[Onthebarricades] Indigenous events, protests and issues, October 2007

[Andy]

*  GLOBAL:  Indigenous encuentro in Yaqui homeland

*  WEST PAPUA:  Eight dead in unrest between indigenous groups

*  WEST PAPUA:  Greenpeace warns against deforestation

*  WEST PAPUA:  "A blot on mankind's conscience"

*  GLOBAL:  UN meeting in Sweden addressed by West Papuan and West 
Balochistani speakers

*  PAPUA NEW GUINEA:  Carteret Islands sinking due to global warming

*  CANADA:  Chiefs to protest lack of progress over treaty rights

*  GLOBAL:  The Vicam Declaration of the indigenous encuentro

*  PAPUA NEW GUINEA:  Campaigners blame palm oil scheme for sex trade 
increase

*  WEST PAPUA:  Native Papuans resist deforestation

*  WEST PAPUA:  Local unrest in Timika, houses burnt after police shoot 
former official

*  WEST PAPUA:  Landslide at Freeport mine kills 13

*  OAXACA:  Indigenous education as politics


http://www.narconews.com/Issue47/article2834.html

Indigenous Woman from British Columbia: "They've Relegated Us to Authentic 
Concentration Camps"
The Indigenous Peoples' Encuentro Began with a Strong United States Presence

By Raúl Romero and Juan Trujillo
Special to The Narco News Bulletin
October 16, 2007
Vicam, Sonora, Mexico, October 11-12, 2007 - The First American Indigenous 
Peoples' Encuentro, in the Yaqui tribe's territory, began yesterday 
morning-after a traditional ritual celebrated in the ceremonial center of 
this community-with the participation of 547 delegates of native peoples and 
more than 800 observers, amongst whom were journalists and national and 
international civil society members who are adherents to the Sixth 
Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle.
The ritual began in the sacred heart, were the Yaqui governors speak in 
their language, communicate with each other, and make decisions. In the 
ceremony a member of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI in its Spanish 
initials) and Subcomandante Marcos, representing the Sixth Commission and 
the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) were also present. While some 
listen, others observe the Encuentro (gathering) of the delegations of those 
peoples in resistance that in the coming days will speak and listen to each 
other.
During the days leading up to the Encuentro, the EZLN delegation's large 
presence and participation was expected, composed of Comandantes David and 
Zebedeo, Comandanta Miriam, Lupita (daughter of Comandante Hortensia), and 
Subcomandante Marcos. However, violent harassment-which ended with the rebel 
group being held up for 40 minutes by the Mexican Federal Army on a Sinaloa 
highway while the delegation was making its way to Vicam-precipitated the 
comandantes' retreat to Chiapas for security reasons. The delegation 
explained this in a letter:

Photos: D.R. 2007 Raúl Romero
"We.a delegation named by our peoples were excitedly coming.. The supposed 
government is now demonstrating that it has decided to impede at all cost 
the organization and the exercise of the Indian peoples' rights in the 
exercise of their autonomy in self-organization, and they use all their 
political, economic, ideological, and military strength to beat us. On 
behalf of the neo-liberal servant, we, the indigenous, are confronting their 
authoritarianism, their arrogance, their decadence. But we want to tell you 
that they are not going to stop the spreading of the words to the whole 
world. In this Encuentro, although we, the comandanta, the comandante, can't 
be physically present, our compañero Insurgent Subcomandante Marcos is, and 
through his voice, all of the men, women, elders, and all of the EZLN 
comandantes and comandantas speak. We will be awaiting the process of the 
Encuento and whatever can occur after that. In 515 years, they couldn't 
finish us off, even less so now because we will all be united against a 
common enemy."
The letter is signed by Comandante Guillermo, Comandantas Susana, Miriam, 
Hortensia, Florencia, Insurgente Elena, Lupita, and "third generation 
Toñita." It was written after the Sixth Commission decided to not send more 
delegates due to the violent harassment they were subjected to by the 
Federal Army.
Meanwhile, Subcomandante Marcos greeted all of the representatives of the 
native peoples and observers present in this encuentro, which "was reached 
despite everything opposing it: distances, language, borders, governments, 
lies, persecutions, deaths, and the false divisions they impose on us from 
above."
He also said that the native peoples of the American continent, who have 
resisted for 515 years, will tell their stories of "pain and dignified 
rebellion" in this encuentro, as well as sharing "experience and wisdom" and 
naming the demands for justice and liberty that are shared by all of the 
indigenous nations who, since the first war of conquest, have been condemned 
to oblivion. With this dialogue "the continent will recover its voice," 
continued Marcos, "that today they silence with fire, oblivion, and noise."
The rebel leader ended his participation communicating the Zapatistas' 
decision to not participate in this event. Their pains, dreams, and hopes 
would be told by the voice of other peoples because the situation of the 
indigenous nations in all of America is similar: "the oblivion, the misery, 
and the resistance extends over all of the continent."

Then it was Juan Chávez Alonso's turn to speak as representative of the 
National Indigenous Congress (CNI), who noted that this encuentro is an 
opportunity to raise their voices against "the transnational corporations' 
capitalist-colonialist interests and privatizing ambitions," and described 
the encuentro as an "assembly of rebellion" of the peoples who are launching 
a defense of the "mother earth and against ecocidal, ethnocidal, and 
genocidal capitalism" that seeks to eliminate the first inhabitants of the 
continent so that then they can take their lands for themselves.
He also said that after 515 years of resistance, in Vicam they will begin to 
unite forces to construct a "new project of life" for humanity and nature, 
as well as against the "neoliberal-capistalists' programs of death and 
destruction."
The Word of the North American Land

