Canada Endorses UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights

Now joining New Zealand and Australia, Canada becomes the third of the four settler nations to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, with the U.S. continuing to hold out. Canada, the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand, were the only four states to oppose the Declaration, one that Canada had previously worked on securing. New Zealand backed the UN Declaration in mid-April 2010, while Australia also did an about face and endorsed the Declaration in April of 2009 (see the response by Michael Dodson, rapporteur for the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues). Australia also issued a formal apology to members of the stolen generation.

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From Canada's Dept. of Foreign Affairs and International Trade:

Canada’s statement of support on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

November 12, 2010

Today, Canada joins other countries in supporting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In doing so, Canada reaffirms its commitment to promoting and protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples at home and abroad.

The Government of Canada would like to acknowledge the Aboriginal men and women who played an important role in the development of this Declaration.

The Declaration is an aspirational document which speaks to the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, taking into account their specific cultural, social and economic circumstances.

Although the Declaration is a non-legally binding document that does not reflect customary international law nor change Canadian laws, our endorsement gives us the opportunity to reiterate our commitment to continue working in partnership with Aboriginal peoples in creating a better Canada.

Under this government, there has been a shift in Canada’s relationship with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, exemplified by the Prime Minister’s historic apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools, the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the apology for relocation of Inuit families to the High Arctic and the honouring of Métis veterans at Juno Beach.

These events charted a new path for this country as a whole, one marked by hope and reconciliation and focused on cherishing the richness and depth of diverse Aboriginal cultures.

Canada continues to make exemplary progress and build on its positive relationship with Aboriginal peoples throughout the country, a relationship based on good faith, partnership and mutual respect.

The Government's vision is a future in which Aboriginal families and communities are healthy, safe, self-sufficient and prosperous within a Canada where people make their own decisions, manage their own affairs and make strong contributions to the country as a whole.

The Government has shown strong leadership by protecting the rights of Aboriginal people in Canada. The amendment to the Canadian Human Rights Act, the proposed Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act and the proposed legislation concerning matrimonial real property rights on reserve are just a few recent examples.

This government has also taken concrete and viable actions in important areas such as education, skills development, economic development, employment, health care, housing and access to safe drinking water. These are part of a continuing agenda focused on real results with willing and able partners.

At the international level Canada has been a strong voice for the protection of human rights. Canada is party to numerous United Nations human rights conventions which give expression to this commitment.

Canada has a constructive and far-reaching international development program that helps to improve the situation of Indigenous peoples in many parts of the world. Canada’s active involvement abroad, coupled with its productive partnership with Aboriginal Canadians, is having a real impact in advancing indigenous rights and freedoms, at home and abroad.

In 2007, at the time of the vote during the United Nations General Assembly, and since, Canada placed on record its concerns with various provisions of the Declaration, including provisions dealing with lands, territories and resources; free, prior and informed consent when used as a veto; self-government without recognition of the importance of negotiations; intellectual property; military issues; and the need to achieve an appropriate balance between the rights and obligations of Indigenous peoples, States and third parties. These concerns are well known and remain. However, we have since listened to Aboriginal leaders who have urged Canada to endorse the Declaration and we have also learned from the experience of other countries. We are now confident that Canada can interpret the principles expressed in the Declaration in a manner that is consistent with our Constitution and legal framework.

Aboriginal and treaty rights are protected in Canada through a unique framework. These rights are enshrined in our Constitution, including our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and are complemented by practical policies that adapt to our evolving reality. This framework will continue to be the cornerstone of our efforts to promote and protect the rights of Aboriginal Canadians.

The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were a defining moment for Canada. The Games instilled a tremendous sense of pride in being Canadian and highlighted to the world the extent to which Aboriginal peoples and their cultures contribute to Canada’s uniqueness as a nation. The unprecedented involvement of the Four Host First Nations and Aboriginal peoples from across the nation set a benchmark for how we can work together to achieve great success.

In endorsing the Declaration, Canada reaffirms its commitment to build on a positive and productive relationship with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples to improve the well-being of Aboriginal Canadians, based on our shared history, respect, and a desire to move forward together.

