms, each with 80 hospital beds, depending on their degree of illness. joel Hernandez, the subdirector of the Social Home for Indigent Adults, was going to have to meet the 68 Otomies in order to distribute the large group "without classification" throughout the facility. The day of the visit, Rocio Lopez gave an ultimatum to the leader of the Otomie group, juan Ventura: "Take it or Leave it", it's the only option that they have to all be together. He aslo gave them a second alternative: "Return to your village." The following morning, on September ?,juan Ventura directed a letter to the then delegate of the Cuauhtemoc, jesus Davila Narro, "to inform him that the 26 Otomie families are not satisfied with the Social Home for Indigent Adults to which we have been assigned and that we do not consider the characteristics and conduct of the people committed there to be similar to that of ours. "Yesterday, some of us reviewed the installations of the ward that we were assigned to and the very thought that our children would have to live there, sharing space with people who are mental insane, frightens us; we hope that we can rely on your valuable help and reconsideration" of the situation. Responding to the request for relocation, joel Hernandez, subdirector of the psychiactric ward known as The Cascade, claimed that "I, only for the children, will say that it is not suitable for these families to enter this institution." He also maintained that "the indigents without mental problems that arrive here should leave right away; normal people are not detained here, they are in their houses," although he had previously denied that The Cascades was a facility for the mentally ill. "The 28 of july 1996 we went with juan Sabines to tell him that a full year had past and that we still did not have a place as he had promised us and he told us that he was not going to be able to do anything more for us."~ Xochimilco, although not as radical as Tepoztlan, is headed for a similar fate. As an Indigenous region undergoing urbanization, it must engage in the continuous debate on the differences between indigenous peoples' and criollo ideas of development. The traditional criollo belief is that indigenous peoples are behind the times and are enemies to the progress of the country. On the contrary, Beceril states that the natural development of indigenous peoples has been broken since the Spanish conquest He emphasizes that for indigenous cultures to develop, they must attain respect and space very soon. Xochimilco is not alone in its battle to preserve its natural treasures. The international community has recognized the importance of conserving the human ecology of this region. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) wants to declare Xochimilco a "Historical and Cultural Patrimony of Humanity" and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has promised to help rescue the traditional canal ecosystem. With continued support, the people of Xochimilco will restore their canal system and gain due rights to their traditional lands. * rectangular raised-beds anchored with planted fences of willows, filled in and periodically fertilised with piles of marshy vegetation and mud. Information from an interview with Secundino Beceril (January 30, 1997), FIPI (Frente lndependiente de los Pueblos Indios), La Jomada (4112/95), and Jose Augustin Ortiz Pinchetti For more information, contact FIPI, Apdo. Postal 28-145 Col. Centro Deleg. Cuauhtemoc 0680, Mexico City, Mexico; phone: 783-80-02 19 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 Unseen and Forgotten in Mexico City: indigenous migrants face extreme hardships in the world's most populous city Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Unseen and Forgotten in Mexico City: indigenous migrants face extreme hardships in the world's most populous city Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (17-19).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Author Karina Aviles Pages 17-19 Abstract Note As indigenous migration to Mexico City increases, it seems that the Mexican government is unable to provide suitable living conditions for the incoming native peoples. http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/4af3b4c31086d6d15a85970d48783800 2c20ad8303e37a5d6d5cefa2bb4c0647 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (18-19).pdf PDF Text Text INDIAN C I T Y up to perhaps a hundred pesos a day, but food and transportation costs consume all this money These people are living in poor areas but with high costs of living." "Tension, aggression, and domestic violence are common and a majority of the people are undocumented in their own country (lacking civil registration, credentials, licences, etc.) which makes it even more difficult to gain access to institutional programs. Jobs that require identification, education, and fluency in Spanish remain unaccessible to them." Despite the difficult conditions that the capital offers, data from INEGI indicates that the Metropolitan Zone is the epicenter of Indigenous migrations at the national level. The last report of INEGI established that 1.36 percent of the Indigenous population lived in Mexico City in 1930 and by 1990 the percentage had risen to 1.5. "One can earn more begging in this city than working in the countryside" explains Marjorie Thacker, director of the Metropolitan Zone branch of the National Indigenous Institute. Nonetheless, leaving one's home for the city creates difficult strains on a per- . son. "I don't know why, but when I am here (in the city), my home town seems more and more beautiful, but when I go i home I miss the city," is a common refrain expressing the dicotomy and contradictions in their lives says Thacker. Anthropologist Teresa Mora completed a study of the Association of Indigenous Migrants, an organization established by Indigenous peoples to form a network and help their communities. Mora says that the political parties, especially the PRI, take advantage of these groups to amass votes among the electorate. The parties "insert themselves into the Popular Urban Movement" says Thacker, "only to exploit the poverty of the Indigenous people to augment their own wealth." Night falls on a shantytown, darkening row upon row of houses made from remnants; carboard boxes, old carpets. Buried in a trilogy of misery, death, and hopelessness, the urban Indigenous are chained by misfortune in the struggle to survive among an alien and agressive world surrounded by a people who despise them. The Otomles and Band-Aid Politics Caught between the laughter and tears of their memories the Indians speak il I s the urban tentacles of Mexico City steadily expand outward and overtake surrounding areas, towns and communities of Indigenous origin get pushed out of the way. The wealthy classes escape to recreational and industrial park settlements to get away from the jungled "D.E" (Federal District). But these vast playgrounds threaten the last shred of integrity of the ancient communities surrounding the city which hope to retain what traditional customs, values, and lifestyles remain after over half a millennium of suppression. Xochimilco, one of those threatened towns, is in the unfortunate position of being swallowed up by perhaps the most populous and mo~t rapidly expanding city 18 in the world. Xochimilco was settled in 1327. A canal system supplied the people with both clean water and inspired a unique method of agriculture: the chinampas. * Xochimilco used to supply Tenochtitlan (prehispanic Mexico City) with food from its chinampas. During the Porfiriato, the long rule of dictator Porfirio Dfaz (1876-1911), the canals were covered up and the government began pumping treated water in from surrounding towns. Now, most of the canals and the fields are dried up, the water has been sent to Mexico City, and the residents of Xochimilco depend upon others for food and water. As the government seeks solutions to Mexico City's appalling con- of their new lives and of death. Telesforo Arroyo Mora died thirty minutes after arriving at the Red Cross of Polanco while his more fortunate friend Juan Gabriel Dominguez lost only a leg. A cement wall fell on them. It was 4 7 days since they moved to the new home. On June 7, 1995, they finally listened to their fears and abandoned the traffic island on avenida Chapultepec and snuck into their new home: an uninhabited plot, hidden from pedestrians by a facade. It was there that the wall caved in on them. The late Telesforo and Juan Gabriel belong to a group of twenty-six Otomi families who now live in a vacant lot behind an old gate marked 346 Chapultepec Avenue. The rest of this Indigenous community shares two rooms to sleep, some pit toilets, and showers belonging to the Tabasco State sports facility This death and misfortune attracted the attention and intervention