Within the framework of working groups about "The history and the word of 
our peoples," indigenous nations members' participation, in particular those 
from countries that are called "Canada" and "United States," has had special 
strength due to the large number of delegates who have attended this 
encuentro. That was the case for the Kanion'ke:haka/Mohawk, the Mik'maq, the 
Denen nations, the Hawdenaw swee nation, and the Anishanabe. This last group 
is an ethnic matrix that is also made up of the Ojibaway tribe. One 
component that draw attention was the critique the British Columbian women 
made of the organization that forces the nations and peoples onto 
reservations, which they call "authentic concentration camps."
A representative of the Mik'maq people spoke through their spokesperson 
about their history and reality: "I come from strong people. We came from 
the west coast were we have suffered a lot of pain." He explained that they 
have resisted colonization, genocide, and globalization. And as a 
consequence of those phenomena their culture, land, and natural resources 
have been taken away from them: "We have lost our culture and our language; 
we have to put a stop to this. We are fighting many battles. The urgency of 
the warrior spirit is important among our people in order to recognize 
responsibility. We are waking up, we have the opportunity to be part of a 
warrior alliance that is growing and that's why we are here."
The Tohono O'odham people from the United States explained that "our 
consciousness is being stolen. there are seeds that have been robbed." They 
said that the Sea of Cortés (also known as the Gulf of California) was where 
their ancestors nourished themselves with fish. But now the government and 
the military don't permit them access to the area. Therefore, they proposed 
that the indigenous struggle seek "to protect the world, the territory, and 
the communities."

The Hopi tribe, also from the United States and part of the Navajo Nation, 
dismissed the idea that its resistance began right after its territory was 
invaded by the Spanish in the 16th century. They explained that there have 
also been many conflicts between "indigenous brothers" that have also 
divided the Navajo and elaborated: "These conflicts have been created by the 
government and the multinationals. This is important to understand." Also, 
they emphasized that their resistance has succeeded in closing some power 
plant and mining projects that were planned for the region.
The delegate from the Lakota people of the United States recognized that the 
struggle of Mexican indigenous peoples is "very similar to ours, because we 
struggle for life." He remembered that this began with the Black Hills War 
in 1876 when "we were separated," and from then on not even their religious 
centers have been respected. At the end of this messenger's speech he 
strongly declared: "Who we are and where we came from won't be forgotten."
Silvia, another representative from this same people, denounced that "the 
women have suffered sexual abuses in our communities."
The people of the Achumawi nation, which is located in the state of 
California, denounced that 90 percent of their population had been 
exterminated by the late-1800s gold rush, because "they contaminated our 
waters with mercury and murdered our people, which (in reality) was a 
government policy.our women were raped and they stripped us of our land." 
They strongly criticized the "energy colonization" that the communities 
suffer as a result of hydroelectric dam construction.
They also denounced that there are about "450 sacred ceremonial sites that 
are being threatened by construction. And in the University [of California] 
Berkeley, there are 14,000 ancestors' remains, which makes up the second 
largest collection of bones in the world, and this is also being threatened 
by a museum that took one of the ancestors." They equally criticized white 
anthropologists.
In the name of the Mohawk people, a nation located in upstate New York, 
Montreal, and Toronto, a messenger named Ketenia explained that "Our lands 
are close to the Hudson River. We have been struggling against the 
corporations that want to steal our land from us. We are one of the biggest 
organizations. Our land is rich in minerals and corporations." She explained 
that in 2005 the state of New York wanted their lands to build a casino, so 
they had to intervene.

"We have begun to recover our lands, and we've brought the government to the 
bargaining table, which in reality is a learning table for them, because 
they illegally took our lands." According to this representative, they have 
succeeded in getting the government to listen to them thanks to direct 
action.
The delegate from the Grand River nation, located in Canada, said that 
"before they came to our lands we were five nations, but we had conflicts 
and we were self-destructing. But one of us was born and came to bring us a 
message about how to live and govern ourselves. We've succeeded in 
recovering our identity."
"In February 2006 we recovered land were they wanted to construct a housing 
development. The police came, but we managed to make an encampment that in 
the beginning looked pretty small." She reminded the participants that one 
form of struggle is to impose "the law of peace," which isn't just a flag, 
but an attitude.
She added that one of the most important struggles is the fight against the 
business projects which, according to her, produce unjust arrests, which is 
why indigenous culture and identity is lost, because they become "Canadians" 
or "United States citizens" in order to not be legally persecuted. "For us 
to rise up means to have judicial problems and to go to jail," she said in 
closing.
Indigenous Women's Resistance
Within the framework of these accounts, the situation of the Gitxsan Nation 
was emphasized. The Gitxsan Nation is a community in Canada which is 
occupied by the English and is now known as "British Columbia." The delegate 
began by saying that it is a lie that this country is peaceful, because for 
her community war is a daily matter, especially for women. She explained 
that the first form of domination exercised by the English was to displace 
the women from the different roles that they originally had, because "the 
women, just like in other cultures, were in charge of maintaining the land 
and the culture. They were the protectors, those who cared for the 
 children." For this reason, she continued, the colonizers saw the women as 
the first obstacle and began to implement a series of laws that limited 
their rights and participation. This is how in 1876 the "Indian Act" was 
decreed in which it was noted that "the indigenous man is the one who 
commands and who has the final word," thus ending a matriarchal system and 
giving way to a patriarchal one.

These days the situation isn't very different: a policy of discrimination 
and war against indigenous peoples is exercised by the governments, and it 
is even more aggressive when it comes to women. One example, continued the 
delegate, is the "Highway of Tears" where more than two dozen indigenous 
women have been recorded missing, all of them under 25 years old.
The Gitxsan woman ended her participation by calling all indigenous women to 
unite and demand better justice, and that they imagine new forms of 
organization that provide them with better security, because "they can't 
hope for anything from the bad governments."
During the morning of October 12, the participation of the North American 
delegations ended and in the afternoon the messengers from the Latin 
American, Caribbean, and Mexican indigenous peoples were introduced.
Translated by Kristin Bricker. Originally published in Spanish October 14.

