Racial Discrimination: The Caribs, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Nations

In at least two previous articles I discussed the responses and positions taken by successive governments of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago with respect to the nature and extent of recognition of the Indigenous presence in the country, particularly in response to queries from the United Nations and in connection with the failure to admit a Carib or Amerindian or Indigenous category in the national census (see: "Does Trinidad Recognize Its Indigenous People?" and "News about Trinidad's Caribs and the State"). What I want to do now, after a delay of a few years, is to go into greater depth concerning the details of Trinidad's responses to the UN, and the questions that have been posed to successive Trinidadian governments by UN committees about just how in fact Trinidad "recognized" Indigenous persons in the country. Unfortunately, even with a delay of years, this topic is still timely.

First, let's begin with a key document: that by the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), "Compilación de observaciones finales del Comité para la Eliminación de la Discriminación Racial sobre países de América Latina y el Caribe (1970-2006)" provided below (and the original on CERD's site). The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was first adopted in 1965, and entered into force in 1969. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) "is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its State parties".

The report in question covers a period of 36 years and consists of summaries that in the case of Trinidad and Tobago repeatedly focused on the Caribs on Arima--not even the Caribs of Arima themselves knew about the existence of these documents and government statements.

1980
In 1980, (Report of the thirty-fifth session Supplement No. 18 [A/35/18], starting on page 547) CERD indicated from early on that it had a special interest in the fate of the Caribs, even if we are not clear as to how CERD even learned about a Carib presence since this time pre-dates the formal act of recognition that occurred in 1990:

"131. ...Moreover, additional information was requested on measures to encourage multiracial organizations and movements and on programmes aimed at enabling the Carib Indian population to participate in the country's development" (p. 548).

1981
In 1981, (Report of the thirty-sixth session Supplement No. 18 [A/36/18], starting on page 544) CERD asks about the following:

"436. ...Further information was also requested on their economic status, on Government plans to aid backward regions or economically disadvantaged groups, on specific development programmes for the Carib and Arawak people, on steps taken to enable them to preserve their identity, on the reaction of ethnic groups to the introduction of the Hindi language in schools and on the effectiveness of measures taken by Trinidad and Tobago in 1980 to combat racism and racial discrimination. Reference was made, in particular, to the question as to how laws could continue to be valid while offending against the provisions of the Constitution, and it was asked whether an unjust law which came into being during the colonial period would still have to be applied in the country and whether an unjust law which had been enacted by Parliament after independence could be declared unconstitutional by the High Court, the Court of Appeal or the Privy Council" (p. 545).

CERD clearly indicates here that it values cultural survival, and believes that the state should work to support that. What is also interesting is what comes in the last few sentences of the above paragraph, which places a large question mark on the nature of Trinidadian state "independence". It seems that a number of colonial laws have been maintained, even though they violated the Constitution of the Republic.

What is interesting to note is how the Trinidadian government replied about the number of Caribs in Trinidad--especially since they have not been counted on any census since Independence:

"442. ...The Carib-Indian population was extremely small, numbering less than 300, and had almost disappeared as a separate group" (p. 545).

This is orthodoxy in action. There is no evidence to support such an assertion, and therefore the assertion comes from somewhere other than actual documentation. In fact, it is a repetition of well worn narratives written by colonial elites almost 150 years beforehand. See this for example on the number of surviving Indigenous People:

“At present there cannot be above 200 or 300 Indians in the colony, so that the aborigines may be said to be almost extinct….finally sunk under the ascendancy of a more intelligent race….but I also coincide in opinion with some judicious observers, who trace the approximate extinction of those tribes to the marked presence manifested by the Indian women towards the negroes and the whites, by whome they were kindly treated, whilst they were regarded by their husbands, of kindred race, more as slaves and beasts of burden, than as equals or companions. As a consequence of those connections, there exists at present, in the colony, a certain number of individuals of Indian descent, but of mixed blood” (De Verteuil, 1858, p. 172). 

“All but” disappeared:

“as in most other similar cases, persecution or civilization, perhaps both, have driven before them these wild children of the plains, until they have become, so far as Trinidad is concerned, all but extinct” (Collens, 1886, p. 7).

It is remarkable to see the exact same claims made nearly 150 years later, including the demographic size of the Carib community, which would imply some extremely strict enforcement that couples must produce no more than two children, ever. In other words, failing the credibility test, the Trinidadian state has no explanation for the outlandish demographic stasis that it seems to present as fact.

1984
In 1984, CERD (Report of the thirty-ninth session Supplement No. 18 [A/39/18], starting on page 542) indicates the following need for information:

"198. With reference to article 2 of the Convention, information was requested on the state of relations between the different racial and ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago. The Committee was of the view that it would be useful to receive statistics on the country's demographic composition and to know on what basis individuals were classified as belonging to a given ethnic group. Moreover, members wished to know which ethnic groups were disadvantaged and what measures were being taken to enable them to catch up with the rest of the population, whether there were any refugees in Trinidad and Tobago and, if not, whether the Government was prepared to admit any into the country, whether comparative data could be made available on the educational level, literacy rate and income of the different ethnic groups, particularly of the Carib people, and whether any positive measures had been taken to protect and encourage the economic and social progress of the Carib people" (p. 542).

From early on then, CERD was clearly, and later repeatedly, keen to get data on the Caribs, which the Trinidadian state was simply not collecting, which also puts into very bold relief the question of what is the nature of Trinidad's recognition of its Indigenous People?

1987
In 1987 (Report of the forty-second session Supplement No. 18 [A/42/18], starting on page 539) we read that CERD was requesting specific statistical details about the number of Caribs, among other groups:

"452. ...Members requested further information regarding the ethnic composition of the population, in particular, the ratio of Africans to East Indians, who together accounted for 81.5 per cent of the total population, and the percentage of Caribs in the population. It was pointed out, however, that in the case of Trinidad and Tobago, the various ethnic groups were intermingled and that identification with a particular group was only possible in a very limited number of cases" (p. 540).

Here we see an instance of where the government of Trinidad and Tobago is unsure of how to respond to questions of racial identification that presume sort of clear dividing lines, in light of a long history of unions that cross ethnic lines. Indeed, it is not uncommon on older censuses to find a huge minority of Trinidadians declaring themselves to be "Other". CERD does not seem to clarify its statements.

1998
In 1998, CERD (Report of the fiftieth session, Supplement No. 18 [A/50/18], starting on page 536) asked the government of Trinidad and Tobago to explain what is in fact a doctrinal orthodoxy in narratives of Trinidadian history produced by the colonial elites since the early 1800s, and that is the idea that "the Caribs had all but disappeared":

"34. Members of the Committee asked why the Caribs had all but disappeared, exactly how many were left, why they were not treated as a separate racial group and whether measures were being taken to help them, particularly in the economic and educational fields, so as to compensate them for the injustices they had suffered" (p. 536).