of the authorities of the Delegacion of Cuauhtemoc. Juan Sabines Guerrero, District Subdirector of the Educational and Social Developement Services, arrived promising to provide "a place with services for basic living" and brought them to a basketball court. "We ditions, it uses the surrounding areas as "steam valves," relocating problems there. In the case of Xochimilco, the massive increase in population has put enormous pressure on what used to be a peaceful outlying town. Concessions were given to large corporations to help relocate industry out of the city region. The state even built a prison on expropriated farmlands in the mountainous region. Essentially, Xochimilco, one of the last vestiges of common land in the Valley of Mexico, is now being converted into government and corporate facilities or wealthy peoples' retreats. In order to halt the increasing of Xochimilco, deterioration Secundino Beceril of FIPI (The Independent Front of Indigenous Peoples) and member of the Xochimilco Delegation has taken action to "defend the earth and water, and with it the indigenous cultural identity, " he said in an interview with SAIIC. FIPI confronts the Abya Yala News �INDIAN CITY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ·-------------------- couldn't even put down cardboard boxes to sleep in," laments one Otomi member, because according to sports administrator Peiioles an "they're eyesore." The sixty-eight Otomies bounced from athletic facilities to gymnasiums, from homeless shelters to psychiatric wards. At the Salvation IT," IT'S Army shelter they were THE forced to wake up at six A.M. to take cold showers. The and infants elderly took A SECOND sick and so they left the TIVE: "RETURN shelter. Nonetheless, the orders of Sabines were plain: "they must be housed somewhere." authorities by organ1z1ng in small groups representing each town. One is called the Permanent Commission of the Mountain Peoples. When a town is threatened with unwanted development, the delegations join together to face the developers and the government A recent example of the strength of these citizens groups occurred in December 1995 when hundreds of citizens in Tepoztlim, Morelos, closed off their city and protested against a golf course, residential zone, and corporate park project inside the Tepozteco National Park. The area of the golf course is home to many medicinal plants and is still used by the elders. The "development" of this land signifies a clear disregard of Indigenous peoples, their customs, and their values. Their actions were successful, resulting in the expulsion of corrupt city officials and a strengthening of their voice in the local politics. Vol. 10 No.3 Social worker Rocio Lopez brought a delegation of the group to what was to be their next home, the so-called "promise land" where all 26 families could be together. The destination was a psychiatric hospital. The psychiatric center houses 380 patients categorized by four levels of insanity: the helpless, the psychotic, the senile, and the self-sufficient. They are then separated into six rooms, each with 80 hospital beds, depending on their degree of illness. joel Hernandez, the subdirector of the Social Home for Indigent Adults, was going to have to meet the 68 Otomies in order to distribute the large group "without classification" throughout the facility. The day of the visit, Rocio Lopez gave an ultimatum to the leader of the Otomie group, juan Ventura: "Take it or Leave it", it's the only option that they have to all be together. He aslo gave them a second alternative: "Return to your village." The following morning, on September ?,juan Ventura directed a letter to the then delegate of the Cuauhtemoc, jesus Davila Narro, "to inform him that the 26 Otomie families are not satisfied with the Social Home for Indigent Adults to which we have been assigned and that we do not consider the characteristics and conduct of the people committed there to be similar to that of ours. "Yesterday, some of us reviewed the installations of the ward that we were assigned to and the very thought that our children would have to live there, sharing space with people who are mental insane, frightens us; we hope that we can rely on your valuable help and reconsideration" of the situation. Responding to the request for relocation, joel Hernandez, subdirector of the psychiactric ward known as The Cascade, claimed that "I, only for the children, will say that it is not suitable for these families to enter this institution." He also maintained that "the indigents without mental problems that arrive here should leave right away; normal people are not detained here, they are in their houses," although he had previously denied that The Cascades was a facility for the mentally ill. "The 28 of july 1996 we went with juan Sabines to tell him that a full year had past and that we still did not have a place as he had promised us and he told us that he was not going to be able to do anything more for us."~ Xochimilco, although not as radical as Tepoztlan, is headed for a similar fate. As an Indigenous region undergoing urbanization, it must engage in the continuous debate on the differences between indigenous peoples' and criollo ideas of development. The traditional criollo belief is that indigenous peoples are behind the times and are enemies to the progress of the country. On the contrary, Beceril states that the natural development of indigenous peoples has been broken since the Spanish conquest He emphasizes that for indigenous cultures to develop, they must attain respect and space very soon. Xochimilco is not alone in its battle to preserve its natural treasures. The international community has recognized the importance of conserving the human ecology of this region. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) wants to declare Xochimilco a "Historical and Cultural Patrimony of Humanity" and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has promised to help rescue the traditional canal ecosystem. With continued support, the people of Xochimilco will restore their canal system and gain due rights to their traditional lands. * rectangular raised-beds anchored with planted fences of willows, filled in and periodically fertilised with piles of marshy vegetation and mud. Information from an interview with Secundino Beceril (January 30, 1997), FIPI (Frente lndependiente de los Pueblos Indios), La Jomada (4112/95), and Jose Augustin Ortiz Pinchetti For more information, contact FIPI, Apdo. Postal 28-145 Col. Centro Deleg. Cuauhtemoc 0680, Mexico City, Mexico; phone: 783-80-02 19 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 Xochimilco: In the Path of a Giant Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Xochimilco: In the Path of a Giant Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (18-19).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Abstract Note Xochimilco, on of the last remaining plots of common land in the Valley of Mexico, is being appropriated by government and private interests. Pages 18-19 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/1c176ad5e8112fea5764318c20af5572 022f566019740823673d818715a45ad9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (20-21).pdf PDF Text Text I N D I A N C I T Y I, I flll"'"""'"r-"" he indigenous population in Venezuela numbers roughly 400,000, comprised of twenty-five culturally and linguistically distinct groups in the states of Anzoategui, Amazonas, Apure, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro, Monagas, Sucre, and Zulia. Over 50 percent of this population occupy traditional lands and approximately 4 2 percent reside in urban areas. This high percentage of indigenous people living in urban areas is a result of jesus Manuel Gonzalez is the former Executive Secretary of the National Indigenous Council of Venezuela and Director of the Indigenous Documentation and Investigation Genter. 