Cultural Survival

Tradition
Informing Our
Futures

Vol. 39, Issue 4 december 2015

US $4.99/CAN $6.99

D e c e mb er 20 15
V olum e 39 , Issue 4

Cultural Survival
co-founder, Pia
Maybury-Lewis,
with Xavante
families during
her first visit
to the region
of Mato Grosso,
Brazil in 1958.

Board of Directors
President

Sarah Fuller
vice president

Duane Champagne
(Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa)
Treasurer

Steven Heim
Clerk

Nicole Friederichs
Evelyn Arce (Chibcha)
Alison Bernstein
Joseph Goko Mutangah
Laura Graham
Jean Jackson
Lesley Kabotie (Crow)
Stephen Marks
Stella Tamang (Tamang)
FOUNDERS
David & Pia Maybury-Lewis

Many members of New England Tribal

Nations participated in the making
of Nookomuhs (see page 12).
Craig S. Milner.

F e at u r e s

12 Kissing the Water:

Launching Nookomuhs

Jonathan Perry
Dugout canoe Nookomuhs (My Grandmother)
is the first of her size made by the hands of many
New England Nations in over 200 years.

Cultural Survival Headquarters

2067 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
t 617.441.5400 f 617.441.5417
www.cs.org

14 Envisioning the Future by Revisiting

the Past: Massachusetts Tribes Make
Their Voices Heard

Boulder Office
2769 Iris Ave., Suite 101
Boulder, CO 80304

Agnes Portalewska

A new project aims to assess the current status
of Native people in Massachusetts.

Asociacin Sobrevivencia
Cultural
6ta Avenida 5-27, Local C
Zona 1, Sumpango, Sacatepquez,
Guatemala

16 Truth and Reconciliation

Cultural Survival Quarterly

Copy Editor: Jenn Goodman

Designer: NonprofitDesign.com
Contributing Arts Editor: Phoebe Farris
Managing Editor: Agnes Portalewska

Writers Guidelines

View writers guidelines at our website

(www.cs.org) or send a self-addressed, stamped
envelope to: Cultural Survival, Writers Guidelines,
PO Box 381569, Cambridge, MA 02238.
Cultural Survival recognizes that Indigenous
Peoples have long been exploited by photographers
and publications. This publication does not pay
photographers for images and makes no money
from publishing them. We also make a tremendous
effort to identify every Indigenous individual in
the images that appear here. From time to time,
however, such identification is not possible. We
apologize to the subjects of those photos and
to any reader offended by the omission.

On the cover
Photo: Launching of Nookomuhs in
Connecticut (see page 12). Craig S. Milner.

ii www. cs. org

Penthea Burns
The Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth
and Reconciliation Commission is the first task to
uncover the truth about Wabanaki children and
families in the child welfare system.

19 On Our Own Terms

Carla Fredericks
The Spokane Tribe of Indians of Washington
developed a Free, Prior and Informed Consent
protocol and are looking to make it tribal law.

Copyright 2015 by Cultural Survival, Inc.

Cultural Survival Quarterly (ISSN 0740-3291)
is published quarterly by Cultural Survival, Inc. at
PO Box 381569, Cambridge, MA 02238. Periodical
postage paid at Boston, MA 02205 and additional
mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes
to Cultural Survival, PO Box 381569, Cambridge,
MA 02238. Printed on recycled paper in the U.S.A.
Please note that the views in this magazine are
those of the authors and do not necessarily
represent the views of Cultural Survival.

Photo courtesy of
Pia Maybury-Lewis.

D e pa r t m e n t s
1 Executive Directors
Message
2 In the News
4 Indigenous Arts
Still a Pygmy: Isaac Bacirongo
6 Women the World
Must Hear

Beating the Odds, Changing
Lives: Olga Montfar
Contreras
8 Indigenous Languages
The Voice(s) of a Nation
10 Rights in Action

Without a Secured Right to
Freedom of Expression, There
Is No Democracy in Central
America
26 Bazaar Artist
Tzutu Kan
27 support our efforts

20 First-Ever World Indigenous Games

Held in Brazil

Alexis White-Mobley

Over 2,000 Indigenous athletes from all over

the world gathered to compete.