From the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations:

Canada Endorses the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

(November 12, 2010) The Government of Canada today formally endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in a manner fully consistent with Canada’s Constitution and laws. Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. John McNee, met with the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Joseph Deiss, to advise him of Canada’s official endorsement of the United Nations Declaration.

“We understand and respect the importance of this United Nations Declaration to Indigenous peoples in Canada and worldwide,” said the Honourable John Duncan, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-status Indians. “Canada has endorsed the Declaration to further reconcile and strengthen our relationship with Aboriginal peoples in Canada.”

“Canada is committed to promoting and protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples,” said the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs. “Canada’s active involvement abroad, coupled with its productive partnership with Aboriginal Canadians, is having a real impact in advancing indigenous rights at home and abroad.”

The United Nations Declaration describes the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples. It sets out a number of principles that should guide harmonious and cooperative relationships between Indigenous peoples and States, such as equality, partnership, good faith and mutual respect. Canada strongly supports these principles and believes that they are consistent with the Government’s approach to working with Aboriginal peoples. While the Declaration is not legally binding, endorsing it as an important aspirational document is a significant step forward in strengthening relations with Aboriginal peoples.

“Canada’s Aboriginal leadership has spoken with passion on the importance of endorsing the Declaration. Today’s announcement represents another important milestone on the road to respect and cooperation,” added Minister Duncan.

Canada’s endorsement builds upon numerous other government initiatives for Aboriginal peoples on education, economic development, housing, child and family services, access to safe drinking water, and the extension of human rights protection and matrimonial real property protection to First Nations on reserve.

From SHAWN A-IN-CHUT ATLEO - NATIONAL CHIEF OF THE ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS - PRESS RELEASE:

November 12, 2010

National Chief Welcomes Canada’s Endorsement of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Respect, Partnership and Reconciliation will Guide Work to Improve the situation of First Nation Peoples and Build a Stronger Canada

OTTAWA, ON: Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn A‐in‐chut Atleo stated that Canada’s endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a positive development that sets the stage for a new approach to building stronger First Nations and a stronger Canada.

“Today marks an important shift in our relationship and now the real work begins,” National Chief Atleo said. “Now is our time to work together towards a new era of fairness and justice for First Nations and a stronger Canada for all Canadians, guided by the Declaration’s core principles of respect, partnership and reconciliation. First Nations have worked long and hard to set out constructive and effective approaches and to abandon the colonial relationship embodied in the Indian Act that has held back our people and this country. We are ready to move now – today – on our key priorities including education.”

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 2007. Canada committed to endorsing the UN Declaration in the 2010 Speech from the Throne. The UNDRIP has the distinction of being the only Declaration within the United Nations which was drafted with the rights‐holders, themselves, the Indigenous Peoples of the world.

“Today is important, not as the culmination of our efforts, but as the beginning of a new approach and a new agenda,” the National Chief stated. “Canada’s apology for the residential schools in 2008 was a critical moment to acknowledge the pain of the past. Endorsing the Declaration is the opportunity to look forward and re‐set the relationship between First Nations and the Crown so it is consistent with the Treaties and other agreements with First Nations upon which this country was founded. In endorsing the UN Declaration, Canada is committing to work with us as a true partner to achieve reconciliation as instructed by the courts in Canada.

I congratulate Canada in taking another step towards the promotion and protection of human and fundamental freedoms for all.”

The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First Nations in Canada.

Legacy Lives On.

Legacy Lives On.
Trinidad Express Newspapers | Oct 18, 2010 at 11:32 PM ECT

Cristo Adonis, shaman of the Arima Carib community in Trinidad.

...of the Spaniards against his people in St Joseph. Hyarima is considered by the Santa Rosa Carib Community as this country's first national hero.

The week of activities included educational school tours, a taste of Amerindian cuisine, lectures, a smoke ceremony and heritage fair. The fair featured interactive games, dances and a petting zoo.

For Cristo Adonis, shaman of the Arima Carib community in Trinidad, the spirit of the indigenous people is as vibrant today as it was centuries ago.