This is both positive and problematic, and it is not as if CERD is above criticism itself. CERD astutely targets a suspicious statement by the Trinidadian government (we don't have the statement itself, but we can infer it from CERD's response) about the Caribs having "all but" disappeared, and yet not providing any numbers because they are not counted on the census and therefore the assertion is made without evidence. On the other hand, CERD assumes that the Caribs must be racially distinct to be recognized as a "separate" group, which is an almost alarming statement that would seem to reinforce racial conceptions rather than eliminate them. For the Trinidadian government, and those within it who had some knowledge of the Caribs, the idea that they could cast the Caribs as "racially separate" must have seemed both odious and ridiculous, when by the admissions of most members of the Santa Rosa Carib Community in Arima, they are "mixed". However, that too is inadequate, because it equates culture and ethnicity with genes. If CERD really seeks to eliminate racial discrimination, it needs to clean up its own language, which seems to ask governments to discriminate among citizens (in the sense of discerning who is what) in racial terms, while ignoring cultural differences.

What is also questionable is whether the Trinidadian state should be compensating the Caribs for past injustices, committed by the British colonial regime, and whether the Trinidadian state is thus liable for British actions, as if this formed part of its inherited obligations. As noted in 1981, the Trinidadian state was still maintaining and enforcing colonial laws that pre-dated independence, and in this case, is the Trinidadian state not a continuation of colonialism by other means? Then the question becomes, why just compensate the Caribs and not others, such as Africans who were enslaved? This is a very complicated question, which is why it is surprising to see CERD making these statements in such an unproblematized fashion.

It is also worth noting that the government of Trinidad and Tobago had not responded to CERD for a total of 11 years (the report says eight years, but provides no entry for Trinidad in 1990), for reasons which are not indicated.

2001
In 2001 CERD (Report of the fifty-sixth session, Supplement No. 18 [A/56/18], starting on page 532) rejected the Trinidadian government's position that there was no racial discrimination in Trinidad and Tobago: "348. The assertion by the State party as to the absence of racial discrimination on its territory was not accepted by the Committee and it was recommended by the Committee that the State party reconsider this stand" (p. 533).

With specific reference to the Caribs, in 2001 CERD stated:

"351. The Committee expresses its concern at the absence in this report of specific information on the indigenous population as well as other relatively small ethnic groups of the State party in the report, and particularly the absence of a specific categorization of the indigenous population as a separate ethnic group in official statistics on the population. The Committee encourages the Government to include the indigenous population in any statistical data as a separate ethnic group, and actively to seek consultations with them as to how they prefer to be identified, as well as on policies and programmes affecting them" (p. 534).

2005
Now we move on to a different set of UN documents, beginning with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) "Country Programme Strategy for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago" published in 2005. There is not the same sense of interrogation and reply that we with the CERD reports above, but clearly the following involves information supplied by the Trinidadian state, which mirrors (sometimes word for word) statements found on some websites including those produced by myself, using wording that I used for brochures made for the Santa Rosa Carib Community. This is what the UNDP states about the Caribs under "2.5 Indigenous Peoples and Vulnerable Groups" on page 7:

"Indigenous Peoples in Trinidad and Tobago are represented by Amerindian peoples who have existed in Trinidad for as long as 7,000 years before the arrival of Columbus, and numbered at least 40,000 at the time of Spanish settlement in 1592. All of Trinidad was populated by several tribes, Trinidad being a transit point in the Caribbean network of Amerindian trade and exchange. Amerindian tribes were referred to by various names: Yaio, Nepuyo, Chaima, Warao, Carinepogoto, Aruaca, Shebaio, Saluaio, etc. In 1996 the Santa Rosa Carib Community Organisation was formally incorporated as a limited liability company under the Companies Act".

Actually, the year of incorporation was 1976. Needless to say, what continues to be missing from these official documents is any mention of any attempt to ask Trinidadians if they identify as Indigenous, Carib, or any other cognate term. What we do see is minimal effort invested in the act of reporting, and a continued reliance on "authoritative knowledge".

2011
On September 22, 2011, Rodney Charles, Trinidad and Tobago's Ambassador to the United Nations, delivered a statement at the "High-Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to Commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of the Adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action". The section dealing with the Caribs was especially brief, and instructive for being not just so minimal but also for its focus:

"Other festivals are also observed such as the Santa Rosa Carib Festival which pays tribute to our indigenous population, as well as Double Ten Day, in honour of our local Chinese population" (p. 4).

In other words, they do not even get a whole sentence to themselves, and are mentioned in passing under "other festivals". Festivals: this mention represents the Trinidadian state's continued effort to "showcase" its Indigenous Peoples, which albeit a form of recognition is one that reduces Indigenous identity and community to a mere adjunct of the state's efforts to display diversity, rather than deal with it seriously.

U.N. Secretary General on International Day of World's Indigenous People

The following was the statement issued by United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on the occasion of the International Day of the World's Indigenous People, observed this past 09 August 2009:

The world’s indigenous peoples – 370 million in 70 countries -- are the custodians of some of the most biologically diverse areas on earth. They speak a majority of the world’s languages, and their traditional knowledge, cultural diversity and sustainable ways of life make an invaluable contribution to the world’s common heritage.

The adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly in 2007 was a landmark in the struggle of indigenous peoples for justice, equal rights and development. There have also been recent welcome steps at the national level; some governments have apologized to indigenous peoples for past injustices, and others have advanced legislative and constitutional reforms.

Still, indigenous peoples remain some of the most marginalized populations, suffering disproportionately from poverty and inadequate access to education. Many face discrimination and racism on a daily basis. All too often, their languages face strictures or are threatened with extinction, while their territories are sacrificed for mining and deforestation.

Indigenous peoples also tend to suffer from the low standards of health associated with poverty, malnutrition, environmental contamination and inadequate healthcare. With that in mind, this year’s observance of the International Day focuses on the threat of HIV/AIDS. It is essential that indigenous peoples have access to the information and infrastructure necessary for detection, treatment and protection.

Insufficient progress in health, in particular, points to a persistent and profound gap in many countries between the formal recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights and the actual situation on the ground. On this International Day, I call on Governments and civil society to act with urgency and determination to close this implementation gap, in full partnership with indigenous peoples.

Ban Ki-moon

Indigenous Protests at the UN's Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues

In an article by David M. Kinchen in The Huntington News titled, "Indigenous Peoples Groups Demand Right to Speak at United Nations" (09 May 2008) we are told that:

Indigenous Peoples put pressure on the chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, demanding to have the right to speak on the recommendations of the Permanent Forum.

At the end of its two-week conference at the United Nations Headquarters, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) said the World Bank funding for carbon trading had set "good examples" for partnership with Indigenous Peoples.

The protesting Indigenous peoples disrupted the start of the meeting, and refused to sit down, shouting in Spanish "La palabra", and in English "we want to speak".

The protesters requested the elimination of paragraphs 5 and 37 of the document E/C.19/2008/L.2, saying Indigenous Peoples recommendations had generally not been reflected in most of the Forum's final documents on Climate change, the theme for the 7th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).

"This is not our Forum, it doesn't reflect our opinions," shouted one of the protesters.

"It was a loud and very assertive effort, Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, the chair of the Forum did not want to recognize the speakers for the South American Indigenous Caucus," said Arthur Manuel of the Secwepemc Nation of British Columbia, Canada.