20 an important rural-to-urban migratory trend. In the eight federal states with significant indigenous populations, this migratory process has led to the formation of many indigenous neighborhoods that, in some cases, reach considerable dimensions and continue to grow both in size and number in cities such as Maracaibo, Ciudad Bolivar, San Felix, Tucupita, El Tigre, San Fernando de Aure, and Puerto Ayacucho. The migration of the indigenous population to the cities is a result of the following factors: -The systematic reduction of traditionally occupied territories resulting from the violent process of conquest and colonization. -The scarcity of land suitable for agriculture, hunting, and other traditional forms of subsistence. -The erosion of traditional indigenous economic production systems. -Transportation and distribution difficulties for such small-scale production. -The lack of adequate support from national and regional governments necessitating the search for better living conditions. -The human rights abuses suffered in frontier areas caused by drug trafficking, warfare, smuggling, and the strong military presence. Some 83 percent of the urban indigenous population are Wayuu people living in 48 indigenous neighborhoods in Maracaibo, the second most important city in the country The other 17 percent are Pem6n, Yecuana, Guahibo, Piaroa, Afm, Panare, Warao, Bare, etc. The indigenous neighborhoods are comprised of students and professionals as well as workers and merchants. The problems characteristic of any marginalized Venezuelan urban areas are acerbated for the indigenous neighborhoods by discrimination and racism by the Creole population who reject and scorn the fact that many indigenous peoples still conserve their identity, language, cultural icons, and own socioeconomic systems. The indigenous populations maintain strong social, economic, and familiar links with their peoples and communities of origin, resulting in a further agglutination of the population into groups based on ethnicity and place of origin when several groups coexist in the same neighborhood. The high level of social marginalization characteristic of the urban indigenous populations manifests itself in extreme poverty, malnutrition, and grave environmental and sanitary deterioration causing many deaths from infectious diseases. In the urban centers the socio-cultural uniqueness of the indigenous population is ignored in the educational system. The educational programs are the same as those for the Creole population and are characterized by utter lack of understanding and contempt for the nation's indigenous peoples. Furthermore, these educational programs are not taught in ways consistent with traditional methods further contributing to the loss of language and eradication of custom and culture, all of which make the youth ashamed of their ethnicity The consequence is increasing dependence upon Continue on page 21 Abya Yala News �I N D I A N --------------------------------------------------------------- the State and burgeoning social problems such as begging, prostitution, and drug addiction. One extreme expression of this marginalization is the sporadic migrations of the Warao, Yukpa, and Panare people who move into the main cities to beg in the streets only to be expelled forcefully in busloads by the authorities, who consider them a "shame" but deny any State responsibility Those living in the indigenous neighborhoods have varied means of economic survival. According to the 1992 government economic census of the indigenous population , 48 percent of the people exist at a subsistence level only, 31 percent are partially employed, and only 21 percent have regular incomes. The discriminatory and racist treatment that the indigenous people receive from society at large often translates into violence and human rights abuses. The state security forces frequently are the culprits of these abuses, especially of the Warao in Tucupita, the Wayuu in Maracaibo, and the Piaroa and Guahibo in Puerto Ayacucho. The grave socio-economic problems are aggravated yet further by the rise in drug trafficking. The drug cartels take advantage of the desperate situation in the cities, using indigenous women as "mules" to smuggle drugs into Venezuela. In the last ten years alone, thirty Wayuu mothers have been killed in the trade between Venezuela and Colombia. In 1996 thirty-eight women were imprisoned, some of them while pregnant, for carrying small quantities of drugs. The law is applied unequally in these cases by the justice system; the indigenous people receiving the brunt of the punishment while the leaders of the drug rings are often ignored. Cultural Resistance And Ethnic Reaffirmation Among Urban Indigenous Population Life in the city has generated in the indigenous population various mechanisms of cultural resistance; on one hand the cultural norms that determine the existing cultural identity and on the other hand, organized mechanisms of the city such as guilds and unions. Unlike the government, these organizations recognize the desire of the indi~enous people to Vol. 10 No.3 maintain and reclaim the historical continuity as distinct peoples and societies. The process of acculturation has not been uniform. Some sectors are able to integrate into national life while still maintaining some cultural identity, others cannot. Among the mechanisms of cultural resistance is a strongly rooted adherence to and practice of the social norms, customs, ceremonies, traditional medicinal techniques, and languages. These customs serve as specific models for group living and social relations. For example, the practice of traditional women's education among girls born and raised in the Wayuu neighborhoods including the rite of initiation as performed in the Guarija (the traditional territory of the Wayuu) continues in the urban neighborhoods today Domestic disputes are still settled in the customary manner as well. The processes of organized cultural resistance are varied. For example, in the popular markets such as Las Pulgas in Maracaibo and the Mercadito in Puerto Ayacucho where many indigenous people, especially women, congregate, they organize not only to participate in commercial activity, but to fight racism through cooperation and solidarity The indigenous have formed their own commercial, transportation, work, and professional networks and organizations. The rise of the organized indigenous movements in Venezuela began in 1994 when the first indigenous neighborhoods began to consolidate themselves. These groups began organized struggle for human rights, respect for their cultural identity, and to obtain some land within the cities. · Since then, these movements have continued to grow and now number thirty-two indigenous organizations dedicated to various aspects of the struggle. Since 1990, in the field of cultural promotion, diffusion, and preservation, many organizations have been formed such as Grupo Cultural Paramu (Preservation and diffusion of traditional Caribbean dance and music-Bolivar), Grupo Cultural La Coromoto (Traditional Hiwi DancesAmazonas), FUNDAIN (Foundation of Indigenous Painters), Grupo de Danzas Kaulayawaa (Traditional Wayuu Dances), Grupo Cultural jalianayaa (Indigenous Artists), and ASEINLUZ (Association of Indigenous University Students). An important accomplishment of C I T 'I these cultural groups has been the official recognition of the Wayuu language by the state of Zulia. This recognition has led to the creation of radio programs in the Wayuu tongue such as "Tu Alatakaa Sumuiin Wayuu (The Wayuu news broadcast)" and "Wanuiki Sumaa Wakuipa (Our Indigenous Culture and Art)." These programs are produced by indigenous people living in Maracaibo and are transmitted throughout the entire state of Zulia. The task of cultural resistance and ethnic reaffirmation is not only realized through the diffusion and preservation of indigenous culture but also by instilling a respect for equal rights as citizens. Actually the most important accomplishment was the development of the Network of Indigenous Women. Formed in 1995, this organization is developing campaigns to organize indigenous women living in cities. One of the most interesting accomplishments of the Network is a neighborhood health project developed by the women of the Wayuu. This NOT BEEN project trains neighborhood women to act as epidemiological TO INTEGRATE watchdogs, reducing the danger from prevalent disWHILE eases such as cholera, diarrhea, hepatitis, and parasitosis. They also develOTHERS oped a program to battle the epidemic of child malnutrition, by implementing community breakfasts in the most needy indigenous neighborhoods. Another area the Wayuu women are working in is the battle to bring attention to the plight of indigenous women and children. They are especially combating abuses in the workplace, seeking labor rights, and trying to obtain documentation and protection for themselves and especially the children. The work of the indigenous women is being immensely aided by participation and support from young indigenous professionals . ..., 21 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 To Be Urban and Indian in Venezuela: Assimilation or Cultural reaffirmation? Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title To Be Urban and Indian in Venezuela: Assimilation or Cultural reaffirmation? Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (20-21).