"We are strong," he said. "We have remained with the knowledge of medicinal plants, although (these plants) are being destroyed every day when the hills are cut down. But we remain strong."

Adonis wished to remind the public that there were still people of indigenous descent here in this country, that they were strong and can contribute a lot to this land which was originally theirs.

"We can do a lot education wise because a lot of the history that was written, we know for a fact that those things were written by the European people from their point of view. So we can teach our young people the proper history of indigenous people. We can also teach a lot about the environment because that is our legacy. That is what we know. We are part of nature. I think the powers that be could adopt some of the principles of the indigenous people."

Adonis says that before Christopher Columbus landed in Trinidad there were over 40,000 people living here but the descendants of these peoples have since dispersed across the region.

"Trinidad was always a melting pot," he said.

Some of the things which have survived, he added, were the spiritual smoke ceremony, foods, and certain implements. Unfortunately, he said it has been a challenge for these people to gain recognition in modern society.

"It has been an uphill climb. I think it all started when people started saying that the Caribs were cannibals. There were a lot of young people who did not want to be associated with that. Although we were here first but in a minority, people hardly placed focus on us. The proper documentation on our way of life need to be placed in a proper perspective."

He lamented that whilst many traditional crafts have been lost over the passage of time, he is satisfied that those which have endured are being kept alive.

"We have lost the language because our people were forced to learn Spanish then forced to learn English." He added: "But we have survived for over 500 years so our (traditions) will carry on."

Govt promises more land to Amerindians.

Govt promises more land to Amerindians.
By Miranda La Rose | Trinidad Express Newspapers | Oct 11, 2010 at 10:43 PM ECT

The Amerindian community in Arima is to get "an appropriate parcel of land on which we could faithfully recreate the living conditions, customs and traditions of the first people," Minister of Multiculturalism Winston Peters said.

Launching the week of activities to mark Amerindian heritage at the Arima Town Hall yesterday under the theme, "Survival of a People" Peters said he has directed that "a brief (on the issue) be brought forward at the shortest possible time for consideration".

He said, "I am not speaking about a meagre five acres that somebody else may have promised you some time ago."

Pledging "to work as hard as I can to ensure that you all get the lands that you deserve," he said that the People's Partnership Government takes the issues of indigenous people's seriously. To this end, he said that the Government ratified two United Nations Conventions to protect the heritage of indigenous peoples in July.

Through the Amerindian Project Committee and in collaboration with the Santa Rosa community, Peters said that the Government was working on several proposals for the long-term development of the indigenous community.

In his address, chief of the Santa Rosa community, Ricardo Bharath Hernandez, said that while the community was grateful for the five acres of land given by the previous People's National Movement government, it was not enough.

"We humbly submit at this point that this is not enough for a people to whom this entire nation belongs and in particular for a community that was granted 1.320 acres or the mission of Santa Rosa. That is how Arima started," he said.

He noted that the UN recently adopted the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, which speaks of the protection of their cultural heritage and land rights issues, and that Trinidad and Tobago supported it.

"It is on this basis that we ask that this matter be reviewed by the present administration and that we be given a fair portion of land on which to establish a modern Amerindian village in a manner of our ancestors and that it be both a source of economic sustenance for our people and a tourist attraction for which Arima and the whole country could be proud," he said.

He said, too, that the past four administrations he has dealt, have all been sympathetic and have given some level of recognition and financial support for heritage activities.

"But we are seen as just another cultural group lining up for a subvention. That should not be so," he said.

From Rhonda LeValdo, Pres., NAJA

This from Native America Calling

News from the Native American Journalists Association

by Native America Calling on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 12:14pm

Rhonda LeValdo Statement

It is upsetting that in today's world a political leader like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would tell the Governor of New York, David Paterson to resort to violence when dealing with the issue of untaxed cigarettes on Native American tribal land.

In a radio excerpt Mr. Bloomberg talked about those sales and stated on his radio show: "You know, get yourself a cowboy hat and a shotgun. If there's ever a great video, it's you standing in the middle of the New York State Thruway saying, you know, 'Read my lips - the law of the land is this, and we're going to enforce the law.'"