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35835

Eight dead in tribal violence in Papua
Posted at 02:50 on 18 October, 2007 UTC
Eight people have been killed and 19 others injured in ongoing tribal 
violence in Mimika in Indonesia's Papua region.
The Jakarta Post reports that over 120 armed police officers have been 
deployed to the Banti area of Mimika's Tembagapura district to try and 
control the violence.
The fighting reportedly pits members of the Dani, Damal and Moni tribes 
against the Amungme tribe.
Police say the situation remains explosive in the Banti sub-district which 
is near the site of the copper and gold mining company Freeport Indonesia.
News Content © Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35643

Clearing Papua's forests for palm oil plantations is backwards, warns 
Greenpeace
Posted at 03:46 on 09 October, 2007 UTC
Greenpeace has warned that Indonesia's plans to clear Papuan forests for 
palm oil plantations will hinder efforts to mitigate climate change.
Indonesia's President has asked Papua's Governor Barnabas Seubu to open up 
five million hectares of land for conversion into palm oil plantations in a 
bid to increase biofuel production.
Indonesia is on a fresh drive to become the world's biggest bio-fuel 
producer, and aims to reduce carbon emissions as well as spending on petrol.
Jakarta also claims it's working to reduce the rampant illegal logging which 
is destroying its largest remaining tracts of rainforest, in Papua
But Greenpeace Asia/Pacific's Tiy Chung says the government's plans to cut 
more Papuan forest will only increase carbon output.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/?p=317

Guess which country has experienced only 18 months of independence and is 
being brutalised as we speak?
 Filed under: Uncategorised, Business/Politics - Chris @ Oct 9th, 2007
By new contributor Tabi-Sal. If you feel like writing for us, drop us an 
email!
There is a country which has only experienced 18 months of independence 
between colonial rulers. Its waters are poisoned by the by-products of 
multinational corporations' extensive mining. Its soils are ruined by 
deforestation, and its people are displaced, brutalised, made to disappear.
This nation's vast material wealth is siphoned off by an authoritarian 
government, and by western multinationals. These corporations fund 
shareholding authorities (imported from Jakarta) which bomb and strafe 
villages. As swathes of mountain rainforest are cleared, mined and 
militarised, the damage to the environment is passed on to the inhabitants 
of these tribal areas, who have no choice but to live off the land. The 
collusion of security guard and soldier is the key feature of this new form 
of imperialism. The destruction of the land's indigenous population is its 
effect.
Melanesians have lived in West Papua for at least 25,000 years. No 
compensation has been paid to these peoples by the recent colonisers since 
they arrived from Holland approximately 200 years ago, or from Indonesia 
around 50 years ago. Presently, mountains sacred to local tribes are 
strip-mined at a phenomenal rate. Mining waste is bulldozed into sacred 
lakes in quantities of hundreds of thousands of tons. Polluted rivers 
flowing deep into the rainforests are grey threads of putrefaction and 
death. Displaced peoples die from diseases they have never encountered 
before as they are evicted from their mountain homes. Indonesia's GDP growth 
increases healthily every year.
It is unsurprising and symbolic that West Papua might be more familiar to us 
by its Indonesian name, 'Irian Jaya'. Apart from a brief and doomed 
parenthesis of independence in the early sixties, the nation's aboriginal 
inhabitants have been seen as obstacles for nearly two hundred years, by two 
different governments, in their quest for pillage. For colonialism is not 
dead, it has merely evolved. The voiceless man's land is still irreparably 
polluted by the bearer of arms. The scarred lands of West Papua are an 
indelible blot on mankind's conscience.

http://www.unpo.org/article.php?id=7241

UNPO Press Briefing
2007-10-15
On 12 October 2007 UNPO conducted a briefing for the Swedish press, entitled 
Self-Determination as Conflict Prevention, to grant a clearer insight of the 
problems faced by many UNPO Members.
The briefing was attended by two UNPO Member Representatives, Mr. Nasser 
Boladai from West Balochistan and Mr. Viktor Kaisiëpo from West Papua, who 
delivered presentations to members of the Swedish press, and concluded with 
an in-depth roundtable discussion.
The event was introduced by UNPO Project Coordinator, Mr. Kevan Berthou, who 
outlined the workings of UNPO and the importance of nonviolence as a means 
of achieving one's goals.
Following this, Mr. Kaisiëpo delivered a presentation focusing on the 
complex situation not only vis-à-vis Indonesia, but also on the internal 
heterogeneity of West Papua. Moreover, self-determination and conflict 
prevention cannot only be viewed from an inter-human standpoint, but must 
also encompass environmental issues, such as the responsible management of 
resources and the conflict between society and nature.
Furthermore, he emphasised the value of UNPO being led by its Members, with 
their active input allowing the unrepresented to set the agenda, and 
confront issues that otherwise may have been sidelined.
Mr. Boladai then continued the briefing with an overview of the situation of 
the Balochis in Iran, oppressed for their racial, linguistic and religious 
differences. Mr. Boladai outlined the possibility of self-determination 
within a federal structure as a means to prevent conflict, but highlighted 
the massive challenges in bringing about such change and the difficulty in 
remaining nonviolent in the face of extreme provocation.
The issue of nonviolence was picked up by the journalists and carried into 
the subsequent discussions. One of the key points raised was how to define 
nonviolence, with some journalists asking whether self-defence is still 
compatible with the principle of nonviolence.
Delving further into the principle of self-determination, questions were 
asked on how to define a concept which ranges from minority rights via 
federalism to complete independence, and how self-determination would take 
shape in West Papua and West Balochistan. A key issue, it appeared, was the 
situation of the minorities within the minority seeking self-determination. 
Taking such issues into account is key to developing a style of 
self-determination that brings stable and long-lasting peace.
Aside from these points, the discussion covered more detailed aspects of 
UNPO, including the application and screening process of Membership, funding 
sources, and the democratic procedures regarding the UNPO Presidency and the 
UNPO General Assembly, which allows for the effective and transparent 
operations of the organisation.