"The effort of the Indigenous Peoples to be heard resulted in U.N. Security try to remove an Indigenous Elder from the room, The situation got very tense until the UN Security were asked to leave the Permanent Forum Assembly Room because their involvement only intensified the situation," added Manuel.

"We are the Ongeh-Huh-Weh people, the real people of Mother Earth -- you have to listen to us," shouted Douglas Anderson down from the the upper level of the plenary room, before U.N. Security officers moved in to forcibly remove him from the conference room.

"I did not resist when they pulled and pushed me towards the door, but I asked the U.N. security officers to show me the law that we cannot speak at our Forum. I was worried what will happen next, I knew that the Indigenous Peoples would not allow this to happen, I feared a erruption of violence, don't forget, most of us deal with this type of police oppression back home on a daily bases," added Anderson, from upstate New York, Tuscarora, 6 Nations Iroquois Confederacy.

It was a dramatic moment when Rocio Velanda-Calle, one of the few persons standing at the upper level, rushed to Mr. Anderson's rescue, while the Indigenous Peoples at the lower level of the room shouted in shock, anger and objection to the actions of the U.N. Security forces.

Most indigenous peoples attending the forum felt unable to participate. "We Indigenous Peoples had to make a stand to be heard at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues – the lack of real participation is a complete contradiction of the very existence of the Forum," said Mrs. Velanda –Calle after the U.N. security officers were ordered to leave the room. "Our views and recommendations were neglected by the so-called experts, the members of the Permanent Forum, and the Chairperson," she added.

...

"There are many grievances -- just this year the Permanent Forum announced new rules, so called guidelines, which are hindering Indigenous Peoples to show films or videos at the Forums side events. Now, films can only be screened, if sponsored by a government, " said Rebecca Sommer, from the Society for Threatened Peoples International. "These new UNPFII rules are raising serious questions in our human rights circles, they are, in our view, in contradiction with Article 19, of the Universal Human Rights Declaration."

"We understand that the 16 PFII experts are independent, their Report is based on their personal views and decided by consensus," said Andrea Carmen, the executive director of International Indian Treaty Council, a NGO in consultative status to the UN. Carmen added: "The Report did not reflected key aspects of what the Indigenous Peoples actually said on this issue. During the two-week session, there was such a overwhelming opposition expressed, including by the Global Indigenous Caucus, against these market based so called solutions." Carmen added: "Instead they have a huge impact on our human rights. In the future, we need to work with the PFII members to ensure that the Report will accurately reflect the input of the nearly 2000 participants, to avoid problems like this in the future."

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UN International Indigenous Day, Aug. 9

UNITED NATIONS PRESS RELEASE


International Day brings recognition of indigenous peoples’ contribution to environmental protection, combating climate change

(New York, 9 August) As the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is celebrated around the world on 9 August, indigenous peoples’ contribution to environmental protection is being recognized.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message to mark the Day, said “Recently, the international community has grown increasingly aware of the need to support indigenous people -- by establishing and promoting international standards; vigilantly upholding respect for their human rights; integrating the international development agenda, including the Millennium Development Goals, in policies, programmes and country-level projects; and reinforcing indigenous peoples’ special stewardship on issues related to the environment and climate change” .

In addressing these issues, and recalling the theme of the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (2005-2015), “Partnership for action and dignity”, the Secretary-General said “let us be guided by the fundamental principle of indigenous peoples’ full and effective participation.”

Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Mr. Sha Zukang, in his official message for the International Day, noted that indigenous peoples live in many of the world’s most biologically diverse areas and have accumulated a great deal of knowledge about these environments.

“With their wealth of knowledge about their environment indigenous peoples can and should play a crucial role in the global effort to respond to climate change. We should listen to them,” said Mr. Zukang.

For example, indigenous peoples use their traditional knowledge to lessen the impact of natural disasters. An Oxford University symposium in April this year heard how indigenous people “use strips of mangrove forest to absorb the force of tidal surges and tsunamis, others apply genetic diversity in crops to avoid total crop failure, and some communities migrate among habitats as disaster strikes” Environment News Service, “Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change Front Lines”, 19 April 2007 http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2007/2007-04-19-03.asp

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as adopted by the Human Rights Council in June 2006 and currently being considered for adoption by the General Assembly, also recognizes that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contributes to sustainable development, including proper management of the environment.

“The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples represents the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of indigenous peoples. Many still live under the most oppressive and marginalized conditions and yet they are also the ones who are providing solutions to serious world problems such as climate change and the erosion of biocultural diversity,” stated Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

In recognition of indigenous peoples’ particular vulnerability to climate change and their important role in responding to it, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in its 2008 session will focus on “Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges”.

Vulnerability in the Face of Climate Change
Many indigenous communities are already needing to adapt their way of life due to the changing environment - from Saami reindeer herding communities in Sweden whose reindeer are unable to find food beneath the thick ice due to heavier than normal snowfalls, to indigenous communities in the Andes where extreme weather events are creating serious food security problems.

In the words of Ms. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuit activist who was recently awarded the Mahbub ul Haq Award for Excellence in Human Development by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, “We are all connected. The Arctic is geographically isolated from the rest of the world, yet the Inuk hunter who falls through the thinning sea ice is connected to melting glaciers in the Andes and the Himalayas, and to the flooding of low-lying and small island states.” Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada), The Canadian Environment Awards Citation of Lifetime Achievement, www.inuitcircumpolar.com/.

According to a recent report from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Draft Report on Indigenous and Local Communities Highly Vulnerable to Climate Change, Advisory Group Meeting on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2nd Meeting, Montreal, 30 April-03 May 2007, several indigenous communities in Alaska are actively looking into relocation options for entire communities due to land and coastal erosion caused by the thawing of the permafrost and large storm-driven waves.

“More than 80 per cent of Alaskan communities, comprised mostly of indigenous peoples, are identified as vulnerable to either coastal or river erosion,” says the report.

Relocation is also an issue in small island states such as Vanuatu and Samoa where rising sea levels and flooding from extreme weather events are a problem. According to the same report, one community in Vanuatu has been forced to abandon their homes and move half a kilometre inland as their original settlement is now being flooded up to five times a year.

High altitude areas are not only seeing melting glaciers and ice peaks but according to the CBD report, some are also seeing negative impacts on their agriculture as a result of climate change and drought. In the Cordillera in the Philippines, 2000 year old rice terraces are under attack from giant two-foot earthworms which have been thriving due to dwindling water supplies, causing soil and terrace walls to dry up even further.

About the Day
The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is commemorated each year on 9 August in recognition of the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva in 1982. This year’s observance at the UN is being organized by the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; and the NGO Committee on the Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.

For more information of the Day and events at UN Headquarters, please visit http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii
For media enquiries, please contact: Renata Sivacolundhu, Department of Public Information, tel: 212.963.2932, e-mail: sivacolundhu@un.org For Secretariat of the Permanent Forum, please contact: Mirian Masaquiza, Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, tel: 917.367.6006, e-mail: IndigenousPermanentForum@un.org

Canada, the UN, and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

In a previous posting on this blog for June 20, 2006, we related news of the Canadian government's opposition to the United Nations' Draft Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People, opposition that has become more marked since Stephen Harper became Prime Minister after the Conservatives came to power in the 2006 elections. While his government's opposition to the Declaration has therefore been known for some time, in this past week a fair amount of controversy has been brewing in both the Canadian parliament and in international media coverage. The Draft Declaration, if it had been supported by Canada, would not have acted as binding legislation. The current, renewed debate seems to stem from the recently concluded assembly of the Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues at the UN, as well as discussions in Canada about bringing aboriginal peoples under national human rights legislation.

