[IPSM] Some under-reported Indigenous Struggles

[Ahni]

Hey. Just thought I'd pass this on...

http://intercontinentalcry.org/some-under-reported-indigenous-struggles/


Some under-reported Indigenous Struggles
and our need to be aware of them

In my day to day research I encounter many stories about different actions
and events around the world which seem to go largely unnoticed.. I think
it's important that we are aware of them, particularly so we can take the
time to know and understand their nature — which is especially important as
more and more call for organizational change, and a fundamental shift in the
general approach and goals of the movements and social actions we ourselves
engage in.

In regard to this, I put together a select list of actions that took place
over the 61 days of March and April. In doing so, it's my hope that people
will take a moment to think about each one as they relate to the actions and
movements in colonial, civil society - particularly with regard to our own
perceptions of how we stand, to the perceptions of indigenous people, and
how they do.

30 days of April

Indonesia - Special Autonomy has Failed
More than 1,500 students on Friday gathered in front of the governors palace
in Jayapura, the capital of the Indonesian province of Papua, demanding an
end to the province?s special autonomy status, which they say does not work.
The protestors called instead for dialogue with the government to decided
the future of the province. "We want a three-way dialogue, involving
Jakarta, a delegation from Papua and a representative from a neutral
organisation."

Ngati Tamaahuroa Haapu Reclamation
Maori involved in the illegal occupation of two schools, including alleged
vandalism and apparent theft of thousands of litres of water, are set to be
rewarded with free land leases.

Protecting Shipibo Territory
an aggressive program of Amazonian 'development' has been promoted during
the past 50 years, which has fragmented Shipibo territory by the incursion
of non-indigenous colonists, government 'development' projects, and foreign
corporations exploiting the land by logging, hydrocarbon extraction, and
industrial-scale agriculture. However, protecting indigenous land rights has
come to the forefront in their struggles for self-determination as the
Peruvian government continues to open up the farthest reaches of the Amazon
basin for oil exploration and other extractive enterprises.

Encroachment of Semai Land
One day in March, tractors and earthmovers suddenly appeared in their
settlement near this town and began mowing down fruit trees and rubber
plants the Semai people had planted for a livelihood.

'It was sudden and without any warning,' Tijah Yok Chopil, said a Semai
woman talking in Malay during a meeting with IPS at their Kampung Chang
village. 'We were told to tally our trees, fruits and animals because all
these had to make way for a new project.'

Penan build five new blockades
Five new blockades have been set up by Penan tribal communities in the
Malaysian province of Sarawak in an attempt to stop loggers destroying their
forest homes. On April 4th 2007 officers of the Sarawak Forestry
Corporation, supported by the police, dismantled another Penan blockade for
the second time this year. The police used chainsaws to destroy the
blockades and fired gun shots to intimidate the Penan.

New Zealand - Ocupation Alert. Maori Reclamation
WHAKAKORO: It is the sacred Maunga of our ancestors Ueoneone and Reitu. All
Ngapuhi whakapapa back to these Tupuna. It is the Maunga from which Ueoneone
summoned his mystical Manu ( Bird ) to travel to Tainui to return with
Reipai and Reitu. We are occupying our ancestral Maunga Whakakoro to stop it
from being alienated from the Hapu forever.

Land Action in Brazil
As a part of International Peasant Struggle Day, as well as the National Day
of the struggle for Agrarian Reform (established by the government in 2002)
MST Brazil has initiated several large-scale protests and blockades, aswell
as a Petition campaign (see below)

Lake Cowal - Mine occupied, third warning to Barrick Gold
On April 8th, around 80 people gathered at a Barrick Gold mine at Lake Cowal
in central New South Wales and entered the mine, the offices, and chaining
themselves to the machinery - grinding mining operations to a halt. The next
day, the police arrested 14 people at the site, charging them with entering
'inclosed land', under the obscure Inclosed Land Act of 1901.

India - Land reclaim dispute over drying dam
The Gumti hydel project displaced approximately 25,000 indigenous People,
and now that the water levels from the dam have dropped severely, hundreds
are attempting to reclaim the land - but the police are chasing the people
away.
31 days of March

Indonesia - Stop the Northern Coastal Reclamation Project
We know that your country had suffered like us, and we also know that it is
quite impossible to measure one's suffering and compare it to the suffering
of others, to the fact that we are still in the same earth in which capital
power had spread their influence everywhere. We are in this together. Even
so, we would like to inform you what we are facing and trying to do down
here.

Mexico - Alliances fight for Huichol land
'The most important development has been communal organizations,' Chavez
explained. 'When the pueblos form alliances, they're better able to resist.
One pueblo becomes many, which can organize regionally and then coordinate
even on a national and international level. In large part, this is how the
lands have been returned to the Huichol.'

India - residents stop illegal construction of toxic waste landfill
More than 500 residents, primarily women, from S.R. Kandigai panchayat in
Gummidipoondi physically entered and stopped work at the project site of
Tamil Nadu Waste Management Ltd (TNWML)'s hazardous waste landfill and
incinerator. The construction was being carried out without permission from
the local Government bodies and against the wishes of local residents.
Representatives of Community Environmental Monitoring (CEM) and Chennai
based youth group Youth for Social Change (YSC) also joined the residents in
solidarity.

AU:Blockade set up against company threatening sacred sites
Iluka Mining Corporation's activities were disrupted by Indigenous
Traditional Owners, their families and supporters on a dusty back road in
the Yumbarra Conservation Park near Ceduna on Friday 29th March.

The Kokatha Mula Traditional Owners are currently in the Conservation Park
undertaking preservation of country including vital maintenance of
rockholes. On Friday they encountered Iluka Resources workers clearing roads
in preparation for mining exploration, which could include drilling for
water.

Philippines - Tribal Folks Demand they be consulted
Learning from past transgressions on their rights by government agencies and
private corporations made tribal folks more aware of their rights.
Indigenous peoples are pushing that they be consulted first before projects
start in their communities.

Burma - Dams on Salween Threaten Indigenous Groups
'We still do not know where we will be moved. The officials who came to
survey our village and the nearby area did not ask for our views or discuss
the plans,' says Nu, whose village has thrived on an economy of rice and
vegetable farming for nearly 100 years. 'That is why we are against the dams
being built on the Salween.'
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