22 A New Era of Exploitation? Mining

Sami Lands in Sweden

Alec Forss

Swedens Sami population face an uphill battle

against government plans to triple the number
of mines on their territories.

24 A Modest Revolutionary
Cristina Vern

Aleida Guevara March speaks about her
experience working among Indigenous
Peoples throughout the world.

29 Get Involved
Convention Against Torture

E xecut iv e Di rector S messa ge

Self-Determination and Rights,

from the Community to the International

ight now, around the world, key important regional and international
gatherings of Indigenous Peoples
addressing the rights of Indigenous Peoples
are being held. Recently, Indigenous women
from Canada to Peru gathered at the Continental Meeting of Indigenous Women in Guatemala
City to develop a position
statement on the demands
of Indigenous women of
the Americas. In India,
Indigenous people came
together at the Terra Madre
to participate in forums
on food sovereignty. And
Indigenous Peoples from
around the world are organizing to attend the UN
Convention on Climate
Change (COP 21) in France this December,
where the agenda to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate is
critically important to Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous Peoples are acting at all levels, from their communities to the national
and the international, to achieve their visions
and rights as outlined in the United National
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples and other key declarations. Many of
the articles to follow attest to the success and
challenges of this work and its direct impact
on Indigenous Peoples lives. As a tribal member in New England well states, the goal is
to live, not just survive. This issue of the
Cultural Survival Quarterly highlights the
steadfast and determined work of Indigenous
Peoples in their struggles to achieve freedom
of expression; Free, Prior and Informed
Consent (FPIC); recognition of disability
rights; language protection and revitalization;
and protection of land and territories.
In Massachusetts, the tribes of New
England discuss laws and policiessome of
which were instituted 150 years agothat
have impacted their efforts to gain federal
recognition and exercise tribal sovereignty
after centuries of dispossession. As Chappaquiddick Wampanoag leader Sonskq Alma
Gordon states, We are a forgotten peoples.
We have no formal recognition, but we do

have heart, pride, and passion. Jim Peters

(Mashpee Wampanoag) says, We have
been playing a lifetime of catch up . . . but
we are still here today. The Wabanaki Tribe
in Maine spearheaded a State Child Welfare
Truth and Reconciliation Commission to
investigate and address
systematic abuses of Native
child welfare and the factors
contributing to them. The
testimonies of the Wabanaki
people brought forward
painful stories of the trauma
suffered, which they hope
will lead to healing, reconciliation, and policies to
protect Native children.
And the Spokane Tribe of
Indians of Washington has
established FPIC protocols
to protect their tribal sovereignty and selfdetermination, perhaps the first tribe to
operationalize and implement this right
as enshrined in the UN Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
On the other side of the globe, the Sami
in the far north of Sweden fight for the right
to determine how their land should be used
and to prevent a large proposed iron mine
that would severely impact the environment
along with reindeer migration patterns and
traditional herding livelihoods. As Jonas
Vannar, reindeer herder and vice-chairman
of Sirges Sameby says, Reindeer herding
has been a long struggle . . . but I just know
that we will not give up. In Peru, Indigenous
people and allies are working towards linguistic policies on language revitalization
promoting the implementation of language
rights by the state and supporting a prior
consultation process.
As Indigenous Peoples, our work to
secure our rights spans many intricate and
complex systems, from our local communities to national and international platforms.
Our voices need to be heard.