In some of the leading news about Canada's position this past week, some newspapers have reported that Australian Prime Minister John Howard may have inspired Canada's Stephen Harper to oppose the UN declaration. In The Globe and Mail for Saturday, June 9, 2007, a story by Gloria Galloway titled, "Did Australia Demand Reversal on Natives?" states: "Canada's decision to withdraw support for the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples coincided with a visit to Ottawa by Prime Minister John Howard of Australia — a country that strongly opposes the declaration. Shortly after Mr. Howard's meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in May, 2006, Mr. Harper called Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice to tell him to review Canada's position of support, government sources said Friday." While a spokeswoman for PM Harper denied this, the reporter insists "the sources were clear that there was a direct link between the visit of the Australian Prime Minister and the change in policy." It is important to note that previous Canadian governments had in fact played a role in drafting the UN declaration.

The link between Howard and Harper was first claimed in an Australian press report in late May. In Melbourne's The Age newspaper, Russell Skelton's "Australia 'blocked UN native rights declaration'" said that Tom Calma, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, "claimed Australia had played a role in persuading Canada, which had initially supported the declaration, to oppose the landmark statement."

Amnesty International has also called attention to the turnaround in Canadian policy under Harper's administration (see: CTV.ca, "Canada blocking UN Aboriginal rights: Amnesty"). Amnesty further revealed that staff in three Departments of the Canadian state urged the Harper government to approve the declaration. The staff work in the Departments of Defence, Indian and Northern Affairs, and Foreign Affairs. This was also reported by Gloria Galloway on June 8, 2007, in The Globe and Mail: "Back UN on native rights, Ottawa urged--Bureaucracy at odds with PM's position, documents show."

The future of the Draft Declaration at the UN seems in doubt, as one might expect where the rights of indigenous peoples are contingent upon the good faith of one of the leading institutions responsible for indigenous marginalization: the nation-state. States and not peoples are the members of the UN. While public opinion at home might encourage states to adopt declarations that could limit state sovereignty, it seems that public opinion is very confused. In Canada, feedback to press reports show that while many support approval of the declaration, an almost equal number of respondents feel that Aboriginals are already protected under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms (which is not the case), or that allocating rights on the basis of "race" is racist, or that the United Nations should not "dictate" policy to Canadians, or that the Draft Declaration entails such stark provisions as allowing foreign troops to be based in Canada if invited by First Nations reserves to do so.

More Frustration at the UN

U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples meets with stiff resistance
May 25, 2007
International Herald Tribune

UNITED NATIONS: Members of a U.N. forum on indigenous peoples expressed frustration with delays and amendments to a proposed declaration on the rights of native peoples, as the two-week conference ended Friday.

Members of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues urged the U.N. General Assembly to ratify the declaration, which would ensure "the survival and dignity of indigenous peoples," a key member of the forum said Thursday.

The proposed U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the Human Rights Council in Geneva last June. In December, the General Assembly voted to defer adoption but pledged to consider it before the end of its current session in September.

The declaration took center stage at the forum, though it was officially devoted to discussing concerns about access to and use of land, territory and natural resources. The forum drew 1,500 representatives of indigenous peoples, 30 indigenous parliamentarians, and representatives of 70 member states.

The declaration calls on states to prevent or redress the forced migration of indigenous peoples, seizures of their land or their forced integration into other cultures. It also grants indigenous groups control over their religious and cultural sites and the right to manage their own education systems, including teaching in their own languages.

Wilton Littlechild, a member of the indigenous issues forum for over 20 years, criticized countries for proposing changes to the declaration at the last minute and refusing to ratify a document that would explicitly extend human rights to indigenous people.

"We were left out of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights," Littlechild said. "How can you object to basic fundamental human rights that everyone else has?"

Littlechild specifically criticized the General Assembly's African Group for submitting substantial amendments to the document on the grounds that the situation for indigenous Africans is different from elsewhere.

"It's very, very offensive to me, as an individual who worked very, very hard — as I said 30 years — on this, to have someone come in ... a minute to midnight, and start making changes, after they've had every opportunity to participate," Littlechild said of the African proposals.

A statement issued by the members of forum said the African nations' suggested declaration "dilutes considerably and in some cases, outright denies, the rights outlined in the declaration."

The statement goes on to say the proposal is "unacceptable and inconsistent with international human rights law."

Gabon, which currently heads the African Group, rejected this characterization, noting that the document does not recognize that the situation of indigenous people in Africa is different.

"I don't think Africa's indigenous peoples need self-determination," said Franklin Makanga, a counselor at the Gabon mission, referring to one of the articles of the declaration. "They're citizens of states."

Makanga also objected to a provision that would prohibit states from using indigenous land for military purposes without their consent.

"How can you forbid a state to undertake anything on its own territory?" he asked.

The members of the forum also accused the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand of lobbying the African states to vote against the declaration.

Carolyn Vadino, a spokeswoman at the U.S. mission, said the United States is committed to work toward a "text that's meaningful, that's a workable document and is capable of being implemented."

"We haven't seen that yet," she added.

Patricia Valladao, a spokeswoman in the Canadian Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, agreed that changes would need to be made to the text before Canada could support the declaration.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chairwoman of the forum, stressed that the declaration is simply a tool for interpreting the U.N.'s Universal Declaration on Human Rights as it applies to indigenous peoples.

It is "not a document, a declaration, that creates new rights," she said.

Littlechild said he was especially disappointed in states that ratified the document in the Human Rights Council but are now resisting its adoption in the General Assembly. Many of the declaration's critics, he said, have been involved in its development for a number of years.

"I am a little bit baffled when I hear resistance like that because they were at the table with me for 24 years," he said.

End of 6th session of UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Indigenous groups end UN forum with call for steps to protect lands, resources

25 May 2007 – Indigenous leaders today wrapped up the annual session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues with a series of recommendations calling on Member States to take steps to protect their rights to lands, territories and natural resources.

Participants at the two-week Forum in New York urged countries to adopt measures to halt ‘land alienation’ in indigenous territories – such as by imposing a moratorium on the sale and registration of land in areas that are occupied by indigenous peoples.

They also called for the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous peoples to be given a central role in dispute-solving arrangements over the lands, territories and natural resources they occupy and use, as well as the right to receive information about these issues in a language they can understand.

Other recommendations included a call for financial and technical assistance so that indigenous peoples can map the boundaries of their communal lands, the imposition of penalties on those who carry out harmful activities on indigenous lands, and the payment of compensation to indigenous peoples as a result of such activities.

The recommendations are contained in the Forum’s report, to be forwarded to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which stresses that territories, lands and natural resources are the sources of indigenous peoples’ spiritual, cultural and social identity.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the Permanent Forum, said yesterday that indigenous people worldwide have long suffered discrimination over their entitlements to occupying and using lands and natural resources.