http://www.thenational.com.pg/101707/Nation%2013.htm

Carteret Islands sinking fast
THE Carteret Islands are almost invisible on a map of the South Pacific, but 
the horseshoe scattering of atolls in eastern-most Papua New Guinea is on 
the frontline of climate change, as rising sea levels and storm surges eat 
away at their existence.
For 20 years, the 2,000 islanders living there have fought a losing battle 
against the ocean, building sea walls and trying to plant mangroves.
Each year, the waves surge in higher, destroying vegetable gardens, washing 
away homes and contaminating fresh water supplies.
Recently, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare appropriated K4.1 million 
(US$1,315,280) to resettle PNG villagers affected by global warming.
The funding was part of a K1.6 billion (US$513,280,000) supplementary budget 
handed down by Treasury and Finance Minister Patrick Pruaitch.
Out of the K4.1 million funding, K2 million (US$641,600) will go to the 
Bougainville Autonomous Region's Carteret Islanders.
The local Bougainville government has an ongoing resettlement programme 
which it hopes to complete by the end of the year.
Rising sea levels will not only displace human populations. Coral reefs are 
expected to be affected by changes in ocean levels and sea surface 
temperatures.
As a result, the communities that depend upon these marine resources will be 
affected as well.
PNG's Carteret islanders are destined to become some of the world's first 
climate change refugees.
Their islands are becoming uninhabitable, and may soon disappear below the 
waves.
A decision has been made to move the islanders to the larger nearby 
Bougainville Island, a four-hour boat ride to the southwest.
Ten families at a time will be moved once funds are released for the 
resettlement programme.
An IPCC has predicted that average sea levels are likely to rise between 9cm 
and 88cm (3.5-35 inches) by 2100.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/story.html?id=5cac8e53-ac35-41fc-822a-77488ace8ca3&k=72695

Chiefs to protest lack of progress on treaty rights
Jeff Rud, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, October 13, 2007
The B.C. government's much-heralded "new relationship" with First Nations 
will be showcased Monday when legislation is introduced to ratify the first 
deal reached under the provincial treaty process.
But a group of increasingly vocal chiefs is casting doubt on whether a new 
relationship exists. And they plan to protest on the lawn of the legislature 
as MLAs begin both the fall session and debate on the Tsawwassen treaty.
These chiefs, who say they represent 140 of the province's 203 First 
Nations, claim Premier Gordon Campbell's new relationship with aboriginals 
has been simply "words on paper" and has produced little of value to native 
people.
They also harshly criticize the B.C. treaty process, saying strict federal 
and provincial mandates make it impossible for most First Nations to reach 
acceptable deals. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of 
B.C. Indian Chiefs, calls the treaty process "fundamentally flawed and 
completely out of line with current case law.''
Phillip said the protesters, representing First Nations both in and outside 
the treaty process and including those who believe the Tsawwassen treaty is 
infringing on their territories, will "send the distinct message to the 
general public that all is not well in B.C.
"The fabric of the 'new relationship' has been greatly strained and is 
beginning to tear," he said.
Yesterday, Phillip was among a large group of chiefs who met in Westbank, 
near Kelowna, to plan the protest and other action. The group opposes strict 
government mandates that they say will mean "extinguishment" of native 
rights and title in B.C.
Specifically, they are opposed to both governments' insistence that any B.C. 
treaties transfer reserve land out of federal jurisdiction and into 
provincial registries and that natives surrender their non-taxable status.
Westbank First Nations Chief Robert Louie said the chiefs are discussing 
legal action against both levels of government over the treaty process.
"What we're contemplating here is a potential collective court action across 
this province,'' he said. "This could be one of the largest court actions 
that this province has ever seen collectively by First Nations.''
Doug Kelly, tribal chief responsible for intergovernmental relations for the 
Sto:lo Tribal Council, said Campbell's "new relationship" is now 2 1/2 years 
old and there is little to show for it.
"We've not moved beyond the political rhetoric coming from the premier's 
office,'' Kelly said. "There's been no change. It's been lip service.''
B.C. Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister Mike de Jong rejected 
the characterization of the new relationship as simply "words on paper.'' He 
said there is a "long list of agreements and actual advances, reconciliation 
agreements. ... All of these things have real commitments, real dollars.''
"If someone is suggesting that a $100-million New Relationship Trust that 
was set up and completely arms-length from government, is managed and 
decisions are made by a board comprised of aboriginal peoples -- if they are 
describing that as signifying nothing, then I disagree with them,'' de Jong 
said.
So far, the Tsawwassen treaty is the only one to reach the legislature. The 
Maa-Nulth First Nations of Vancouver Island are in the process of ratifying 
their treaty, which could come before the legislature in November. But those 
two deals are all there is to show for more than 14 years and $1 billion 
spent on the B.C. treaty process.
De Jong acknowledged there are a variety of opinions on the Tsawwassen 
treaty and other deals in progress. But he said he hoped that people will 
understand and respect that the Tsawwassen "have negotiated and ratified 
strongly this agreement.''

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20071018144948312

The Vícam Declaration: "we will defend mother earth with our lives"
Thursday, October 18 2007 @ 02:49 PM PDT
Contributed by: Collin Sick
Views: 289
The rebellion that will shake the continent will not repeat the paths and 
ways of others that have changed the course of history, subcomandante Marcos 
proclaims tonight in the closing ceremony of the Encuentro of the Indigenous 
Peoples of América. "When the wind that we are dies down," he adds, "a new 
time will open in which we will be all of the colors." After greeting in the 
languages of Yoeme, Castilian ["Spanish"], and English, and taking words 
from the Yaqui tradition, Marcos declares before the audience, which has 
doubled itself on this night in Vícam: "The four wheels of the vehicle of 
money are rolling again over the path of the blood and the pain of the 
peoples of the continent," in what he calls "the largest war in the history 
of humanity, which is already 515 years old." The war that they commemorate 
every October 12.

by Hermann Bellinghausen
Originally published in La Jornada
Translation by Zapagringo

Vícam, Sonora, October 14. The rebellion that will shake the continent will 
not repeat the paths and ways of others that have changed the course of 
history, subcomandante Marcos proclaims tonight in the closing ceremony of 
the Encuentro of the Indigenous Peoples of América. "When the wind that we 
are dies down," he adds, "a new time will open in which we will be all of 
the colors."