Donors like you make our work around

the world possible. Thanks so much
for being part of Cultural Survival.
Cultural Survival Staff
Suzanne Benally (Navajo and Santa Clara Tewa),
Executive Director
Mark Camp, Deputy Executive Director
Michael Johnson (Arikara/Hidatsa/Ojibwe),
Director of Development
Kaimana Barcarse (Native Hawaiian),
Indigenous Rights Radio Senior Producer
Avexnim Cojti (Maya Kiche), Program Associate,
Community Radio Program
Ingrid Sub Cuc (Kaqchikel/Qeqchi),
Communications Assistant
Jessie Cherofsky, Production Coordinator,
Indigenous Rights Radio, Bazaar Program
Manager
Danielle DeLuca, Program Manager, Advocacy
Program and Distribution Coordinator,
Indigenous Rights Radio
Sofia Flynn, Accounting & Office Manager
_
Chelsie Uilani Kualii (Native
Hawaiian),Indigenous Rights Radio Fellow
Maria del Rosario Rosy Sul Gonzlez
(Kaqchikel), Indigenous Rights Radio Producer
Jamie Malcolm-Brown, Communications &
Information Technology Manager
Teresita Orozco Mendoza, Regional Coordinator,
Community Media Program
Cesar Gomez Moscut (Pocomam),
Content Production & Training Coordinator,
Community Media Program
Agnes Portalewska, Communications Manager
Angelica Rao, Executive Coordinator
Miranda Vitello, Development Associate
Ancelmo Xunic (Kaqchikel), Community
Media Program Manager

Sobreviviencia Cultural STAFF

(Our Sister Organization in Guatemala)
Elsa Chiquita de Pacache (Kaqchikel),
Radio Producer, Community Media Program
Ingrid Sub Cuc (Kaqchikel/Qeqchi),
Community Media Program Assistant
Melvy Lorena Medina Patzn,
Fundraising Associate
Cesar Gomez Moscut (Pocomam),
Program Director,
Oscar Armando Xunic Rocal (Kaqchikel),
Accountant

INTERNS ANDVOLUNTEERS
Tyler Alderson, Don Butler, Bianca Coppola,
Emma Kurihara, Polly Lauer, Michelle LaFortune,
Isabelle Lefroy, Yaira Matos, Crystal Quintanilla,
Febna Caven Raheem, Alexandra Richmond,
Bonnie Tarrant, Caroline Tegeler, Alexis WhiteMobley, Kristen Williams

Suzanne Benally, Executive Director

(Navajo and Santa Clara Tewa)

2015 Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation: 1. Publication Title: Cultural Survival Quarterly 2. Publication Number: 0740-3291 3. Filing Date: September 10, 2015 4. Issue Frequency:

Quarterly 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: Four 6. Annual Subscription Price: $45.00 7. Mailing Address of Publication: 2067 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02140 8. Mailing Address of Publisher Headquarters:
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Statement of Ownership is printed in the December 2015 issue of this publication 17. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete: Agnes Portalewska, Communications Manager, Cultural Survival, Inc.

Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 1

i n t he new s
USA: Judge Denies Request
to Halt Salmon Protection
in Klamath River

UN Special
Rapporteur
Victoria
Tauli-Corpuz
advocates
for the rights
of Indigenous
women
and girls.

August

Californias Yurok and Hoopa Valley

tribes claimed victory on August 26
when a U.S. District Court denied the
local water authoritys request for a
temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the higher
supplemental flows from the Trinity
Reservoir, which had been released
to stop a fish kill on the Lower Klamath
River. The Bureau of Reclamation recently released water from the reservoir to protect the adult fall run salmon
from threats of a large scale die-off.

Guatemala: Indigenous
Community Celebrates
Victory After 200 Years
of Struggle
July

The Poqomchi Maya community

achieved a great victory for land rights
in Guatemala in July when, following
200 years of struggle, the Maderas
Filips Dias/Eco-Tierra logging company
finally ceded nearly 800 hectares of
land titled under the names of 279
Indigenous families.

USA: Mashpee Wampanoag

Acquire 300 Acres of
Traditional Tribal Land
September

The Massachusetts Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, recognized in 2007 and

indigenous to the Cape Cod region,
was approved by the federal government to acquire over 300 acres of land
into their trust. The ruling has opened
the possibility of a tribe-run casino
on the land under the federal Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act.

Costa Rica: Consent

Required from Indigenous
Peoples on New Projects
August

Legislation has been approved by the

Costa Rican parliamentary Special
Commission of Reforms of Regulations
that would require consultation with
Indigenous communities prior to
2 www. cs. org

Photo by
Danielle DeLuca.

engagement in new projects, aligning

the government of Costa Rica with
ILO Convention 169 requiring Free,
Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
with Indigenous Peoples.