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Author Jesus Manuel Gonzalez Abstract Note Indigenous communities Venezuelan cities are consistently marginalized, but their cultural preservation is encouraged by social organizations and institutions within these cities. Pages 20-21 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/b89d91005d00951293cbf49fccac02c0 7cf74628f1c3ca59ee4ec28a09b83aad Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (22-25, 38).pdf PDF Text Text S E l F A N D DETERMINATION i t the end of the 1960s the contact of the Fanara Indians (or Krenakorore, as they were then known) became a national drama in Brazil. They were rumored to be giants, fierce and elusive. As the contacting expedition led by Claudio and Orlando Villas Boas sought their villages only just in advance of the engineers opening the CuiabaSantarem highway, they fled. Once contacted, they were devastated by new diseases, and reduced to beggary by the side of the new road bisecting their traditional territory In February 1975, less than two years after the official contact, 79 demoralized survivors were transferred to the Xingu National Park. Now, two decades later, with much of their territory overrun by gold mining, ranching and logging, the Fanara have returned to the remaining forest of their traditional land in the upper watershed of the Iriri River in northern Mato Grosso and southern Para. Over the last four years, the group has studied their territory, identified an area of 490,000 hectares still forested and unoccupied, reestablished permanent occupation of the region, and filed suit in federal court for indemnification for losses and damages in the contact and the transfer, as well as for demarcation of their remaining land. In December 1994, FUNAI identified the area, beginning the process of official recognition. The recent history of the Fanara is paradigmatic of larger processes in course among Indigenous peoples in Brazilprocesses of demographic loss and recovery, ethnic and cultural reaffirmation, territorial reintegration. The history of the Fanara illuminates tendencies general to Steve Schwartzman did field work with the Fanara between 1980 and 1983 and recieved his PhD from the University of Chicago based on this research. Since 1990 he has worked with the Fanara and the Instituto Socioambiental in support of the Fanara initiatve to reoccupy and defend their traditional tet:ritory. 22 TERRITORY il: Indigenous peoples in Brazil, and also contributes to important advances in anthropology are Panara? "I had never seen them but my grandfather told me, 'The whites are very wild. They killed many of us with guns. If they come to the village, club them, they are dangerous!"' (Ake Panani, interview, November 1991, Xingu Park) When the Fanara were contacted on the Peixoto de Azevedo river in january 1973, the media portrayed them as isolated stone age Indians. The anthropology of the time viewed groups such as the Fanara in more or less the same way-as "subsistence" societies, whose culture and society was best understood as an ancient adaptation to particular ecological circumstances. Some scholars thought that the societies, cultures and economies of contemporary Amazonian societies were the same as those of precolombian groups and thus could serve to ground general explanations of Indigenous societies as adaptations to Amazonian ecosystems (Meggers 1971 ). Recent historical and ethnohistorical research has demonstrated to the contrary, that the present disposition and circumstances of Indigenous societies result from their historical experience of contact with the surrounding society, as well as from their internal social and historical dynamics (cf Carneiro da Cunha 1992). The Fanara are a case in point. Most of the Fanara alive when the Villas Boas expedition arrived in the Peixoto had never seen a white person. But they preserved the memory of at least two hundred years of war against the Portuguese and then Brazilians. The nine villages of Fanara, with some 350 to 600 inhabitants, that existed in 1967 in the Peixoto de Azevedo and Upper Iriri basins were in fact the last outpost of a much larger people, well known to the chroniclers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Fanara oral traditions relate that they came from the east, from a savannah region, where they fought white people with guns. Linguistic and ethnohistorical research (Heelas 1980; Schwartzman 1988, 1995; Giraldin 1994; Dourado and Rodri,oues 1993) has now shown that the Fanara are the descendants of the Southern Cayapo, who in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries occupied a vast territory between the Triangulo Mineiro, western Sao Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goias, and southern Mato Grosso. Several bandeiras were sent against them, most notably that of Antonio Pires de Campos, who mobilized Bororo Indians against them, and is reported to have brought 2,000 Cayapo back to Cuiaba as slaves. By the turn of the century, they were considered to be extinct. In reality, the Fanara of the Peixoto and Iriri rivers are the descendants of the westernmost group of Southern Cayapo, who refused peaceful contact and settlement, and withdrew in the later 19th or early 20th century to the region in which the "first contact" occurred in the 1960s. Ethnohistory of both the Northern Kayapo (a distinct group, belonging to same linguistic subfamily, the Northern Ge) and the Fanara attests that the Fanara inhabited the Peixoto and Iriri basins by the 1920s, when their war with the Kayapo-a living memory for both groups-began. Attempts to explain Fanara customs (some of which are reported from mid19th century settlements in Goias, such as log racing and certain curing practices) as "adaptations" to the forest ecosystem of the Peixoto/lriri basins would then be futile. Attempts to read from Fanara subsistence practices information on precolombian populations are equally misplaced. The Fanara in the late 1960s were extremely well "adapted" to the tropical forest ecosystem of the Peixoto and Iriri rivers, practicing a diversified, and highly symbolically elaborated agriculture with geometrically designed gardens and fixed Continue on page 23 Abya Yala News �S locations in the garden for given crops, as well as fishing, hunting, and collecting a wide variety of forest fruits. By all the accounts of the older Panara who grew up in the region, their modest technologystone axes, bows and arrows, clubs, basketry, rudimentary ceramics and no canoes-provided an abundant livelihood. But in the 1960s the Panara had lived there for no more than 100 years. On the other hand, the historical record makes clear that Panara of the 1960s were neither passive victims of the conquest, nor slaves to an inflexible subsistence adaptation. They had on the contrary actively rejected settlement and assimilation, and adjusted quickly and effectively to a vastly different environment in the course of securing their independence. Panara society and culture equally demonstrate this dynamic quality: clearly, elements of the new tropical forest ecosystem (and the economy the Panara devised to make a living there) were integrated into Panara ritual and cosmology and to the process of their transformation. Brazil nuts, for example, which do not occur in the savannah, are a key symbolic reference in Panara myths, as well as in the ritual cycle. Further, the memory of the two hundred year war that drove the Panara from Sao Paulo to northern Mato Grosso was to have a decisive influence on the Panara understanding of the contact with the Villas Boas expeditions and the tragedy that ensued on it. First Contact Again The Panara probably settled in the Peixoto/Iriri because of the region's wealth of natural resources, and its isolation. The life histories of older Panara men invariably include extensive accounts of long expeditions, to visit kin, flee internal conflicts, or found new villages, before the arrival of the Villas Boas expeditions. In these narratives, the men recount that, arriving in a new place, they would search the forest for signs of enemies (hi'pe - 'enemies, others, whites'). Having assured themselves that there were no enemies and no enemies' trails nearby, they would stay and plant gardens. Vol. 10 No.3 E L F DETERMiNATION In 1967, two events presaged the end of the Fanara's autonomy. First, the Mekragnoti Kayapo attacked the northernmost Panara village, Sonkenasan, in the Iriri basin, for the first time with a large supply of guns and ammunition. While the Panara had raided, and been raided by the Kayapo for a generation, guns and ammunition turned the 1967 raid into a massacre. Some 26 Panara were killed and the village burned. The survivors fled to another village, and by the time a war party was mounted to avenge the attack, the Kayapo had fled. Then, the incident came to the attention of Villas Boas brothers, then directing the Xingu National Park, who mounted a contacting expedition. When the first airplanes arrived over the Panara villages, and began dropping trade goodsknives, machetes, beads-there began a debate amongst the Panara that would continue for