After greeting in the languages of Yoeme, Castilian ["Spanish"], and 
English, and taking words from the Yaqui tradition, Marcos declares before 
the audience, which has doubled itself on this night in Vícam: "The four 
wheels of the vehicle of money are rolling again over the path of the blood 
and the pain of the peoples of the continent," in what he calls "the largest 
war in the history of humanity, which is already 515 years old." The war 
that they commemorate every October 12.

This war now reproduces "the age and methods of the great trusts and 
estates, of the epoch in which the crowns of Europe dominated through blood 
and fire." Referring to the repression that armies and paramilitary forces 
use, "just as in the times of the Conquest," in order to eliminate entire 
populations.

"Nevertheless, something has changed: there has never been so much 
destruction and stupidity by the governments, such brutality against the 
earth and people." Because, indicates the Zapatista delegate, "it happens 
that they are killing the world." They say that it is "electoral democracy" 
that thing with which the "bossy people" make the "business" of bringing the 
world to catastrophe. There above "there is no hope for the Indian peoples."

In this encuentro, "memory has been the invisible thread that unites our 
peoples," explains Marcos, and concentrates the cause of their struggles 
into just one word, which comes from the birth of humanity: "freedom". It is 
what the people want, he continues, "and it cannot exist without justice or 
democracy." It trusts that there will be "a world without rulers," something 
that "seems impossible" today.

They denounce the growing plunder of the land

In turn, the Rarámuri Francisco Palmo reads the final declaration of the 
Encuentro of the Indigenous Peoples of América. It is directed against the 
arrogance of power, because the plundering of the land and resources of the 
people "grows with each passing day." But, it adds, "the resistance and 
indignation of the people grows as well."

The 570 delegates from 67 indigenous peoples, coming from 12 american 
nations, affirmed, in the Declaration of Vicam: "We are descendents of the 
peoples, nations and tribes that first gave name to these lands; that were 
born of mother earth and maintain a sacred respect towards her that provides 
us with life and keeps us in death; thus we declare to the entire world that 
we will care for and defend mother earth with our lives." They tell of the 
"pain suffered from the attack of the invaders, supported in the false 
arguments of cultural exclusivity and arrogant civilizing presumptions, with 
the purpose of plundering our territories, destroying our cultures and 
disappearing our peoples."

The participants in the encuentro proclaimed their historic right to free 
self-determination, "respecting the different ways that, for the exercise of 
this, our people decide, according to their origin, history and 
aspirations." Also, they reject "the war of conquest and capitalist 
extermination imposed by the transnational companies and the international 
financial organizations in complicity with the great powers and nation 
states."

They express their rejection of "the destruction and sacking of mother earth 
by means of the occupation of our territories for industrial, mining, 
agribusiness, touristic, savage urbanization and infrastructure activities, 
as well as the privatization of the water, land, forests, oceans and coasts, 
biological diversity, the air, the rain, traditional knowledge and all that 
is born of mother earth."

They oppose "the registration of the land, coasts, waters, seeds, plants, 
animals and traditional knowledges of our peoples with the aim of 
privatizing them," and they reject the occupation and destruction of sacred 
centers and places, as well as the mercantilization of their culture. They 
also reject the Escalera Náutica or Sea of Cortés megaproject and the 
construction of the coastal highway inside of Yaqui territory.

The encuentro ratifies its rejection of the 2010 Winter Olympics "in 
Vancouver, Canada on sacred territory, stolen from the Turtle nation with 
the goal of installing ski runs."

They denounce that the war of conquest and capitalist extermination "worsens 
like never before the exploitation of the members of our peoples on 
plantations and in sweatshops, or as migrants in cities and distant 
countries, where they are hired in the worst conditions, finding themselves 
in situations of slavery and forced labor."

The rejections extend to the big transnational stores, "that plunder the 
economic resources of the communities," and to neoliberal policies, which 
debilitate communitarian economies and food sovereignty and result in the 
loss of native seeds. They commit to seek the integral reconstitution of 
their peoples and to strengthen their cultures, languages, traditions, 
organization and self-government.

"Supported in our culture and vision of the world, we will reinforce and 
recreate our own educative institutions, rejecting the educative models that 
the nation states impose on us to exterminate our cultures."

They pronounce against "all form of repression towards our peoples, 
expressed in the militarization and paramilitarization of our territories, 
forced displacement, mass deportation, the imposition of borders in order to 
divide and fragment, and the imprisonment and disappearance of those who 
struggle for the historic revindication of our peoples".

The absent indigenous "political prisoners" are a strong "presence". Some 
sent greetings from El Amate (Chiapas) and Molino de Flores (Texcoco, in 
particular the Mazahua Magdalena García Durán). "They were" the Oaxacans of 
Loxicha, San Isidro Aloapam, the organization VOCAL and other members of the 
Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca; also the Zapatista prisoners in 
Tabasco, as well as the Lakota leader Leonard Peltier. They demanded 
immediate freedom for all.