Going to archaic methods of pressuring ethnic minority groups is never an option.

I am asking that Mayor Bloomberg issue an apology to all tribal nations for his suggestion of violence against Native Americans.

Letter to Mayor Bloomberg

August 20, 2010

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

The use of the Cowboy and Indian theme when describing how to deal with the tribes in the state of New York demeans all Native American tribes as a people. By enforcing this stereotype you also perpetuate an image of the past that certainly does not pertain to the tribes that reside in your area.

It is apparent you need to open up lines of communication with the tribes to regain some sort of diplomacy. It would also be important to understand what tribal sovereignty is.

Tribes in the area of New York were there before the state was what is known now as New York. It is astonishing that you would take the cavalier attitude of showing them a shotgun to make tribes do what you or your state wants them to do.

Inflicting violence on any ethnic group is not prudent. Even your own faith of being Jewish, would know this course of action is wrong and certainly not humane.

I ask you issue an apology not only to your area tribes but to all tribal nations for suggesting violence against Native Americans.

Sincerely,

Rhonda LeValdo President, Native American Journalists Association

Guyana: Indigenous Peoples Fight Land Grabs

Guyana indigenous demand say over land
Sat Jul 3, 2010
By Neil Marks, Reuters

GEORGETOWN (Reuters) - Guyana's indigenous people are agitating for more land rights as the World Bank prepares to spend hundreds of millions to help nations benefit from a U.N. program to help slow deforestation.

The World Bank has granted Guyana $200,000 (131,587 pounds) to help refine its proposal to reduce emissions from deforestation. But Amerindian leaders insist the government's proposals do not address its international obligations to indigenous people.

"We have urged governments and international agencies to protect our traditional practices and help resolve outstanding land issues," Tony James, president of the Guyana's Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) said at a World Bank meeting.

Guyana, a former British colony perched next to Venezuela, is about 80 percent covered with forests and has one of the most varied biodiversities in the world. Amerindian communities make up about 10 percent of the population.

Indigenous leaders accuse the government of snatching their traditional lands through poor demarcation, saying in some areas, communities were demarcated without their knowledge.

The Amerindian Act of 2006 gives Amerindian villages legal powers to manage and conserve their lands.

"Some community lands are being sliced by half, some by quarter, some by three-quarters," said John Adries, the leader in the Parima community, inhabited by 600 Arekuna people.

Guyana's government is seeking international partnerships for incentives to keep alive 15 million hectares of untouched forest. Amerindian communities have been told they can opt into the initiative or choose not to be part of it.

Amerindian communities have in the past been sharoly critical Guyana's low carbon strategy, a forest saving deal with Norway that could give the country $250 million over the next five years.

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Guyana's indigenous people charge land abuses 

Friday, July 2, 2010
By Neil Marks

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (Reuters) -- Guyana's indigenous people are accusing the government of snatching their traditional land through poor demarcation as the authorities try to benefit from a UN program to preserve the country's rainforests.

The World Bank has given Guyana $3.6 million to help prepare a plan for the UNprogram to slow deforestation. But Amerindian leaders insist the government's proposals do not address its international obligations to indigenous groups.

"We have urged governments and international agencies to protect our traditional practices and help resolve outstanding land issues," Tony James, president of Guyana's Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), said at a World Bank meeting.

Amerindian communities make up about 10 percent of the population of Guyana, a former British colony next to Venezuela.

The country is mostly covered by forests and boasts one of the world's most varied biodiversities.

Indigenous leaders say the government is taking over traditional lands through poor demarcation, and that in some areas communities were demarcated without their knowledge.

The Amerindian Act of 2006 gives Amerindian villages legal powers to manage and conserve their lands.

"Some community lands are being sliced by half, some by quarter, some by three-quarters," said John Adries, the leader of the Parima community, which numbers 600 Arekuna people.

In an example of what they said was poor planning, they said a hospital that serves indigenous people in the mountain village of Kato was left out of land demarcated by government.

Guyana's government is seeking international partnerships and incentives to protect 15 million hectares (37 million acres) of forest.

Amerindian communities have been told they can opt into the initiative or choose not to be part of it.