“One of the key reason why indigenous peoples are being disenfranchised from their lands and territories is the existence of discriminatory laws, policies and programmes that do not recognize indigenous peoples’ land tenure systems and give more priority to claims being put by corporations – both State and private,” she said.

More than 1,500 indigenous representatives attended the Forum’s session, which also made recommendations on other issues affecting indigenous peoples, including health, education, and economic and social development.

Next year’s Forum will focus on the theme of climate change and there will also be sessions devoted to the Pacific region and to the protection of the thousands of threatened indigenous languages.

From:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/
story.asp?NewsID=22697&Cr=indigenous&Cr1=#

Indigenous Activism at the United Nations

From Indian Country Today
May 25, 2007

Feeding the spirits

Activism at the United Nations

The late Muskogee-Creek elder Phillip Deere declared at the historic 1977 address to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, that ''We, the Indigenous Peoples, are the evidence of the Western Hemisphere. No matter how small a tribal people may be, each of them has the right to be who they are.'' This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, which gave birth to a consciousness on, an international level, the conditions of indigenous peoples. The event served as an awakening to Native people all over the world, demonstrating that paradigm-shifting, through dignity and organization, is possible.

The Geneva conference, John Mohawk noted, ''sought to create Principles of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere that ... might lead to a Declaration of such rights for indigenous peoples around the world.'' That day is upon us, with the conclusion of the Sixth Session of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. For 12 days, the world's indigenous representatives and supporters gathered to, among other things, advocate for the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Although adoption has been delayed, the declaration itself represents the tireless work of scores of indigenous people moving as one body....read more at:
http://www.indiancountry.com:80/content.cfm?id=1096415089

Does Trinidad Recognize Its Indigenous People?

What Recognition?

Along with the leadership of the Santa Rosa Carib Community, I have been one of those who has frequently written that the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has formally recognized the same Carib Community, a formally registered organization based in the Borough of Arima. The reasons for stating this can be explained as follows:

(i) According to News Release No. 360, issued by the Information Division, Office of the Prime Minister, on May 8, 1990, "Cabinet has decided that the Santa Rosa Carib Community be recognized as representative of the indigenous Amerindians of Trinidad and Tobago, and that an annual subvention of $30,000 be granted to them from 1990. Cabinet also agreed that an Amerindian Project Committee be appointed to advise government on the development of the Community....as the oldest sector of this country's multi-cultural society, the Amerindians have, for some time, been recognized as having unique needs for their cultural and economic viability. Such needs come into higher relief and sharper focus as the country prepares to celebrate, Columbus' Quincentennial in October 1992."

The juxtaposition of ideas here is significant, because the news release highlights the context in which the decision became important: a commemorative event, held in conjunction with the Caribbean Festival of the Arts (CARIFESTA) hosted by Trinidad in 1992, where the Government sought to showcase indigenous peoples, including its own.

In the presentation of the National Trust Bill, in the parliament on Friday, March 15, 1991, the then Minister of Food Production and Marine Exploitation, Dr. Brinsley Samaroo stated the following:

"The third project that is being undertaken by this Government has to do with the way in which we have duly recognized the presence of, and importance of, the descendants of the indigenous peoples of our lands. That is another area that the Member for Naparima mentioned and I do hope he now believes that he is not being disregarded in the contributions that he has been making as we are addressing some of the issues that he raised. No one can deny that those who laid the first foundations of our civilization were the Caribs and the Awaraks [sic] the two largest nations of our early history and the smaller tribes such as the Tianos [sic] and Lucayos [sic] who also inhabited this country. These were our ancestors who taught us to use our hammocks and to boucanour [sic] fish and meat. These were the people who showed us how to live in harmony with nature and gave us our first lessons in the protection of the environment. From them we obtained such names as 'Mucarapo' from the Amerindian word Cumo Mucurabo, a place of great silk cotton trees; 'Arima', the place of water [sic]; 'Naparima', no water [sic]; and 'Tacarigua' being the name of an Amerindian chief from the Caura Valley. For many years, their local descendants, these descendants of early and first members of this country, were vainly clamouring for recognition from the past administration, as the representatives of the indigenous Amerindians of Trinidadand Tobago and for Government to help in preserving that part of the national heritage. It was this Government which gave such recognition by Cabinet decision of April, 1990. We agreed, among other things, to recognize the Santa Rosa Carib community as the representative of the indigenous Amerindians of this nation; we agreed to an annual subvention of $30,000 towards their upkeep and preservation of the national heritage; we agreed to make the contribution of the indigenous peoples, an essential part of our observation of the 500 years of our achievements which will coincide with the quincentennial of Columbus arrival here 500 years ago. The year of course for that is 1992. At the present time, the Government is talking to these persons whom we have recognized about giving them a piece of land as a permanent site for the establishment of a village to commemorate their ancestry" (see page 27 of the House of Representatives report for that date).

(ii) As a result of that decision in 1990, the Santa Rosa Carib Community has received an annual subvention from the Government of $30,000 TT per annum, along with $5,000 TT per annum from a local government body, the Arima Borough Council, still attached to the central government. (For confirmation of the first amount, see page 56 of the House Debates for 1992.)

(iii) Frequently, for many national events, the Government has highlighted the presence of the Santa Rosa Carib Community. This occurred on three occasions that CARIFESTA was hosted by Trinidad and Tobago, as well as several public speeches of commitment to provide the Caribs with land, and multiple visits by government ministers to a government-funded Carib Community Centre in Arima. (Where CARIFESTA is concerned, see an example of the festival-related "recognition" at: http://www.carifesta.net/art7.php.)

(iv) The Government also created a formally named "Day of Recognition," presumably to be "observed" every October 14 (see the Hansard for July 18, 2000.)

Recognizing What?

In other words, yes, in multiple ways the Government has formally and effectively recognized...what?

The fact of the matter is that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has no legal definition of the term "indigenous peoples," and frequently appropriates the term for referring to all people born in the country, in contradiction to established international conventions. Secondly, the Government has recognized only one specific organization, and worse yet, it has recognized it in a manner that suggests it is the only possible representative of Trinidad's "Amerindians," rendering any other claimants to an indigenous identity as fakes. Thirdly, while claiming to recognize the Caribs, the Government has not signed any international conventions or agreements that pertain specifically to the rights of indigenous peoples.

And Now Comes the UN

The United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), in a report on the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean issued in June of 2006, found fault with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago specifically on the issue of its lack of legal recognition of the indigenous people of the nation. On page 534 in that report, CERD states:

"351. The Committee expresses its concern at the absence...of specific information on the indigenous population as well as other relatively small ethnic groups of the State party in the report, and particularly the absence of a specific categorization of the indigenous population as a separate ethnic group in official statistics on the population. The Committee encourages the Government to include the indigenous population in any statistical data as a separate ethnic group, and actively to seek consultations with them as to how they prefer to be identified, as well as on policies and programmes affecting them."

In a supplement, on page 536, CERD reveals with specific reference to the Caribs:

"34. Members of the Committee asked why the Caribs had all but disappeared, exactly how many were left, why they were not treated as a separate racial group and whether measures were being taken to help them, particularly in the economic and educational fields, so as to compensate them for the injustices they had suffered."