The Yaqui of Vicam and from other towns came in great numbers to the 
closing, in which the traditional dances of the Deer and the Pascola were 
offered. Thus, nearly 3 thousand people participated in the culminating 
moment of the encuentro.

http://zapagringo.blogspot.com/2007/10/vcam-declaration.html

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009001766

Sex Trade Rise In Papua Palm Oil Plantations, Says World Rainforest Movement
October 30, 2007 11:15 p.m. EST
Paul Icamina - AHN News Writer
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (AHN) - A scheme to include more women into 
palm oil harvesting has turned into a sex trade, according to the World 
Rainforest Movement (WRM).
The "mama card" and the "mama lus frut" scheme has been hailed as an 
outstanding success for increasing loose fruit collection, bringing women 
into oil palm production and increasing their income.
Until the introduction of the mama lus frut scheme, payment for oil palm 
harvest often ended up with the men even though women and children were all 
involved. Under the scheme, women exclusively collect the loose fruits and 
have their own payment card called the "mama card."
Then some women desperate for cash decided to provide sex to men in exchange 
for more loose fruit to be left by the men for them to collect, said the 
Uruguay-based group.
Field trips in Oro and West New Britain Province between 2003 and 2007 
showed there are now more women working in the oil palm groves "offering an 
opportunity for a sex trade to take place," it said.
"This situation has dissuaded genuine women pickers, who fear being 
tarnished with the same brush, from taking part in the scheme," the WRM 
said. "Some village women interviewed said they would not pick fruit unless 
they had a male escort.
Papua now has five major plantations. A land-intensive industry, any 
expansion means Papuan forests are cleared, says the Australian Conservation 
Foundation. The habitat for plants and animals also shrinks.

http://www.freewestpapua.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=406&Itemid=2

Native Papuans fight against deforestation

The Jakarta Post, October 26, 2007
Neles Tebay, Abepura, Papua

The central government, investors in palm oil plantations and timber 
companies need to know that deforestation is and will be rejected by 
indigenous Papuans from 252 different tribes living in the western half of 
the island of New Guinea.
If the Papuans were consulted, they would say: "Don't cut down our trees."

Under Soeharto's regime, Papuans protesting against the destruction of their 
ancestral forests by government-authorized companies were simply accused of 
being separatists or against national development. Protesters were always 
silenced violently by the military and police, who seemed to love protecting 
timber companies.

However, the 2001 law on special autonomy for Papua province gives more 
freedom for Papuans to raise their voices. Papuans, then, have begun to 
protest against deforestation within their ancestral forests.

The latest example of the rejection of deforestation was demonstrated in 
September 2007 by indigenous Papuans of the Wate tribe in Nabire regency 
(Cenderawasih Pos, Sept. 20, 2007).

It was reported members of the Wate tribe strongly opposed a plan by PT 
Harvest Raya, in collaboration with PT Jati Dharma Indah, to clear thousands 
of hectares of their ancestral forest to make way for palm oil plantations.

The protesters have demanded the local government of Nabire regency revoke 
the permission already given to the companies.

The Papuans' rejection of deforestation raises some questions. Why do 
indigenous Papuans courageously reject deforestation? Is the rejection a 
reflection of what the central government calls "Papuan separatism"? Is it a 
manifestation of being anti-government or anti-development, the accusations 
made by the central government in Jakarta for more than four decades? Is it 
sign of not wanting to better their future?

The reasons behind the rejection are related to their culture. Their 
rejection is rooted in and guided by the life-giving values of local 
culture.

Papuans never see their virgin forests simply as a sea of trees that can be 
cut down in order to make millions of dollars.

The forest, for indigenous Papuans from all tribes, has multi-dimensional 
meanings.
Indeed, Papuans never consider the forest as an enemy that has to be 
eradicated from the surface of the earth. Rather, it is first and foremost a 
member of the community.

Papuan community is composed not only of living people, but also the dead, 
the spirits and nature.

That's why each community, both as a tribe and a community within a tribe, 
always has its own forest within a clearly defined territory.

So, culturally speaking, a Papuan can never be separated from the forest.
It would also be a mistake if Papuan forest was seen as a isolated thing 
from the Papuans themselves, because the forest and the people form one 
community.

For Papuans, a forest can mean a living pharmacy that provides all the 
necessary natural medicines. In times of need, Papuans go to the forest to 
collect natural medicine.
The forest is also considered a food store or a living supermarket, for it 
provides vegetables, fruits, fish and animals.

People used to get the necessary materials for houses, traditional boats, 
firewood and fences in their own forest.

It is a Papuan's belief that their ancestors and deceased members of the 
community reside in the forest. They are the guardians of the forest, 
including plants and animals, owned by the community.

The forest, for Papuans, is a living temple, chapel or mosque, where people 
come and pray. It is the place where all rituals are conducted by a 
community or individually. Papuans go into their ancestral forest if they 
want to communicate with the ancestors or the dead.

The deeper sense of forest is expressed in the Papuan saying "Hutan adalah 
mama" (the forest is our mother).

The forest is respected as a mother who tirelessly cares for, protects and 
sustains all of the members of the community, including the animals.

Papuans cannot imagine life without the forest. Emphasizing the deeper 
meaning of forest, they say "Hutan kita, hidup kita" (our forest, our 
lives).

It is for the sake of life that every Papuan is educated from childhood the 
importance of maintaining a correct relationship with the forest.

We can now understand that deforestation, for Papuans, means destroying a 
living pharmacy, damaging the living supermarket, destroying the place of 
worship, expelling the ancestors and the dead and committing adultery 
against the mother forest.

Deforestation, then, will bring about suffering, disaster and chaos for 
Papuans. That's why indigenous Papuans reject deforestation.

Papuans learned the importance of the forest for life neither from the Dutch 
nor the Indonesian government, but from Papuan cultural tradition.

The cultural concept of forest is handed down from one generation to the 
next.

The central government should respect Papuan culture, including the cultural 
understanding of forest, and utilize it to protect the Papua's forests.

By doing so, the government and Papuans could jointly prevent Papua's 
forests from being lost to deforestation.

