Former Cultural Survival board member Vicky Tauli-Corpuz was a key participant in last week's climate change meetings in Cancun as both a representative of the Philippine government and an Indigenous expert on the impact of the REDD program (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). (REDD is a UN program that pays countries and offers expertise to preserve their standing forests.
In late November, hundreds of heavily armed policemen forcibly evicted 300 Samburu families from ancestral lands that former president Daniel Arap Moi had purchased in a land-grab typical of his administration. Police chose a Friday “market day” for their attack, when the men were away and only women, elders, and children were in their homes. Fanning out across the 17,000- acre Eland Downs Ranch, police burned the Samburu families’ homes to the ground, along with all their possessions.
On December 10, 2010, Terra Verde KPFA radio out of Berkeley, CA hosted a program on the survival challenges of reindeer and reindeer herding peoples with Dan Plumley of the Totem Project (a former Cultural Survival project), Peter Solomon, Gwich'in elder from Alaska and Ms. Liv Vors, Ph.D. University of Alberta, Co-author of a study on global decline of reindeer and caribou. You can listen to the program here: https://kpfa.org/episode/65944/
On December 6, 2010, the Achuar of Peru were allowed to proceed in U.S. federal court with their case against Occidental Petroleum, the California-based oil giant that has been exploiting and polluting their homeland for over 30 years. The Achuar community is claiming that the company violated Indigenous rights enshrined in Peruvian and U.S. law by dumping toxic waste, including cyanide, lead, arsenic, and mercury, directly into their rivers and streams and failing to warn them of potential health impacts.
This book provides information material on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries), one of the mitigation measures now promoted for combating climate change, and its implications for Indigenous Peoples.
On December 8, President Obama signed into law the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, which will award $4.6 billion to Native American landowners and African-American farmers who were wronged by the U.S. Government. This act includes the the $3.4 billion Cobell settlement. The Cobell v. Salazar Indian trust fund lawsuit was first filed in 1996. The plaintiffs wanted justice for mismanagement of Indian land royalties held in trust funds by the Department of the Interior dating back to the 1800s.
MEXICO- Brena Norrell interviews Huichol (Wixárika) Indigenous activist Jesús Lara, of San Sebastian, Jalisco, Mexico during the Cancun Climate Summit on December 6th, 2010.
"Huicholes are fighting silver mining in a sacred area, where they offer prayers for the balance of the world. English and Spanish translations. Censored News at the Cancun Climate Summit."
Listen here:http://www.blogtalkradio.com/brenda-norrell/2010/12/06/huicholes-fight-mining-sacred-land
Ba Jawi community sues logging group Samling and the Sarawak state government in order to protect 15,000 hectares of high-conservation-value tropical rainforest
Ba Jawi (Sarawak), MALAYSIA. The Penan community of Ba Jawi in Sarawak's Upper Baram region has today lodged a collective action lawsuit against Malaysian timber giant Samling and the state government of Sarawak over 15,000 hectares of primary rainforest in order to protect their livelihood from being destroyed by logging.
Ensure the full recognition of our rights in a Cancun climate decision
Forum of Indigenous Peoples Mining, Climate Change and Well Being
National Museum, Lima, 18 to 20 November 2010
Indigenous peoples, communities and social organizations Abya Yala, brothers of Africa and Europe, children of Mother Earth, assembled in the Mining Forum, Climate Change and Good Living in the city of Lima, after three days of deliberations and declare:
Whereas:
After a three-day Forum on Mining, Climate Change and Well-being at the Museum of the Nation from November 18 through 20 in Lima, Peru, Indigenous delegates from all over Latin America issued the so-called Lima Declaration demanding the end of large-scale mining by multinational corporations on Indigenous lands.
On November 15th the Ingaricó, Macuxi, Patamona, Taurepang and Wapichana Indigenous Peoples of Raposa Serra do Sol, Brazil finally received a favorable decision from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Commission found that the government’s treatment of Indigenous Peoples in Raposa may violate human rights is now in the final stage of reviewing the case and will soon issue a concluding report.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