In other words, CERD had been told by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago that the Caribs were virtually extinct, and as is typical of government statements on this matter, "the only remaining descendants are to be found in Arima." What is especially remarkable is that CERD has been making such observations, and asking such questions of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, regularly and as far back as 1980, as the supplements to the report reveal.

It is a fact that there is no population census in Trinidad that admits the category of either indigenous, Amerindian, Carib, or anything remotely related, as a choice for self-identification. This renders extraordinary the incredible statement recently made by the Minister for Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs, Joan Yuille Williams who proclaimed on Saturday, September 23, 2006, in the Carib Community Centre itself, that people of Amerindian and "mixed Amerindian" descent in Trinidad are "a very small minority," as I myself heard her say this. In the absence of a census that allows for such identification, there is nothing to substantiate her assertion.

So why make such an assertion?

As a politician in a race-based political party, the People's National Movement, Minister Williams knows how many votes have been won by her party over the decades by appealing to Afro-Trinidadians. Likewise, the other major political bloc in the country, formerly the United National Congress, seized considerable political power by appealing to Trinidadians of East Indian descent. These two major ethnic blocs have dominated national politics. Any third identification would radically upset the established way of calculating rewards and patronage, of dividing spoils in what is in effect a long standing Cold War that has rendered the country bipolar (perhaps in more than the political sense alone).

Secondly, the assertion is convenient when the main aim of the Government has not been to take the Caribs seriously. Instead, the Caribs are trotted out as mere showpieces for festivals and commemorative events, like a colourful little museum piece, but certainly nothing of any social or political import. The Santa Rosa Carib Community, in practice, is treated as a tokenistic, folkloric troupe--mild, smiling, doing its part to add a little more colour to the multicultural fabric waved by the nation to greet tourists.

Thirdly, the leadership of the Santa Rosa Carib Community has not vocally and directly challenged the government on these questions. This is in part due to strong political ties between the leadership and the PNM, the dependency on government funding, and the lack of any ambition to become involved in a national movement for the recuperation of indigenous identity. Such sentiments, in my experience, have been heard most loudly from expatriate Trinidadians who wish to recoup their indigenous identity, and who understand that if not a majority, at least an extremely large minority of Trinidadians could claim indigenous ancestry. Many more are in fact claiming this ancestry.

So when asking the Government of Trinidad and Tobago if it recognizes the indigenous people of the country, and it answers, "the Santa Rosa Carib Community has been recognized," it is important to understand the evasiveness of the answer. The answer, in any legal and political sense, is that no, there is no such recognition.

UN 5th Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, cont'd

A very colorful, large and diverse meeting starts at the UN next week Monday (15 May). Over 1200 indigenous people are expected from around the world. They will meet with governments and UN officials during the two weeks of the meeting and demand and discuss basic rights which they are often denied: full participation in decisions that affect them, to be counted in the census at the country level, their women and youth prioritized, development policies to be truly oriented towards their development so that it is beneficial, access to education, adequate health
services, etc.

Below is a list of people who will be available for interviews during the meeting and the media advisory with the key events. Interviews Please note the press conference is on Monday 15, 2.30pm in Room S-226.

If you would like a press kit with backgrounders on key issues, factsheets and press release, please contact Ms. Oisika Chakrabarti at chakrabarti@un.org or tel: 212.963.8264.

POTENTIAL INTERVIEWEEs

Media may wish to speak to the following experts on indigenous issues. If you are interested in conducting interviews, contact: Oisika Chakrabarti, DPI at 212.963.8264, e-mail chakrabarti@un.org

Mr. Phang Roy Assistant President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (ENGLISH): is the Assistant President on Special Assignment for Indigenous and Tribal Issues, IFAD.

Mr. Michael Dodson, Member, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Australia (ENGLISH): is a member of the Yawuru peoples, the traditional Aboriginal owners of land and waters in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. He served for 5 years up as a member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Indigenous Voluntary Fund. Mick has for long participated in the crafting of the text of the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United Nation Working Group on Indigenous Populations and in its more recent consideration by the Working Group of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Mr. Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Australia (ENGLISH): is an Aboriginal elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and the Iwaidja tribal group. He has been involved in indigenous affairs at a national and international level and has worked in the public sector for over 30 years. He is an expert on indigenous education programs and in developing employment and training programs. In the early eighties, Mr Calma worked to establish the Aboriginal Task Force (ATF) which provided second chance education programs for Indigenous people.

Mr. Aden Ridgeway, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, Australia (ENGLISH): Aden joined the Australian Democrats in 1990 and was elected as a Democrat Senator for NSW in October 1998. He entered the Senate as Australia's only Indigenous Federal politician in July 1999. He was a member of both Indigenous Native Title negotiating teams following the Mabo and Wik decisions and was a member of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation for its last two years.

Ms. Hilda Line, Turaga Nation and Tuvanuatu Komiuniti, Vanuatu, Australia (ENGLISH): is a chief of the Turaga nation of Pentecost Island in Vanuatu in the South Pacific, and has been an activist for progressive political causes since she was a teenager. Her name is synonymous with the nuclear-free and independent Pacific movement, with women’s rights, with indigenous rights, and with environmental issues. In 1987, she became the first woman elected to Parliament in Vanuatu.

Mr. David Choquehuanca, Foreign Affairs Minister of Bolivia (SPANISH): is a politician and diplomat and has served as the foreign minister of Bolivia since January 2006. Choquehuanca is an Aymara Indian and has been a long-time activist for indigenous people. He has worked with international agencies and has been an advisor to President Evo Morales, a fellow Aymara,
well before Morales's election to the Presidency.

Mr. Eduardo Aguiar de Almeida, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Brazil (SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, ENGLISH): is an expert on environment. He has been a Consultant with the Brazilian Ministry on environmental issues and has also worked as a journalist.

Mr. Marcos Terena, Comité Inter-Tribal Memoria y Ciencia Indígena, Brazil (SPANISH, PORTUGUESE): Marcos founded the first indigenous political movement in Brazil in 1977, the Union of Indigenous Nations. Marcos has been active in gaining a space for indigenous peoples in the United Nations system. He was one of the indigenous spokespeople at the UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples to move forward the creation of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. He was also one of the indigenous leaders that worked to move forward the process of the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Mr. Wilton Lithechild, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Canada (ENGLISH): is the founding member of the Indigenous Initiative for Peace with Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu-Tum and is a Member of Parliament. He has served on the Indigenous Parliament of the Americas as Vice-President.

Ms. Qin Xiaomei, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, China (CHINESE, ENGLISH): is an expert on human rights issues. She graduated from Beijing University in 1964 and started working for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 1990. In 1997, she was in the office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. Later, she worked for Chinese Embassy in the Untied States of America. Since 2001, she is with the UN Association of China.

Ms. Victoria Neuta, Colombia (SPANISH): is the Coordinator of the Continental Network's Commission on non-violence, a space for indigenous women to exchange experiences and seek alternatives. Established in 1993 through an initiative of indigenous women from Canada, when they decided to get together to exchange experiences and explore the possibilities of creating a common project for indigenous women from North [words missing in original].