Otherwise there will be war between Papuans preserving Papua's forests and 
the central government proposing deforestation.

The writer is a lecturer at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and 
Theology, in Abepura, Papua.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/article_1370991.php/Tribesmen_torch_homes_in_Indonesias_Papua

Asia-Pacific News
Tribesmen torch homes in Indonesia's Papua

Nov 4, 2007, 1:02 GMT
Jakarta - Riot police and soldiers fired warning shots Sunday after 
tribesmen in Indonesia's Papua province set several homes on fire in unrest 
triggered by the death of a former local police chief, local media reports 
said.
At least 10 homes belonging to locals in Papua's Timika district were 
torched, forcing occupants aided by security officers to carry out their 
possessions and flee, the state-run Antara news agency reported.
Rioter also set a car ablaze.
Timika is located in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua, about 3,150 
kilometres north-east of Jakarta.
In an attempt to stop the violence, riot police and troops firing warning 
shots to disperse the mob. The combined security forces were stationed at 
strategic locations and combed vital areas in order to prevent the rioting 
from escalating further.
Two armoured vehicles were stationed in Timika's nearby business district, 
the state-run media reported, while dozens of residents sought refugee at 
local police stations.
A reporter with the Jakarta-based Elshinta private radio reported that one 
person had suffered a gunshot wound Sunday, while several people were 
arrested.
Brigadier General Andilolo, deputy police chief in Papua, told the radio 
station that peaceful means were being attempted to defuse the tension, 
including negotiations with the tribes and other community leaders in an 
attempt to restore calm.
Triggered by the death of a respected elder from a local tribe, identified 
as Yance Ikomou, hundreds of angered tribesmen blocked the main road 
Saturday afternoon in Timika. Tribesmen also gathered in a field demanding 
an explanation of their leader's death.
Ikomou died early Saturday at a local police station after he was arguing 
with a fellow police officer, following the reported arrest of his son for 
disturbing the peace while drinking.
Papua Police Chief Max Donald was quoted as saying that Ikomou suddenly 
collapsed and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died.
Hours earlier, anger over Ikomou's death prompted tribesmen to attack the 
police station where he had been. Police reportedly shot back, killing at 
least one rioting tribesman.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:dCP4kU4MZ-YJ:www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp%3Ffileid%3D20071104173934%26irec%3D4+Peace+deal+reached+after+riot+in+Timika&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=uk

Angry mobs burn houses in Timika
JAKARTA (Antara): Angry mobs on Sunday morning set fire to houses in Timika, 
Mimika regency, Papua following the death of a local policeman.
Antara reported that at least 10 houses in Timika Indah residence were set 
on fire.
However, later in the day local police, Army and Air Force personnel said 
they had the situation under control.
There have been no reports of arrests.
The incident began when a local policeman, identified as Adj. Comr. Yance, 
went to the Mimika Baru Police office to complain after his son was beaten 
by policemen for drinking liquor and misbehaving.
Unsatisfied with the response of his colleagues, Yance was later involved in 
a fight with another police before they were separated, Antara reported.
However, after the fight, Yance suddenly collapsed. He was rushed to Mitra 
Masyarakat Hospital, in Mimika where he was pronounced dead. The cause of 
his death remains unknown.
Yance's death provoked angry mobs in Mimika to attack a local police office 
on Saturday.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-30308020071103

Landslide at Freeport Indonesia's mine injures 13
Sat Nov 3, 2007 12:52pm IST


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JAKARTA (Reuters) - A landslide injured 13 workers at U.S. firm Freeport's 
gold and copper mine in Indonesia's Papua province on Saturday, the company 
said.
The landslide outside the Grasberg mine did not affect company operations, 
Mindo Pangaribuan, a Freeport Indonesia spokesman, said.
"It's a natural incident. The victims sustained light injuries," he said, 
adding that the injured, all Indonesian workers of the mine, had been taken 
to the company-run hospital.
The mine -- believed to have the world's third-largest copper reserves and 
one of the biggest gold deposits -- has been a frequent source of 
controversy over its environmental impact and the share of revenue going to 
Papuans.

http://www.narconews.com/Issue47/article2860.html

Indigenous Education as Politics
The Second National Congress on Indigenous and Intercultural Education

By Nancy Davies
Commentary from Oaxaca
October 28, 2007
A reggae song by Peter Tosh called "Equal Rights" has a lyric which goes, 
"everyone is crying out for peace; none is crying out for justice." Tosh 
sings "I don't want no peace, I need equal rights and justice."