the next five years. Were the airplanes (and later the expedition) "wild" Casar)? Did they mean to kill the Panara, as historic experience suggested, or were the gifts of goods evidence of peaceful intentions? The elder men (taputunara) argued, say present-day chiefs such as Ake and Teseya, that the whites were wild and dangerous, and counseled attack or flight, while the young men (pientwara) held that the goods left by the expedition showed peaceful intent. and argued for getting the goods left by the expedition, A N D TERRITORY and making contact. From 1967 to 1973, the elders prevailed. The first expedition was recalled in 1969 when funds were cut off, and a second expedition was only launched in 1972, as an advance team of surveyors was laying out the route of the Cuiaba Santarem highway. The Panara, already having abandoned their easternmost villages, then withdrew south before this expedition, which set out from the Cachimbo airbase. With the abandonment of successive villages and gardens, increasing numbers of people were concentrated in fewer and fewer villages. When the Villas Boas reached the Peixoto de Azevedo, the Panara, after collecting trade goods at the expedition's advance post, crossed the river and occupied the village of Yopuyepaw. The first epidemic struck there. So many people died, and so debilitated were the survivors that they could not bury the dead, and vultures ate them. After the survivors recovered, they returned to the Peixoto, and accepted contact. In 1974, the road opened. The Panara, fascinated by the traffic on the road, confounded efforts by the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) personnel to prevent them from mingling with the army engineers, and passing truckers. Ensuing deaths triggered witchcraft accusations, since witchcraft was the traditional explanation for serious illness. At least 176 people died of epidemic disContinue on page 24 23 j �S E l F DETERMINATION eases between 1973 and 1975, when the surviving 79 Fanara were transferred by FUNAI to the Xingu National Park The Peixoto de Azevedo was thrown open to gold mining and colonization immediately thereafter, and the small area reserved for the Fanara during the contact was transferred to IN CRA for agrarian reform. The Diaspora The Fanara arrived in the Xingu sick, demoralized, and disoriented. The group was settled in the Kajabi village of Prepuri, where several more died in the first months. The Fanara began to talk of returning to their land. Instead they were moved to the Kayapo village of Kretire and delivered to their traditional enemies. Before the year was out ten more Fanara had died, as new diseases continued. English anthropologist Richard Heelas, who lived with the Fanara in this period described them as walking corpses. They were again removed (although a number of women and children were constrained to stay with the Kayapo), and settled with the Suya. In a less oppressive climate, new leaders emerged, and began to mobilize the Fanara to perform traditional dances and songs. Once the Fanara founded their first village in Xingu, in 1977, their population began to increase. They began a gradual process of reconstituting their society and culture. When I conducted field work between 1980 and 24 A N D TERRITORY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1983 with the Fanara, they described their traditional village as having men's houses in the center of the village plaza, in the middle of the circle of extended family households grouped into four clans, with fixed locations on the village circle. The Fanara said that when there were more boys, they would build men's houses (traditionally the place of residence of pre-adolescent, unmarried boys). In 1991, when I returned to the Xingu, they had built a men s house. In 20 years in the Xingu, the Fanara adapted effectively to a new ecosystem, adopted new technology (learning to build canoes, crucial in the flood plain of the Xingu, and to fish with hook and line, hunt with guns, and grow new cultivars from surrounding groups). They now number about 160, with at least 60% of the population under 20 years old, and more than half under 14. They have recovered as much autonomy as any of the 16 other Indigenous groups that live in the Xingu. But the Fanara never reconciled themselves to living in the Xingu. They have lived in seven places, in a permanent search for land resembling the region of the Peixoto and Iriri. From the perspective of the Fanara, the difference between their land and the Xingu is that between wealth and poverty, and their passage through the Xingu a process of impoverishment. Their concept of the land changed as well over the last decade. In 1983 when the Fanara spoke of land (kupa), they referred to earth or soil. They discussed the Peixoto and Iriri region in terms of places, villages, gardens or rivers. but not as something which could be owned. By 1991 the Fanara spoke regularly of "the land of the Fanara," (Fanara nho kupa). They had developed a sense of their land, as something to which they had rights. The Panara Return "Where will all the children live that are growing up and will have children of their own? Here in this little piece of other peoples land where we are? When I think of the children I am sad. How will they live when they grow up?" (Ake Panani, interview, Xingu National Park, October 1991). By 1990, the Fanara found themselves increasingly the victims of their own success. With a growing population and a vital ceremonial life, they had moved to the western boundary of the Park, on the Arraias River, where they found forest that more closely resembled their traditional land. The best hunting territory, however, was outside the Park on private land, where the Fanara began hunting and fishing. In the same year a group of Fanara killed a ranch hand in a dispute. Leaders such as chiefs Ake and Teseya became increasingly concerned with the future ofthe group. With a young and rapidly increasing population, they were caught between the approaching deforestation outside the Park, and the other groups within the Park, also growing, and already long established on much of the best land. Once again, the Fanara's attention turned to their traditional land. They sought help from FUNAI and several non-governmental organizations active in the Xingu-(which now form the Instituto Socioambiental)-as well as my help, as the anthropologist who had lived longest among them. In November 1991 a group of six Fanara men returned for the first time to their traditional territory: They witnessed the ecological effect of nearly twenty years of Continue on page 25 Abya Yala News �S gold mining in the Peixoto de Azevedo, as well as ranching and colonization and the boom towns left in their wake. Their ter-. ritory in the Peixoto had been occupied and very largely degraded. Flying over the region, however, they discovered that the lriri basin was still unoccupied and forested. From that moment they began to formulate a plan to return to the area. Between 1992 and 1994 groups of men returned repeatedly, to locate former village sites, take cognizance of the processes in course in the area and plan their reoccupation of the region. In 1993, they reached an airstrip near the headwaters of the lriri, and determined that the supposed owner was subdividing an area of public land under the control of the National Institute for Agrarian Reform (INCRA) for sale-a process of land fraud. The Panara recognized that they would have to act quickly if the lriri headwaters were not to succumb to the uncontrolled occupation that had already devastated the Peixoto. In the dry season of 1994, the Panara identified a new village site on the lriri, not far from an historic landmark they had recognized from the air, the Great Lake (inkotunsi), the spot where the Panara of Sonkenasan village had intended to make a new village in 1967, before the Kayapo attack. They set to work building a village, gardens and an airstrip to facilitate access for health care. In August 1994, through their attorneys at the Nucleo de Direitos lndigenas, the Panara filed two lawsuits in federal court in Brasilia, seeking indemnification of losses and damages suffered in the contact and transfer, and the demarcation of their remaining traditional land. In October 1994, a FUNAI and INCRA team lead by anthropologist Ana Gita de Oliveira identified the area, verifying the presence of the Panara in the village and determining traditional resource use and the boundaries of the area. Two days after the FUNAI team had left the village, a group of armed men appeared in the village, alleging to have been sent by the Mayor of the regional town of Guaranta looking for the FUNAI team. After a tense discussion, the group left. In December 1994, the president of FUNAI published the decree (portaria) recognizing the Panara's rights to an area of 488.000 hectares in northern Mato Grosso and southern Para states in the Diario Oficial. Subsequently modified to E l F DETERMINATION- -AND - TERRITORY --- remove an area titled to private interests, the revised area (490,000 hectares) is awaiting the signature of the Minister of Justice for its demarcation to proceed. In October 1995, a group of Panara families moved to the new village, brought in successive flights by a FUNAI plane. Their airstrip is in operation, their gardens are growing, and some 65 Panara now reside there. They are engaged in building houses and planting more gardens so that the rest of the group can join them. The Panara are aware that the edges of their land have already been invaded by loggers and that the grileiro maintains a presence in the southwestern corner of the area . But they remain convinced that their future is in the reoccupation of the area, and the defense of its natural resources against depredation. one language, have developed and elaborated a diversity of languages and social and cultural forms-men's societies, age grades, "formal friendship", joking and avoidance relations, kinship, marriage and naming systems, ritual complexesall of which, while distinct, bear "family resemblances" to one another., much like the relations of cognate words in related languages to one another. It is still common to assume that Indigenous peoples Brazil are a vanishing race, doomed to succumb to the pressure of superior technology and disappear into the surrounding society Behind this idea is a notion of culture as static and unchanging-culture as a sort of FUll CIRThe Future an Illusion the laundry list of of the Vanishing traits. If an Indian wears clothes, and Culture as laundry list speaks Portuguese, In little more than twenty years, the or plants rice, then Panara have come full circle, from the he is no longer a paradigmatic "victims of the miracle" of "real" Indian. Anthropology the military government, on the brink of cultural if not physical extinction, to pro- has in the past lent tagonists of the successful recreation of credence to such their own society and culture. The beliefs by, for process of territorial reintegration was the example, attemptconsequence of this: only in reinventing ing to explain culPHYSICAl traditional leadership, and satisfying tural and social EXTINCTION, TO as themselves that it could be both adequate organization to the challenges of life among other peo- adaptations in an OF time ple, and legitimate with reference to tra- ecological ditional knowledge-of myths, rituals, frame to given RECREATION or songs, dances, the proper ordering of ecosystems, work and sociability-could the Panara indeed by focusing form the necessary consensus to take on on the reproducthis task. The reconstruction of Panara tion of Indigenous society was in short also its recreation, its social organizatransformation. But not for the first tions to the exclutime-the historical record of the sion of history As Southern Cayapo demonstrates that the both the short and ancestors of the present Panara under- longer views of the history of the Panara took an epic migration, involving a radi- demonstrate, culture, rather than a list of cal shift in ecological adaptation from traits or institutions, is better understood savannah to closed tropical forest, and as the capacity for collective self-creation also changing culturally Nor was this or reinvention (Turner 1995). In this conprocess of change, impelled by the pres- text, what is exceptional about the drasure of the frontier though it was, unique. matic story of the Panara is its unexcepA longer comparative view of the lan- tionality Most of the Indigenous peoples in guages and cultures of the Northern Ge linguistic family shows that for several Brazil have passed, like the Panara, thousand years (ef Urban 1992 ), these through a succession of "first contacts," groups, descended from the speakers of lost population to new diseases, have _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ C_9)1tinue on page 38 - - : - - c - - - - : - c - - : - - - : : - - - - - - - - - - -·-·-·------· 25 Vol. 10 No.3 m �D S NNOUNCEMENTS A N D South American Explorers Clu1 The best source of infonnati.on and advice for travel in Latin America Memhem receive expert help in trip planning, and discounts on maps, guidebooks, and other items. ~li\\.Ui!!Counits are also available on lodging, tourguides, and language schools. Clubhouses located in Lima and Quito. FOR A FREE CATALOG, contact us at: 126 In.lian Creek RoaJ, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA Tel (607) 271-0488 Fox (607) 277-6122 e-mail (ASLA INDIAN PAWANkA NAlkA SUl~A, LAlA~A) CfNi fR MISI<IiU INDIAN CULtURAL IN i -Hf f)(IL f explorer@nmexplo.org http://www.... mexplo.org The SAEC is a non-pJrofit organization A Human Rights Quarterly (formerly Justicia y Paz) Colombia Bulletin seeks to forge strong connections for information and activism between the U.S., Europe and Colombia by reporting accurate and current information on Colombia's struggle for human rights. Each issue includes regional reports, analysis of statistics on political violence, commentary on the origins ofhuman rights violations, updates on activism, and other resources. Four issues: US$25/yr, US$12.50 student low income, foreign subs add $10. Submissions welcome. c/o CSN PO. Box 1505 Madison, Wl53701 (608)255-8753 105046.3333@compuserve.com Continued from page on page 25 moved or been removed from traditional territories. Many, like the Guarani in Mato Grosso do Sul, have returned to lands from which they were removed. The Indigenous population in Brazil reached its nadir in the 1970s and has grown since. In 1990, there were some 235,000 Indians in Brazil, while today there are 270,000. The Indigenous popu- , I t lation in Brazil is, like the Fanara, small but growing. The resistance of Indigenous peoples, and their capacity for self-recreation even in extremely adverse circumstances, is the sine qua non behind increasing official recognition of Indigenous land rights. When the National Indian Foundation was created in 1967, as the contact of the Fanara was starting, an infinitesimal quantity of Indian land was officially recognized as such by the federal government. Today, Indigenous peoples have constitutionally guaranteed rights to some 11% of Brazil's territory, although only part of this area has been fully officially documented. A plethora of histories like that of the Fanara have shattered the illusion of the vanishing Indian. In so doing, they have better informed both national Indigenous policy, and scientific understanding of the depth and dynamics of Indigenous culture and history '9 References Cited Carneiro da Cunha, Manuela (org). 1992. Hist6ria dos Indios no Brasil. Editora Schwarcz, Sao Paulo. Dourado, Luciana and Aryan Rodrigues. 1993. Fanara: Indentificar,;ao Linguistica dos Kren-Akarorore com os Cayapo do Sul, comunicar,;ao ao 450. Reuniao Anual da Sociedade Brasileira pelo Progesso da Ciencia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, 11 - 16 julho. Giraldin, Odair. 1994. Cayapo e Fanara: Luta e sobrevivencia de um povo, Dissertar,;ao de Mestrado apresentado ao MIAMI. P-H/FX (305) Departamento de Antropologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Sao Paulo. Guidon, Niede. 1992. As ocupar,;oes prehist6ricas do Brasil, in Hist6ria dos Indios no Brasil, Manuela Carneiro da Cunha (org.), Editora Schwarcz, Sao Paulo. Heelas, Richard. 1979. The Social Organization of the Fanara, a Ge Tribe of Central Brazil. Doctoral Dissertation, St. Catherine's College, Oxford University. Meggers, B.]. 1971. Amazonia: Man and culture in a counterfit paradise. Chicago, A/dine-Atherton. Schwartzman, Stephan. 1988. The Fanara of the Xingu National Park: the transformation of a society. Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago. 1995. The Fanara: Indigenous Territory and Environmental Protection in the Amazon, in Local Heritage in the Changing Tropics: innovative strategies for natural resource management and control, Greg Dicum (ed.), Bulletin Series, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Number 98. New Haven, Connecticut. Turner, Terence. 1995. Indigenous Rights, Environmental Protection and the Struggle over Forest Resources in the Amazon: The case of the Brazilian Kayapo. mss. Urban, Greg. 1992. A hist6ria da cultura brasileira segundo as linguas nativas, in Hist6ria dos Indios no Brazil, Manuela Carneiro da Cunha (org.), Editor a Schwarcz, Sao Paulo. (a previous version of this article appearded in the Brazilian magazine Ciencia Hoje) ~--------- 38 Abya Yala News � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 Success Story in Brazil: The Return of the Panara Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Success Story in Brazil: The Return of the Panara Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (22-25, 38).