Ms. Liliane Muzangui Mbela (UNPFII Member), Democratic Republic of Congo (FRENCH, ARABIC, ENGLISH): is in charge of the Division for Drafting and Press in the Parliament. She is also a member of the Permanent Authority on Autochtones Questions.

Ms. Ida Nicolaisen, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Denmark (ENGLISH): was nominated by Denmark to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She is an expert on indigenous groups in Southeast Asia with whom she has worked for over 30 years. She has also worked in Africa.

Mr. Santiago de la Cruz, Ecuador, (SPANISH): is the Vice President of the Federation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE). He is one of the few aboriginal peoples surviving on the Ecuadorian coast. There are only 7,000 members in his community, who are of great interest to the geneticists.

Ms. Nina Pacari, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Ecuador (SPANISH ): has been a legal advisor to the indigenous communities of the Chimborazo province. She has been a active leader and Coordinator in the political work of the indigenous peoples in Ecuador.

Ms. Carmen Maria Gallardo Hernandez, Chairperson of CSW, El Salvador (SPANISH): is the Chairperson of the Commission on the Status of Women. She was the Coordinator for International Cooperation for her country’s Supreme Court of Justice, a post she held since September 2002. Ms. Hernández’s served as her country’s Ambassador to France and Portugal in 1994. In 1992 and 1993, she was El Salvador’s permanent delegate to UNESCO in Paris.

Ms. Merike Kokajev, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Estonia (ENGLISH): is the Director, Division of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She participated in Commission of Human Rights (1999-2004) and UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion of Human Rights (1999-2002). She worked on a draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and on the establishment of a UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (1999-2002).

Mr. Aqqaluk Lynge, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Greenland (ENGLISH): is the President of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and Vice Chair ICC International since 2002. He graduated from Copenhagen Social Hoekskole, (School of Social Work) in 1976. He became the Social Counselor of Aasiaat, Greenland soon after and has also been a journalist for radio Greenland (KNR) for several years.

Ms. Otilia Luz de Coti, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Guatemala (SPANISH): is a member of the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues and Political Association of Maya Women. She is also a permanent representative of Guatemala to UNESCO Executive Council.

Mr. Juan Leon Alvarado, Spanish, Guatemala (SPANISH): is an Assistant-Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS). He is the Chair of the Working Group to prepare the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Ms. Lucy Mulenkei, Indigenous Information Network, Kenya (ENGLISH): Lucy Mulenkei is a Maasai from Kenya who started her career as a broadcast journalist working on issues of environment and development. Lucy presently runs the Indigenous Information Network in Kenya, which publishes the popular grassroots publication, Nomadic News, focusing on environmental issues and successes affecting pastoralists and hunter-gatherers in Africa. For the past several years Lucy has also been working as a Chair and Coordinator of the African Indigenous Women’s Organization in the East African Region.

Mr. Hassan Id Balkassm (UNPFII Member), Morocco (AMAZIGH, ARABIC, FRENCH, ENGLISH): is a attorney accredited by the Higher Court in Rabat since 1982. He is the President of Tamaynut Association and of the IPACC (Indigenous Peoples African Coordinating Committee); Member expert in the IRCAM (Royal Institute for the Amazigh culture).

Mr. Parshuram Tamang, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Nepal (ENGLISH, NEPALESE): is from Nepal and has been an indigenous activist for over 25 years. He has founded several indigenous peoples organizations both in Nepal and in other parts of Asia.

Ms. Mirna Cunningham, Nicaragua (SPANISH, ENGLISH): is the President of the Centre for Indigenous People’s Autonomy and Development on the North Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. She is an experience indigenous leader and medical doctor on the North Atlantic Coast.

Ms. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Philippines (ENGLISH) : Victoria has been the Convener of the Asian Indigenous Women's Network (AIWN) since 1993. AIWN is a network of 80 indigenous women's organizations in Asia. She is the founder and Executive Director, Tebtebba Foundation (Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education).

Ms. Tarcila Rivera (Chirapaq), Peru (SPANISH) : is a Quechuan activist who has devoted over 20 years of her life to defend and seek recognition and acknowledgement of Peruvian indigenous peoples and cultures. Her specific contributions to the empowerment of indigenous children and women have resulted in the creation of the Permanent Workshop of Andean and Amazon Indigenous Women of Peru, the International Forum of Indigenous Women of the Americas and the Continental Link of Indigenous Women of the Americas.

Mr. Yuri Boychenko, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Russian Federation (RUSSIAN, ENGLISH) : is the head of a Division, Department on Compatriot Affairs and Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relation. He is an expert on human rights. He has participated in the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and is a member of the Russian Federation delegation at various UN Working Groups on the elaboration of major human rights documents.

Mr. Pavel Sulyandziga, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Russian Federation (RUSSIAN): is the Vice-President of RAIPON since 1997. He graduated from Khabarovsk State Pedagogical Institute in 1984 and became a mathematics teacher in the settlement of Krasny Yar, Primorsky Kray. In 1994, he was appointed the Councillor to the Governor of the Primorsky Kray on Indigenous Issues.

Mr. William Ralph Joey Langeveldt, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, South Africa (ENGLISH): is the National Commissioner for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities. He is a member of the Commission for Sustainable Development of South Africa.

Ms. Tonya Frishner, American Indian Law Alliance, USA (ENGLISH): Tonya Frishner, American Indian Law Alliance, USA: Is the Founder of the American Indian Law Alliance, Tonya is an attorney, activist, and recipient of numerous awards for community service. She is an adjunct professor of Native America law.

Mr. Robby Romero, Red Lake Nation, USA (ENGLISH): Robby Romero, Red Lake Nation, USA: Mr. Robby Romero has a native rock band. Romero is a show-biz kid who early on “found himself in the company of filmmakers like Dennis Hopper and Sam Peckinpah.” Romero’s music output has been prodigious. His film, “All the Missing Children and Is It Too Late?” aims to help runaway and abandoned children. Romero also has a line of hand-crafted Pueblo jewellery and lifestyle products designed in partnership with indigenous peoples.

Ms. Noeli Pocaterra, 2nd Vice-President, National Assembly, Venezuela (SPANISH): is from the Wayuu Nation in Venezuela. She is an appointed chair of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and Vice-President of the National Assembly and has become a key player in policy changes for indigenous people in Venezuala. Noeli is also a strong advocate for indigenous children's right and has been instrumental in bringing about positive changes for children at the national and community level by affecting both policy and programming.

United Nations 5th Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

MEDIA ADVISORY

New York is the indigenous capital of the world (New York, 8 May) –

For two weeks, New York will be the indigenous capital of the world as more than 1,500 indigenous leaders from all over the world meet at the United Nations for the Fifth Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The Forum, to be held from 15 to 26 May, will feature 52 parallel events, mostly organized by indigenous groups. Among them are screenings of short films by indigenous filmmakers from around the world, sponsored by National Geographicmagazine (15 May, 1:15 pm-2:45 pm); a panel discussion on Native American writers, featuring authors Allison Hedge Coke and James Thomas Stevens (16 May, 1:15 pm-2:45 pm); the opening of the exhibition of contemporary indigenous art, with performances by indigenous performers (16 May, 6:15 pm); and the opening of the indigenous bazaar, with art crafts from around the world (17 May, 3:15 pm).