UN Special Rapporteur
Releases Report to Human
Rights Council on the
Rights of Indigenous
Women and Girls
September

In September, UN Special Rapporteur

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz evaluated the
ability of women and girls to access
rights in their communities and the
extent of their political and social presence. Tauli-Corpuz reported that Indigenous women frequently find it difficult
to voice their concerns and prevent
abuse and victimization, as many communities see the rights of women as
a western ideal that emphasizes individual rights over communal rights.

UNESCO Recognizes Indigenous Peoples Distinct

Role In World Heritage
Sites
August

A recent decision by the World Heritage

Committee recognized the role of Indigenous Peoples and their distinct right
to Free, Prior and Informed Consent
(FPIC), giving Indigenous Peoples a
claim to the worlds collective heritage.
An upcoming debate will determine
whether Pimachiowin Aki on the
Manitoba-Ontario border in Canada
will be added to the list of World
Heritage Sites.

Australia: Legislative
Assembly Passes Historic
Indigenous Peoples Bill
August

Indigenous leaders in the lower

house of parliament in Western Australia
successfully passed a bill in the State
constitution recognizing Aboriginal
people as the First People and the
traditional caretakers of the land. Member of Parliament Kimberley Josie Farrer introduced the amendment, titled
Recognition of Aboriginal People.

USA: University of
Arizona Athletics No
Longer Using Ka Mate
October

The University of Arizona Wildcats

started using Ka Mate, an integral part
ori culture, as a traditional
of the Ma
warm up prior to athletic events in
2009. The practice has since been
under criticism for being offensive to
Maori students. The University of Arizona says it will find another, less controversial method of allowing students
to express their heritage.

Canada: Record 10
Indigenous MPs Elected to
the House of Commons
October

In Canadas national elections on October 19, a record number of Indigenous

people were elected to the House of
Commons. Ten Indigenous members
of parliament were elected, an increase
from the 2011 election when seven
Indigenous people won seats. Only
one MP, Yvonne Jones from Labrador,
was an incumbent.

Campaign Updates
Cultural Survival Partners
Win 2015 Equator Prize
In September,
the United
Nations Development Program
awarded 21 Indigenous organizations the Equator
Prize. This award is given out to community-based groups that promote sustainable development to reduce climate
change and further preserve the natural
environment. It recognizes these groups
for outstanding community involvement
and actively combating the issues they
face with practical solutions. Cultural
Survival is pleased to announce that
three of our partner organizations were
selected as this years winners: Maya
Leaders Alliance of Belize; Moskita
Asla Tankana (MASTA) of Honduras;
and Prey Lang Community Network of
Cambodia. Representatives from each
group will be participating in the Paris
Climate Conference this December.

Cambodia: Help Us Save

Prey Lang (Our Forest)
Kuy Villagers Step Up Activism
to Save Prey Lang
The Indigenous Kuy people of Cambodias
Prey Lang Forest
are redoubling
efforts to prevent
deforestation by
the government and corporations. The
Kuy have taken great care to protect
the rich forest environment they live
in. Now the community has created
a smartphone application to help the
Prey Lang Community Networks volunteer forest patrollers record, report, and
dispatch data and news regarding the
occurrence of illegal logging activities
within the threatened area. Currently,
70 villages are facing threats from
illegal logging and the governments

Cultural Survivals advocacy program launches international

campaigns in support of grassroots Indigenous movements as
they put pressure on governments and corporations to respect,
protect, and fulfill the rights of their communities.

concessions to rubber and timber

plantations within their forest.
Peru: Force Oil Company
to Clean Up Spills
Peru Concludes Consultation on
Lot 192 Before Reaching Agreement
with Indigenous Federations
The consultation process
between the government of Peru
and Indigenous
federations failed
after the license for
Lot 192, Perus largest oil concession,
expired in August 2015. Indigenous
leaders, angry that their rights have
not been respected, called for a 12-day
strike at the oil wells. The concession
was formerly held by Argentine company Pluspetrol, and has now been issued to Canadian-owned Pacific Stratus
for the next two years. In accordance
with state and international law a consultation is required before any new
concession can be approved, yet no
agreement was reached prior to the
renewal. Communities were demanding land titling, payment for use of the
lands, compensation for environmental
degradation, and immediate remediation to contaminated lands and waters.