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Author Stephan Schwartzman Abstract Note The Panara in Brazil have organized to sue for the protection of the land from private interests and have made steady gains in the government to do so. Pages 22-25, 38 http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/files/original/0cd8f6362d8c34251baf24b336c95c5a 0b4768670f45eefe9af5c7d518e09b95 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 3 (26-29).pdf PDF Text Text 5 E l F DETERMINATION A N D TERRITORY he bullet entered from under his jaw, and came out the top of his head," says Maestro Ernesto of the Partido de la Revoluci6n Democratica (PRD). With his index finger as the barrel, he forms his hand into a gun and sticks it into the soft flesh of his jowl. Then he pulls the trigger and taps the barrel against his skull. lfllll!liiiB""''Iii""- "The government says it was a robbery or altercation, but the manner in which he was executed indicates otherwise. It was retaliation for the previous kidnapping and killing of a PRI candidate. He was assassinated by the Judicial Police." The body of R.E.Martinez was found in his home in Nueva Palestina, Chiapas on January 16, 1996, the victim of what the PRD and opposition groups are defining as more than an isolated act of vengeance. Funded and orchestrated by wealthy landlords, cattle ranchers and the ruling Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), it is an intentional against campaign of oppression Indigenous and campesino communities carried out by the police, Mexican National Army and private goon squads called the White Guard. In Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero and other Mexican states, any action that threatens the land tenure of the rich or endangers the election of PRI candidates is crushed. Mexico's population of over 10 million indigenas, the majority of whom are campesinos or peasant workers, has been Brad Miller is a free-lance journalist who has written for newspapers and magazines such as the Progressive, and for a section of the Utne Reader entitled "Nine Views of Mexico." 26 IN CHIAPAS, OAXACA, GUERRERO AND OTHER MEXICAN STATES, ANY ACTION THAT THREATENS THE TENURE OF THE RICH OR ENDANGERS ELECTION OF PRI CANDIDATES IS CRUSHED. hit heavily by these pistoleros. In the continuing 500 year nightmare of genocide, the corpses of the Tzotzil, Chole, Mixe and Nahualt Indians that appear in alleys or irrigation ditches are written off as the victims of drunken brawls or jealous husbands. The victims converge on the PRD office in the Chiapan capital of Tuxtla Gutierrez. The residents of Jaltenango de laPaz and Nueva Palestina travel the 150 miles by bus to register complaints con- cerning human rights abuses and landtenure disputes. 'The Judicial Police arrived at our house with ten vehicles and a helicopter," says Muriel Perez of Jaltenango. "They beat up my husband. Now my 70 yearold mother-in-law and three children are missing. We have been looking for them for three days." She believes that the rich landlords who own the property next to her small farm want to expand onto her land and Continue on page 2 7 Abya Yala News �S that they have been directing the activities of the Judicial Police. "Our farm is titled under my motherin-laws name. And now we can't find her." Behind Maestro Ernesto a sign hangs on the cracked, concrete wall: "The brave don't shoot cowards in the back." T he Mexican government denies any violations committed are officially sanctioned, and in their version of history, the White Guard has never existed. But historically, the national rulers and the state of Chiapas have supported the landlords and cattlemen, called ganaderos, and the formation of their private armies. Since the invasion of Columbus, Cortez and the Conquistadors, those gluttonous for land have forced Indigenous subsistence farmers off fertile land and into the rocky canyons and jungle. Several Chiapan governors own vast spreads of cattle land, forming special police forces to persecute cattle thieves and creating laws allowing ganaderos to carry weapons. The ganaderos, strongly tied to the PRI, have continued to be given credits, subsidies and political aid from the Mexican government. The cattle industry is also propped up by the foreign credits of the World Bank, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. The ganaderos have consolidated their power by forming groups like the Citizen's Defense Group and the National Small Property Owner's Confederation and arming their White Guard, who are usually young ranch hands, to defend against anyone occupying "their" land. They have felt especially threatened since the 1992 Quincentennial date marking the arrival of Christopher Columbus and the beginning of Indigenous genocide. The ganadero leaders pump local residents full of fear, telling them the "Indiada" is corning, that Chiapas will soon be an "Indian reserve." Chiapas-where 1/3 of the land is used for cattle ranching, while indigenas and carnpesinos farm only 1/5 of it. Chiapas-the state that produces 28% of Mexico's meat supply while most Indigenous people can rarely afford to buy farm animals or eat meat. The Fray Bartolome Center for Human Rights reported that ganaderos E l F DETERMINATION were accompanying the Mexican Army as it advanced through Altamirano and Ocosingo during the 1995 winter offensive against the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), breaking into houses and stealing horses and cattle. In several northern municipalities of the state, indigenas and campesinos were displaced by armed PRI groups who attacked PRD-based communities and ejidos and by police operations backed by local ganaderos. The expulsions intensified as the fall1995 elections approached. More private armies were formed-the Force of Reaction, the Juvenile Revolutionary Front, Paz y Justicia (Peace and Justice). Paz y Justicia established a "summary court," where 63 families were judged and fined for participation in the PRD. Since June 1996, the violence and terror have been escalating, influencing the EZLN to pull out of the peace talks on September 2. The Estaci6n Norte de Distension and Reconciliaci6n, established by a number of human rights groups to monitor the situation and facilitate a peaceful and positive outcome, has reported that some communities are under a state of siege. They lack food, water and medicine and are continually confronted by members of "Paz y Justicia." The pistoleros of those in power have also been attacking Indigenous communities in Oaxaca, a state situated next to Chiapas-both geographically and in terms of poverty and Indigenous population. Oaxaca, rich in natural resources, has been the sight of a long-running battle between foreign and mestizo colonizers and Indigenous communities. The greed for narcotics-generated money has only intensified the conflict. Indigenous groups in Oaxaca say the PRI is using the pretext of fighting narcotraffickers to militarize the area, but that armed groups are being used against Indigenous communities and their leaders. They also believe the assassins of the Oaxacan opposition leaders are actually the ones involved in drug trafficking. The caciques and ganaderos "have used the force of judges, the police and army," while they "have been infiltrated by drug trafficking and have created paramilitaries or White Guard," says the Union de Comunidades Indigenas de la Zona Norte del Istrno (UCIZONI), an A N D TERRITORY organization that promotes the rights and culture of indigenas and provides them legal aid. During the local elections of November 1995 the PRI sent in armed groups to Mazatlan Villa de Flores to disrupt the traditional system of communal vote-taking, killing one person. In the ensuing state of siege, seven more people were killed. Two Mixe Indian communities were displaced and one Mixe leader assassinated by PRI gunmen. UCIZONI leaders have been popular targets of the military and White Guard-for harassment, torture and assassination. In 1989, a Mixe named Crisforo Jose TRAFFICKERS Pedro was murTHE In dered. November 1995 it was Blas ARMED GROUPS Santos Vasquez BEING USED and Armando Agustin Bonifacio. On Sept. 18, 1996, Abraham Gonzalez was killed and three other Mixes wounded. Official cornplaints to the government concerning the killing of indigenas are filed, but usually ignored. According to the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, six members of the Organization Indigenas de Derechos Hurnanos en Oaxaca(OIDHO) were killed between May 1995 and July 1996. The killing of OIDHO representative Honorato Zarate Vasquez was called a suicide. Teachers in Oaxaca, many of whom are Indigenous, are also seen as a threat to the power structure. ':(hey