Amerindian communities have in the past been sharply critical of Guyana's low carbon strategy, a forest-saving deal with Norway that could earn the country $250 million over the next five years.

Indigenous Cosmopolitans: New Book on Transnational and Transcultural Indigeneity in the Twenty-First Century

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Published by Peter Lang USA, 2010:
New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien.
X, 223 pp., num. ill.
ISBN 978-1-4331-0102-1
Order from the publisher, or,
Order from Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis:

What happens to indigenous culture and identity when being rooted in a fixed cultural setting is no longer necessary – or even possible? Does cultural displacement mean that indigeneity vanishes? How is being and becoming indigenous (i.e., indigeneity) experienced and practiced along translocal pathways? How are “new” philosophies and politics of indigenous identification (indigenism) constructed in “new,” translocal settings? The essays in this collection develop our understandings of cosmopolitanism and transnationalism, and related processes and experiences of social and cultural globalization, showing us that these do not spell the end of ways of being and becoming indigenous. Instead, indigeneity is reengaged in wider fields, finding alternative ways of being established and projected, or bolstering older ways of doing so, while reaching out to other cultures.

Reviewers’ comments:

“Timely and original, this volume looks at indigenous peoples from the perspective of cosmopolitan theory and at cosmopolitanism from the perspective of the indigenous world. In doing so, it not only sheds new light on both, but also has something important to say about the complexities of identification in this shrinking, overheated world.Analysing ethnography from around the world, the authors demonstrate the universality of the local – indigeneity – and the particularity of the universal – cosmopolitanism. Anthropology doesn’t get much better than this.”–Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Professor of Anthropology, University of Oslo; author of Globalisation.

“This collection takes the anthropological study of indigeneity to an entirely new level. Bringing together an impressive range of case studies, from the Inuit in the north to Aboriginal Australian in the south, the authors fundamentally challenge the assumption that that indigeneity and transnationalism are separate and opposed conditions. They reveal with engaging ethnographic richness and historical depth that contemporary indigeneity is a rooted cosmopolitanism and that this indigeneity of roots and routes is being continually reinvented in ways that challenge conventional understandings, both within anthropology and in the wider public arena. This exploration of re-rooted cosmopolitanisms and remixed cosmopolitan indigeneities is also a major contribution to the anthropology of globalisation….This theoretically sophisticated collection will be essential reading for anyone in the humanities and social sciences seeking to understand the nature of contemporary indigeneity.”–Jeffrey Sissons, Associate Professor, Cultural Anthropology, School of Social and Cultural Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, Author of First Peoples: Indigenous Cultures and Their Futures.

Contents:

Maximilian C. Forte: Introduction: Indigeneities and Cosmopolitanisms

Maximilian C. Forte: A Carib Canoe, Circling in the Culture of the Open Sea: Submarine Currents Connecting Multiple Indigenous Shores

Craig Proulx: Aboriginal Hip Hoppers: Representin’ Aboriginality in Cosmopolitan Worlds

Carolyn Butler-Palmer: David Neel’s The Young Chief-Waxwaxam: A Cosmopolitan Treatise

Arthur Mason: Whither the Historicities of Alutiiq Heritage Work Are Drifting

Frans J. Schryer: The Alto Balsas Nahuas: Transnational Indigeneity and Interactions in the World of Arts and Crafts, the Politics of Resistance, and the Global Labor Market

Julie-Ann Tomiak/Donna Patrick: Transnational Migration and Indigeneity in Canada: A Case Study of Urban Inuit

Robin Maria DeLugan: “Same Cat, Different Stripes”: Hemispheric Migrations, New Urban Indian Identities, and the Consolidation of a Cosmopolitan Cosmovision

Linda Scarangella: Indigeneity in Tourism: Transnational Spaces, Pan-Indian Identity, and Cosmopolitanism

Nigel Rapport: Conclusion: From Wandering Jew to Ironic Cosmopolite: A Semi-Utopian Postnationalism

Download a PDF of the book advertisement sheet.

Download a PDF of the Table of Contents.