Guatemala: We Are All

BarillasStop a Dam on
Our Sacred River!
Activists Released After Two Years
in Prison on False Charges
Rogelio
Velasquez and
Saul Mendez,two
Qanjobal community leadersfalsely
imprisoned in Guatemala for the past
two years, wereabsolved of all charges
and released on October 28, 2015. They
had been jailed for their activism against
Hidralia Energias proposedhydroelectric

dam project on the Qam Balam River

in Santa Cruz, Barillas, Huehuetenango.
The two have a long history as community leaders, participating in the organization and promotion of community
consultations in 2007 and 2011, during
which members of the Qanjobal community overwhelmingly voted to reject
any outside resource exploration or
extraction.
Bangladesh: Ban Coal Mine,
Save Forests and Farms
UK Report Urges GCM Resources
to Respect Human Rights Standards
in Bangladesh
The UK
government
issued a negative
report concerning
the planned Phulbari pit coal mine
in Bangladesh,
sought for development by Londonbased GCM Resources. Indigenous
Peoples of Phulbari have engaged in a
long and tumultuous fight against the
company to keep around 50,000 Indigenous Peoples from being displaced.
The report stated regret over GCM
Resources failure to update its human
rights impact assessment for the project as recommended in the findings of
a 2014 investigation. The investigation,
which followed a complaint submitted
in 2012, revealed that GCM has repeatedly ignored the considerable oppo-
sition to its project, including violent
protests and an even more violent
response by the authorities. Many UN
officials and rights groups are calling
for the plans for the Phulbari mine
to be abandoned.

Take action at www.cs.org/

take-action. Read more
news at www.cs.org/news.
Cultural
Survival
Quarterly
December
Cultural
Survival
Quarterly
June 2015
2015 33

indi geno u s a rts

Still a Pygmy
Isaac Bacirongo

till a Pygmyis the memoir of Isaac Bacirongo, an

ethnic Mbuti (Pygmy) from eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo, believed to be the first memoir
by a Pygmy author ever published.Bacirongo
helped establish the first Indigenous rights organization in D.R.C. in the mid-1990s.He was imprisoned because of his activism by the rebel regime that occupied the
area from 1998 to 2003, but managed to escape to Nairobi
with his wife and 10 children, later registering as a refugee
with UNHCR and being resettled in Australia. Still a Pygmy
brings to life the themes of Indigenous politics and com-
munity in Central Africa.The following are excerpts from
the book.

Pages 5355:

When I was about 10 my family

moved out of the forest and Papa
got a job on the farm of a Belgian man, Mr Franois. He used
to give me lifts in his dark blue
Peugeot 404 from his farm to his
office, and then I walked the rest
of the way to the local school.
No other Pygmy ever stepped
inside that car. He knew I was
from the Pygmy camp and
occasionally he gave me some
money to buy something, but I
would use it to pay my school
fees. This amount was nothing
to him, but sometimes it paid
my fees for an entire term.
During my rides with Mr
Franois he asked me about
school. Who is your teacher? What did you study today?
He did not speak Swahili so we spoke in French. He asked
simple questions because he knew I did not speak French
very well, although I had started learning it in school. Over
time these conversations improved my French a lot. I was
proud of being able to talk to him and that I rode in his car.
I asked him about his wife and children, and when they were
going to visit the farm. They lived in Europe, so perhaps he
missed them and showed kindness to me because of that.
From about this age I started to have a double life. Like
other Pygmies on the farm, Papa worked when he wanted to,
but he also went hunting back in the forest when he wanted
to, and sometimes I would go with him. I was comfortable
in the Pygmy camp and in the forest, but I also started to
become familiar with Mr Franois lifewith modern life:
cars and electricity and French language and the tea factory.
I was not living a modern life, but I could see it and it started
to become normal for me and was no longer strange. Other
4 www. cs. org

Bacirongo and his mother,Mama (Nakashishi).