are often threatened, beaten and killed. As its leaders are murdered, Oaxaca's Indigenous communities are slowly eliminated through displacement, emigration, fear and detention. The Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights state that as of July 1996, half of Oaxaca's 3,600 inmates were Indigenous. The residents Continue on a e 28 Vol. 10 No.3 27 �SELF _ _ ___:___ DETERMINATION! __ of Union y Progreso, who had been living as refugees in a neighboring town for two years due to the violence created by the caciques and their pistoleros, travelled to the City of Oaxaca in October 1996. The displaced then set up camp in front of the Governors palace in a protest to their desperate living situation. But the government continues to respond with more force, increasing its deployment of military and police since the public emergence of the People's Revolutionary Army (EPR) in June of 1996. The army arrested almost all the community leaders in Agustin Loxicha, Oaxaca and rounded up villagers in the mountains of Guerrero (the state where the EPR first appeared). In Guerrero, military repression is nothing new. In June 1995 alone, three Mixtec members of the Guerrero Council of 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance were murdered, and in a separate incident, 17 villagers were shot to death as a group of police 28 A Nl D TERRITORY fired on a passing truck in Aguas Blancas. In the state of Hidalgo, "the problem of the private armies isn't as significant as the use of government forces," says Sabino Juarez of the Special Agrarian Committee. "The caciques just use the police and Federal Army as their White Guard." convoy of Mexican soldiers in USsupplied HUMVEEs winds through the tight curves of Chiapas's Highway 190. The soldiers look out from under their US-supplied kevlar helmets, scanning the cornfields that are scattered on the steep, rocky hillsides, the stalks poking out of the road cuts. The US government sells Mexico $40 million per year in military equipment and has trained over 700 of their officers over the last ten years. Through military credits and drug enforcement and eradication grants, the Mexican armed forces, which now number over 200,000 troops, have acquired over 80 Huey, Bell and ____ Blackhawk helicopters and 75 Swissmade P-7 jet trainers and 250 French tanks. The trainer jets have been souped up into lethal machines. The helicopters, authorized only for drug enforcement duties, have been used to battle the Zapatistas and help the ganaderos and landlords crush organization and dissent. When not used directly by government forces against opposition groups and indigenas, automatic weapons have 'trickled down' into the hands of the White Guard, whose oppression was one of the initial reasons for the formation of the EZLN-and others. "Our principle fight is against the existing ruling class," says Maestro Rodolfo of the Coordination of the Campesinos for the Popular Struggle, based in Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas. "We have organized to stop people's hunger." Hunger and land starvation is increasing, and Mexico's continued emphasis on an export-oriented economy and the PRI's globalization have further marginalized indigenas and campesinos. The xevision of Article 27 of the 1917 constitution allows communal property to be seized if the owners fall into debt, and permits Indigenous lands to be purchased by outsiders. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and World Bank and IMF policies prescribe a shift to export crops and animal feed. As the Zapatistas pronounced in a communique, NAFTA is a "death sentence" for Indigenous people. Land invasions have been organized by indigenas and campesinos in order to pressure the government to give them more arable land. The revision of Article 2 7 states that anyone 'holding' private land can be sentenced to 40 years in jail. This 'holding' is essentially the only means by which indigenas and campesinos can reclaim land formerly taken from them by ganaderos or landlords. "But the government's solution to land battles is to buy more arms and respond with violence," says Maestro Rodolfo. Violence was the response in the cool hills of the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, as a land battle erupted on the coffee finca of Liquid Amber. In August 1994, an armed group called the Union Popular Francisco Villa (UPFV) took control of the finca and held it for ten months. "They held us in the office at gunpoint for four days," says Gerardo Saenger _ _ _ ___________ Continue on page~~ Abya Yala News �S Gonzalez, Liquid Amber's administrator. "They killed the doctor and used the furniture for firewood." When the UPFV grabbed the finca, its owner, Lawrence Hulder, armed his Guatemalan workers and tried to take it back. When the efforts of his White Guard proved to be unsuccessful, he called in the police and military, which arrived in helicopters to drive out the UPFV Saenger shakes his head when asked if Liquid Amber has any White Guard. "We just have to make a call down to jaltenango if there are any problems." But residents of the nearby ejido of Nueva Palestina say the 100 White Guard of Liquid Amber travel the road from the finca to their town. "We can't live a tranquil life," says Luisa Montoya. "Not with the finca's pistoleros walking the streets." The ejido and its marginalized community are surrounded by coffee fincas and the El Triunfo Bioreserve, on which they have not been allowed to cultivate-even though Liquid Amber already has. "The problems are coming from outside the ejido of Nueva Palestina," says Saenger. "The villagers are calm until the groups from the town of Venustiano Carranza fill them with Marxist and communist ideas." But problems do exist inside the ejido, where Public Security roam the streets and the Mexican Army and police, having implemented an operation to capture opposition leaders sympathetic to the Zapatistas, arrest and torture UPFV organizers. Marginalized societies of other areas have also initiated land occupations when given no other option. In April 1992, indigenas battled the state police over land that had been sequestered near Palenque, Chiapas to make room for "Mundo Maya", a tourist project celebrating the ancient Mayan heritage of the same people the government murders. Two hundred Chole Indians were tossed in jail. In protest, members of the Indigenous organization called Xi Nich, meaning "ants", marched 1,100 km to Mexico City The federal government ignored their grievances, just as they've ignored the more recent warnings of Indigenous leaders such as Xi Nich's Victor Guzman, who stated at the Special Vol. 10 No.3 E L F DETERMiNATION A N D TERRITORY COUNTRY." Forum for Indigenous Rights in February 1995 that "the Indigenous problems of Chiapas are the Indigenous problems of the entire country" The empowered elite of Mexico have been receiving adequate warnings of insurrection for a long time. In the book of Chilam Balam, the Mayan gods dictated that "the shield shall descend, the arrow shall descend ... together with the rulers of the land." In the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Michoacan, there have been reports of the formation of new opposition groups, armed for self-preservation. n the trendy city of San Cristobal de las Casas, where tourists come to buy Mayan crafts, sip coffee and listen to folk artists sing about Che Guevara, an Indigenous girl stands on a corner. She watches a ladino girl of her same age walk proudly to church wearing an elegant, white dress. On the next street a group of Tzotzil Indians carries the white casket of a child off to another world. Road cuts don't yield enough corn to live on. In the same trendy city, Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN gives a press conference behind a black ski mask, smoking his pipe, flanked by Comandantes David and Tacho. "The problems in this country are not just in Chiapas. They also exist in Oaxaca, Guerrero, Vera Cruz, Hidalgo ... " Mexico has 31 states and a federal district. Subcomandante Marcos could have gone on and on.~ Graphics by Brad Miller 29 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 1997) 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 Mexico's Hired Guns Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Summer 1997 Language A language of the resource English Zotero Title Mexico's Hired Guns Item Type Newspaper Article Attachment Title Vol. 10, no. 3 (26-29).pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Issue 3 Language English Publication Title Abya Yala News Volume 10 Author Brad Miller Abstract Note Increasing violence in Mexico has led to an increase in state-sponsored murders and killing by the police, the military, and paramilitary forces in an attempt to re-establish state control across the country. Pages 26-29