Taino Awards

New York, New York (UCTP Taino News) http://uctp.blogspot.com/ - A diverse group of Taino community members gathered on Saturday, 24 April to support the second annual “Taino Awards.” The event was held at the Nuyorican Poets Café and it was presented by the KuKarey Spiritual Circle and Yamocuno Tanama Yucayeke Taino organizations.

Hosted by Caridad "Kachianao" de la Luz, the awards celebrated individuals “who unselfishly give of themselves everyday to the Taino community.” The awards recognized educators, artists, humanitarians, youth, elders and other community members.

The 2010 award recipients included Vanessa Inarunikia Pastrana, Roman Perez, Carlos Rivera, Jose Munoz Vazquez, Mildred Cruz, Miguel Sobaoko Koromo Sague, Enrique Correa, Casa Atabex Ache, Edwin Cedeno, Taino Almestica, Francisco Baerga, Luis Ramos, Joe Kaonabo Garcia, Dalia Viera, and Roberto Mukaro Agueibana Borrero.

http://uctp.blogspot.com/

New Birth Certificates Wont Curb Identity Theft

IF you are a Puerto Rican living on the island, or living in the states, your birth certificate wont be valid.

This past December Puerto Rico's legislature passed a new law that invalidates as of July 1 all previously issued Puerto Rican birth certificates. The action comes after raids in March of 2009 exposing a criminal ring which had stolen birth certificates and other identifying documents from several different schools in Puerto Rico.

Kenneth McClintock Hernandez, the commonwealth's secretary of state says Puerto Ricans on average get about 20 copies of their birth certificates over their lifetimes because originals are required for enrolling children in school or sports and other community activities. Schools and other institutions have typically kept copies, a practice prohibited under the new law since January, McClintock said.

The State Department says as much as 40 percent of the identity fraud in the U.S. involves birth certificates from Puerto Rico.

The new law does not address, however, the thousands of children born in the states who are being raised on the island. I have 5 children who's original birth certificates and copies of social security numbers are held in primary and secondary schools in three cities. Since we lived in an area between two cities, the children attended two primary schools in two different cities and were separated in two high schools to meet their individual career interests. What will happen to my children as they turn 18, apply for jobs, or apply for credit?

Recently a friends son applied for the armed services. He was denied because he was told his birth certificate was invalid. Apparently someone had stolen his identity as a child. The person subsequently died and now my friends son couldn't register. It took time to get it all sorted out, and the military had interest in sorting it out because they need recruits. How much time and effort is the car dealership, bank or universities going to take to fix a problem that isn't theirs when a child who has had his or her identity stolen becomes of legal age?

Reprinting of birth certificates wont stop identity thieves from gaining access to the new certificates either. I can imagine that the persons holding the originals are submitting them today, in order to receive a new false identity document. For those who have already had their identities stolen, getting a new birth certificate wont fix the damaged credit or other issues either.

Grandfather Cyril Taylor Educational Scholarship Awarded

Grandfather Cyril Taylor Educational Scholarship Awarded

Elijay, GA (UCTP Taino News) - The 2009/2010 Grandfather Cyril Taylor Yabisi Caona Scholarship has been awarded to community member Monika Mamona Ponton-Arrington. A Boriken Taino who resides in Georgia, Arrington is a returning nursing student attending Chattahoochee Technical College. The educational stipend named in honor of elder Cyril Oscar Taylor (Carib) is focused toward giving Caribbean indigenous students’ modest financial assistance toward the purchase of school text books or supplies.

Fund applicants range from youth to adults continuing their education. They must be registered members of Caribbean indigenous communities or organizations. Potential recipients are required to submit an essay describing their community service and how they envision their education contributing to service in the future.

The Grandfather Cyril Taylor Yabisi Kaona Scholarship is sponsored by the United Confederation of Taino People, the Bohio Atabei Caribbean Indigenous Women’s Circle, and Mrs. Marie Taylor (Meherrin). For community members interested in applying for the 2010/2011 funding cycle are encouraged to check the UCTP web portal at www.uctp.org for updates.

This is a reprint from UCTPTN A Communications Service of the United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP)

We are Ghosts Within the Population