Pygmies never went near Mr Franois house. When Mr

Franois children visited and walked to the Pygmy camp
where we lived, everyone hid in their huts or in the forest
because they were afraid. But I was different. I wasnt afraid.
I had lost my fear of white men because of Mr Franois.
I realised he was kind, and just a person like me.

Pages128-131:

In the mid-1990s, after Id become a successful businessman

and while Congos dictator, President Mobutu, was still clinging to power, a man in Bukavu called Kapupu created a small
non-profit organisation to help Pygmies. Kapupu publicly
called himself King of the Pygmies, but he was not a Pygmy
at all. He was from the Rega tribe. He asked members of his
church to donate salt and second-hand clothing that he could
distribute to Pygmies. The Pygmies were very upset about
this, that this man was saying he was their king. Traditionally
we dont even have chiefsor kings!
One day I was invited to visit the office of a man called
Kabungulu who worked for Hritiers de la Justice, a local
human rights organisation. Kabungulu had heard what
Kapupu had been saying and told me If Kapupu is saying
he is your king, it is the fault of the Pygmies because you are
hiding and do not come out and take the lead in saying he
is an imposter. You have to raise your voice. You need to do
something about it. I cannot approach the wealthier Pygmies
living in Bukavu because they dont want to be known as
Pygmies. But I can talk to you. Kabungulu knew there
were Pygmies who were capable of being leaders and fighting
for Pygmy rights, but that shame was keeping them back.
Kabungulu told me to contact people in my community
so we would all come together.
I was reluctant to get involved. When Kabungulu first
contacted me I wondered what I was going to gain. It was
All photos courtesy of Isaac Bacirongo.

Isaac Bacirongo surrounded

by his family in Nairobi,
Kenya before resettlement
to Australia.

dangerous to be an activist in Congo and Mobutu used to

hang his critics in public, so setting up a human rights organisation during his reign was impossible. An environmental
or business organisation might be possible, but not something for human rights.
Like other Pygmies I had also hidden my identity. The
reluctance of Pygmies to show their identity goes back centuries. Whenever Pygmies have come out of the forest, they
have tried to hide their identity to get acceptance. Every
time someone has tried to make them equal it has only made
things worse. Being a Pygmy activist seemed like a lonely job.
However, I listened to Kabungulu. By the mid-1990s, the
power of Mobutu had weakened a lot. We were still a bit
scared, but we could express our opinions freely, and felt
encouraged. On Kabungulus advice I went to talk to three
Pygmy elders living in Bukavu: Kangene, Muley and Nyabyamo.
These three men are all related to me and to each other
through clan ties. Kangene is like a grandfather or great uncle
to me, Muley is his younger brother and Nyabyamo is a distant uncle on my mums side. At the time Kangene was in his
late seventies, and he died only a few years ago in his nineties.
Kangene was proud to talk about Pygmies and he told me
how from the 1950s he started a campaign to get the colonial
authorities to pay attention to us. The Belgians became interested, but other Pygmies were not. As it turns out, the colonial
administrator of that area wanted help from Kangene to convince Pygmies to put their children in school, which is why
he became interested in us. Only a few Pygmies took up this
offer, the rest ran away into the forest. The Belgians made

Kangene a teacher because he had had a few years of primary

school education, and in those days this was considered a
lot. Kangene put his children in school and two of his sons
became medical doctors.
Kangene told me that of all the Pygmies in Congo, the
Bunyakiri Pygmieswhere my community is fromare the
most educated. It gives us pride that Kangene and a couple of
others went to school when most Bantu did not and Pygmies
elsewhere were living in the forest. It was these educated
Pygmies who started the fight for our rights back in the 1950s.
All three elders encouraged me to organise the Pygmy community and get the help from abroad. Go ahead, Kangene
said. Well support you. I felt encouraged and went ahead
and contacted their children because I wanted their support
as well, and I wanted them to know that I had been talking
to their fathers.
These extracts are reproduced with the permission of the
publisher.Still a Pygmyby Isaac Bacirongo and Michael Nest
(Finch Publishing: 2015 Sydney) is available in North America
and Australia in print and e-editions and in the rest of the
world as an ebook from Amazon,Kobo Books and the
iBookstore. finch.com.au/books/still-a-pygmy

Listen to Isaac Bacirongo here:

goo.gl/EWu6pn.

Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 5

women th e wo r ld m u st hear

Beating the Odds,

Changing Lives
Olga Montfar Contreras

orn in San Miguel Totolapan, Guerrero, Mexico in

1969, Olga Montfar Contreras (Nahua) fell ill with
polio as an infant, and when she was nine months
old her parents decided to move their family to
Mexico City. During her adolescence she was raped.
In spite of the violence of the trauma, it gave her the
opportunity to become a mother. The event also inspired her
enormous passion for defending the rights of Indigenous
women and girls with disabilities.
Despite the economic burden of migration and the cost of
medical treatment for her polio, Montfar Contreras attended
regular school with the support of her whole family. She finished with a degree in mechanical engineering, but even this
did not guarantee her a joba second challenge that drove

her to join the growing Disability Rights Movement in 1994.

She participated in some of the key events of the movement
in Mexico and was recognized for her lobbying talents,
having influenced various public policy developments both
at the national and local levels.
During the birth of the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities in 2007, Montfar Contreras worked with a
group founded by Don Gilberto Rincn in Mexico City. She
gained firsthand experience with the fundamentals of the
convention, which would later become part of the basis of
general law for people with disabilities.
Dissatisfied with her previous level of education, Montfar
Contreras went on to earn a masters degree in social policy
and development, which strengthened her ability to lobby
The founders of the Disability Caucus at the UNPFII in
2012 (LR): Felipe Flores (Peru, second from left) with his
personal assistant; Kamala Chakma (Bangladesh); Olga
Montfar (Mexico); Savina Nongebatu (Solomon Islands);
Setareki Macanawai (Fiji); and Ipul Powesau (Papua
New Guinea).

6 www. cs. org

for the rights of people with disabilities. She participated in

courses through the US International Mobility Program, such
as one offered through the Inter-American Human Rights
System and the John F. Kennedy Center, as well as the training offered by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights.
In 2012, with the support of the Disability Rights Fund,
she, along with other Indigenous people with disabilities,
made her first intervention at the UN Permanent Forum
on Indigenous Issues. Since then, the fight for the rights of
Indigenous people with disabilities has greatly progressed.
Today, despite her physical limitations and limited verbal
communication abilities, Montfar Contreras has become
a key figure in raising awareness on the intersectionality of
the human rights of people with disabilities and Indigenous
women and girls.She spoke with Cultural Survival Indigenous Rights Radio Producer Rosy Gonzalez at this years
session of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples in Geneva, Switzerland.
Rosy Gonzalez: The fight for the rights and the application of rights of Indigenous lands has been a constant fight
since colonial times. Indigenous communities are distinctive
and diverse, so their needs are distinctive and diverse. Indigenous communities have had to organize to get attention from national and international levels of governance.
An example of this is the sector of Indigenous people with
disabilities who, after a lot of organizing and work, were
granted the opportunity to have their demands heard at
the international level in front of the Permanent Forum
and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples. Can you speak to this?
Olga Montfar Contreras: I am a representative
of a foundation called Paso a Paso, a foundation of Indigenous persons with disabilities. I am also a representative of
the global caucus of Indigenous people with disabilities. We
are a young movement that takes part in the Forums and the
Mechanism. 2012 was the first year we did a live appearance.
That year, with our presence, we were able to study the
situation of disabled people in the global sphere.
In order to learn more about the subject, I took advantage
of our time in New York City and met with UNICEF. We
created a packet that featured the statistics of the number
of Indigenous youth with disabilities, what the prospects are
for our Indigenous disabled youth in the whole world. It was
a major advancement considering there is no information
about our disabled youth, let alone anything about our
adults. Also we were involved in the dialogues at the
global conference.
Making that happen took a major effort because we had
neither time nor money. We negotiated with different parts
of the country, working to make them notice us and send a
delegation to represent us. Today we have nine [representatives] inside the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.
And now with my presence here, the recommendation is that
the revision that will come out of the studies on [people with
disabilities] should include the subject of Indigenous people
with disabilities. I urge the Expert Mechanism to name the
clause Consulted Indigenous People with Disabilities.
All photos courtesy of disability rights fund.