Poetry readings, book launches and workshops ranging from traditional medicine to environmental protection to traditional knowledge will bring to the fore the dynamic contributions of indigenous cultures. The two-week Forum will bring together Miskitu feminists, Mayan poets, Aymara filmmakers, Sami musicians and Navajo ICT experts.

Meanwhile, in the meeting room indigenous leaders will debate and sometimes clash with government representatives over development programmes and full participation and consent of indigenous peoples in the decisions that affect their lives as well as the health, education and human rights needs of some 370 million indigenous people around the globe.

Several events are organized by New York State’s very own Native leaders and artists. These include New York City's American Indian Community House, American Indian Law Alliance, Flying Eagle Women Fund and North-East Two-Spirit Society.

For full schedule, visit:

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/
fifth_session_side_events.html

Journalists without UN credentials who wish to attend should visit:

http://www.un.org/media/accreditation/

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:

Oisika Chakrabarti,

Department of Public Information,

tel: 212.963.8264,

e-mail: mediainfo@un.org

For Secretariat of the Permanent Forum, please contact:

Mirian Masaquiza,

Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,

tel: 917.367.6006,

e-mail: IndigenousPermanentForum@un.org

Caribbean Native nations join U.N. Permanent Forum

This article has been reprinted with the kind permission of the editors of Indian Country Today. The CAC Review's Creative Commons license does not apply to this article, where all rights are reserved by Indian Country Today. The original article was published on July 22, 2005, at http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411286.

Caribbean Native nations join U.N. Permanent Forum

© Indian Country Today, July 22, 2005. All Rights Reserved

Posted: July 22, 2005
by: Jose Barreiro / Indian Country Today

A group of Caribbean indigenous nations gathered for special ceremonies and events in late May during the 4th United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, held in New York City. The indigenous movement in the Caribbean represents one of the lesser-known currents of Native cultural and political resurgence. This spring at the United Nations, the various delegations of Caribbean indigenous peoples coalesced in interesting and welcome ways.

For the first time in many years, Caribbean indigenous representatives were able to meet, share food and culture, and get down to the hard work of U.N. resolutions, interventions and document reaffirmation that marks much of international work. The Taino Nation of the Antilles, with primary bases in Puerto Rico and New York City, organized events for Caribbean delegates. It fund-raised the costs of one delegate from Dominica and coordinated presentations. Roberto Borrero, a Taino who serves on the NGO committee of the Indigenous Permanent Forum, also helped fund delegates to the event and has been active in hemispheric organizing. An Indigenous Peoples Caucus of the Greater Caribbean has been formed.

Carib cultural activist Prosper Paris, among others, joined the U.N. events. Prosper is from the Carib Territory in the north coast of the small Caribbean island of Dominica. He was one of several presenters on a panel on Indigenous Education and Cultural Survival organized by the Taino Nation. This writer chaired the panel, held at the customary indigenous gathering place in New York City: the United Nations Church Center at 777 United Nations Plaza, where several dozen Taino, Carib, Arawak, Guajiro and other indigenous peoples gathered.

The notable event, ably organized by Vanessa Pastrana, Inarunikia, among other volunteers from the Taino Nation, featured a dance presentation from young Taino people and recitations in the Taino language that are the product of a vigorous reconstruction and relearning of the insular Arawak language by members of that nation since the 1980s.

"From Cuba, in the mountains of the Sierra, from Dominican Republic, from our own Boriken [Puerto Rico], we have met relatives, holding on to our identity and retaking our indigenous roots,'' said Cacique Cibanakan, of the Taino Nation. ''Our hearts pound with excitement that our people are coming together."

Indigenous delegates from all over the world arrive in New York City every spring for the now-permanent U.N. forum on Indigenous peoples' issues. There are always dozens if not hundreds of important and fascinating stories - both positive and negative - on the conditions of tribal peoples and on the always tortuous and troubled trajectory in the world of highly exploitative industries, with their rapacious hunger for indigenous lands and natural resources.

In too many cases, the political contentions of land and resources are accompanied by attacks on Native leaders and political and social structures. Quechua and Aymara from Bolivia and Ecuador, Kuna from Panama, Maya from Guatemala, northern Canadian Cree leaders, Lakota treaty chiefs and Haudenosaunee traditionalists from the United States and Saami from Norway, among many others, sustained a necessary dialogue on human rights and development through the work of U.N. gatherings.

In New York representing the Arawak community at Joboshirima in Venezuela, Chief Reginaldo Fredericks found a not-so-distant relative in Daniel Rivera, Wakonax, one of the active leaders in the Taino movement in Puerto Rico and the diaspora. The Arawak chief, who is Onishido Clan and lives mostly in the rain forest, was very happy to meet Taino relatives.

Among the messages carried by Fredericks from his people is the need to preserve and restore indigenous language. He commended the Taino language recovery program, developed by the nation's elder language advocate, Jose Laboy, Boriquex, and offered to help bring together the Arawak (Lokono) peoples wherever possible. ''It is wonderful we are more and more recognizing each other; we have a lot to offer each other,'' Rivera, who made an intervention at the United Nations on behalf of Caribbean Indian peoples, responded.

Of the many currents of indigenous movement across the Western Hemisphere, the Caribbean is the most hidden and marginalized. As communities, clans and nations coalesce, however, encounters such as the one at the United Nations in New York, provide common ground for exchange and mutual education. The shared cultural history is fascinating.Fredericks narrated stories of his people to the Taino Nation elder, which tell of six original Lokono (later Arawak) nations, which the chief called ''clans.'' Of the six ''clans,'' three are unaccounted for while Taino is in the process of vigorous cultural and social recovery.

According to Fredericks, the ancient Lokono tribes or clans were called Oralido, Cariafudo, Onishido ''rain people,'' Gimragi, Way'u, and the ''good people'' from the great islands (Taino). Today, ''as far as we know,'' the chief reported, only Onishido and Way'u survive on the mainland. The chief was most intrigued that hundreds and perhaps thousands of Taino descendants from the islands of the Greater Antilles are reaffirming themselves. The chief pointed to his headdress, which shows six feathers, symbolizing the six tribes or clans of the Lokono. ''The good island people, the Taino, are one of the six feathers,'' Fredericks reminded the other Caribbean delegates.

From La Guajira, Colombia, Karmen Ramirez represented the Way'u Morerat ORJUWAT organization. She pointed out not only her Native Way'u nation, but also four tribes from Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta as Arawaks who originate with the Way'u of the Guajira Peninsula. It was another instance of people from common ancestors and linked contemporary identities meeting and recognizing each other as a result of an indigenous international movement. The Way'u, who also reside in neighboring Venezuela, are one of those peoples hurtfully divided by an international border.

Caribbean indigenous delegates, in the shadows for decades if not centuries, put their statements into the record at the annual U.N. event. The Caribbean indigenous caucus signaled the following major goal: ''That the collective rights of the indigenous peoples of the Greater Caribbean to lands, territories, resources, and traditional knowledge be enshrined in the Constitution of all Greater Caribbean countries and in other states where indigenous peoples exist.''