Photos: D.R. 2007 Nancy Davies
The Second National Congress on Indigenous and Intercultural Education in 
Oaxaca this week blossomed with peoples from all over Mexico, in a colorful 
array of men clad in the short pants of Chiapas authorities moving among 
women in jeans or long skirts or crowned with beribboned braids. It's been a 
long process of self-definition for cultural rescue, language preservation, 
and equal rights and justice, led by the Coalition of Indigenous Teachers 
and Promoters of Oaxaca (CMPIO, by its Spanish initials.) Listening to each 
other and sharing experiences play a major role.
Oaxaca is a state with 16 different language groups; many of which were on 
the verge of disappearing when CMPIO stepped forward to promote bilingual 
education. Last July 30, I visited a workshop for teachers which focused on 
how grandmothers can renew their vanishing languages with their 
grandchildren: the in-between generation of parents were mono-lingualized by 
the state education system. Fernando Soberanes, present at that CMPIO event, 
said that the range of languages and experiences in all of Mexico is 
mind-boggling. There are at least 62 languages, with about 150 important 
variants. Oaxaca's Zapoteco, for example, is spoken in seven variations, not 
mutually intelligible. At least a dozen Mexican languages verge on 
extinction, which implies a cultural loss as well. (For more information on 
languages in Mexico, INEGI, the national bureau of statistics, is a standard 
source). Hence the current congress has worked to present equal opportunity 
for geographical regions, and for gender equity as well because so many 
women historically were left out of both schooling and consultation.
Education in general in Oaxaca has been deplorable. Many accept government 
propaganda against teachers, but most of them, and especially the indigenous 
bilingual teachers, are heroic in combating state neglect. The indigenous 
teachers' goal, through participation of all, is to invent methods and 
materials where printed resources in their mother tongues scarcely exist. A 
method from the spring workshop, offered by an American professor Lois 
Meyers, focused on going out into the street to gather printed words, on 
shops or tires or building walls. The printed word becomes precious. 
Systemization of bilingualism is still far off, aided by sharing of various 
educational practices. The many alphabets have been codified, along with 
adaptations as needed of sounds that do not appear in Spanish.
A related consideration of education springs from the extremely high rate of 
childhood malnutrition - about 50 percent of rural children suffer a dietary 
deficiency - and the lack of health services. Remote towns receive scant 
resources.
Nevertheless, under CMPIO's promotion, Oaxaca is making strides with 
bilingual primary education, pilot projects at the secondary level, the 
creation of 20 intercultural community senior high schools, the normal 
school for indigenous education in the town of Tlacochahuaya, and the 
Intercultural University Ayuuk in the Mixe region. This places Oaxaca among 
the leaders for indigenous education, in a state where a third to one half 
of the population - especially women - remains illiterate.
Services for an Alternative Education (EDUCA, in its Spanish initials), also 
one of the first organizations to sign on to the APPO in June of 2006, 
assisted in organizing the Second Congress and served as one of the 
participants.

In a press conference, EDUCA member Aljandro Sandoval explained that the 
First National Congress for Indigenous and Intercultural Education (CNEII), 
held in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán in 2002, made clear the necessity of 
strengthening regional and local participation to draw on the richness of 
options and ideas already in practice.
This year's congress gathered about 400 delegates from 30 different 
indigenous Oaxacan peoples, participants from 16 other states, and from 
Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, and the U.S.
The U.S. participants included, by video presentation, linguist/political 
analyst Noam Chomsky, who saluted the "valiant teachers of Oaxaca" for their 
professional work in education, but above all for participating in "a 
struggle of far-reaching importance." The struggle of Oaxacan teachers, he 
said, "has an impact at this time in all of Latin America." Chomsky sees 
Latin America as the most exciting area of the world, for the first time in 
modern history, because of the movement toward an important level of 
integration instead of "being separated among themselves and dominated by 
the imperial powers.. Latin America is beginning to overcome the true curse" 
of the American continent, "the curse of an enormous gulf, without 
precedence in the world, between a small elite with enormous wealth and a 
vast mass of people profoundly impoverished."
Both Chomsky and the Mexican writer Carlos Montemayor observed that 
indigenous education necessitates a political posture. Chomsky in his video 
remarked that "organizing is of paramount importance, because it throws 
overboard 500 years of miserable ugly history, by revitalizing languages, 
cultures and technical knowledge."
Montemayor, addressing the congress in person, added, "we are all profoundly 
racist in Mexico" because Mexicans, as a mixture of Spanish and original 
peoples, in public education date their history from the arrival of Spain, 
throwing aside the prior three thousand years of civilization. (Montemayor 
did not mention the admixture of Africans brought to Mexico by the Spaniards 
as slaves, nor the prior agricultural discoveries of perhaps 8,000 BCE.) 
Mexico must recover its indigenous self, he added.
In Mexico, many laws stand on the books regarding the rights of the 
indigenous peoples, including not only the federal Constitution and the 
Oaxaca state constitution, but the San Andrés Peace Accord reached in 1996 
after the Zapatista uprising and never implemented. The indigenous peoples 
now struggle across the state of Oaxaca regarding land and water, mining, 
and wind power, as well as for equal education and health services. During 
the height of the popular movement initiated in June, 2006 the goal of peace 
was invoked on all sides by the government, the church, by the tourist and 
commercial sectors in Oaxaca.
In the country at large there exists no true policy of what is now called 
intercultural education, which would place indigenous and mestizo needs on 
an equal footing. As Fernando Soberanes said, "There is ongoing social and 
institutional discrimination, and indigenous languages continue to 
disappear."
Ixcateco, Chocholteco, Zoque and Chontal languages stand in gave risk of 
being lost, which in the future would mean "a real poverty for humanity and 
for culture."

Therefore, he said, one of the objectives of the second National Congress of 
Indigenous and Intercultural Education is to initiate a strong resistance 
movement against this kind of government policy.
Soberanes accused that the politics of education toward the Indian peoples 
are absolutely discriminatory. The expenditure per student in basic 
education is 8,000 pesos annually, while for an indigenous child is about 
200 pesos.
Furthermore, he added, the State gives "the least and the worst education" 
to the Indian peoples because they are the ones who attend schools in 
horrible conditions, if they have any school at all, because the in the 
majority of cases classes are given under a tree or on top of a rock.
And if that weren't enough, the teachers "are the worst trained"; so much so 
that children as docents have no teaching material. At the same time, the 
curricula proposed by the government do not take into account the indigenous 
ways, customs and culture.
That fact, he highlighted, "is leading to the loss of identity of the 
peoples" and when identity disappears there will be no policy on teaching 
the language. Instead, the strategy of grand capital has caused an expulsion 
and there are entire populations moving north in the country in search of 
options.
In spite of the work of social organizations trying to save the indigenous 
culture, these efforts cannot halt this type of problem, because they have 
to do with structural issues of the current political and economic policies.
Proposing new agendas for federal, state and city governments goes forward, 
but at the same time a strong popular movement for alternative education 
also goes forward.
The challenge falls on the indigenous population to organize and produce 
their own educational agendas. The indigenous teachers recognize that 
languages change, and words enter and leave every language. They don't 
oppose the evolution of languages or cultures. But they demand equal rights, 
and justice.