Another recommendation is to form a working group that

focuses on the intersectionality of the rights of Indigenous
people with disabilities so they can better understand when
their human rights are violated and how to exercise them.
With the support of Expert Member Albert Barume, it has
been guaranteed that in the next Expert Mechanism, Indigenous persons with disabilities will be represented. I believe
that will be extremely positive.

Olga
Montfar
speaking at
the UNPFII
in 2012.

Rosy Gonzalez: Everyone has their own motivations

for wanting to fight for the rights of Indigenous people.
What motivated you?
Olga Montfar Contreras: Fortunately I grew up
with professionals, teachers in the community. So when they
realized I was disabled at nine months old, they never treated
me differently. When I started school, I had a classmate who
was a young boy who bothered me constantly. He made fun
of me, shamed me, and one day when he told me that I was
something entirely different from him I no longer wanted to
go to school. I used leg braces that went up to my waist, they
held me up like a doll. So I said, Im going to throw myself
[on the ground], I am going to scream and Im going to
tell them I dont want to go!
I never expected the reaction my father would have. He
picked me up with all of his strength, stood me up with my
braces, and said, School is never going to adapt to you, you
need to adapt to school. So you will go to school and you will
study. So I turned aroundback in those days you did not
look people in the eyes because it was seen as a disrespect
but in that moment I did it. I turned around and told my
father, I promise you I will be the best doctor in the world
and I will cure all of the children in the world who are like
me. I dont want them to go through what I go through.
I have a different profession. I cant cure their bodies,
but I am changing their lives.

Listen to the full interview at:

www.cs.org/rights.

Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 7

i ndi geno u s la n g u a g e s

The Voice(s) of a Nation

A groundbreaking office within Perus Ministry of Culture is working
to redefine the relationship between the State and Indigenous Peoples,
one wordunderstood in many languagesat a time.
Cristina Vern

n the global discourse on Indigenous Peoples, Peru can

easily confuse those outside Latin America in the way
it marginalizes all things Indigenous in contemporary
society, despite a population that is, in terms of genealogy, 82 percent Indian (when including those of mixed heritage). A deceptively robust-sounding 4 million Peruvians
speak at least one lengua indgena. Yet even for Quechua, the
principal language of the Inca empire and the most widely
spoken Native language in all of the Americas today, the
future is not assured, so long as the ghost of another empire
perpetuates its linguistic conquista over Peru.
Government agencies and their functionaries are hardly
natural allies of Indigenous Peoples. But a team of intrepid
linguists, educators, economists, and legal experts at the
Vice Ministry of Interculturalitys Directorate of Indigenous
Languages (most are Indigenous language speakers themselves) is working toward a seachange in the status quo.
Steering its course is agency director Agustn Panizo Jansana.

Peru was the site of one of historys great civilizational

clashes. How did this play out in linguistic terms?

APJ: At least 100 distinct tongues were spoken when the

Spaniards arrived. [After the conquest of the Incas], Spanish,
imposed as the language of power, entered into a relationship
of domination and exclusion toward the Indigenous languages.
This linguistic colonization is still at work today, alas.
Officially, 47 languages remain, of which 26 are considered
vitaltransmitted inter-generationally, used in most areas
of everyday life, and spoken among all generations within
a community. [Of these], 3 are endangered with 18 in grave
danger; [i.e.,] no longer passed down from generation to

Members of the staff

and participants of
the 8th Course for
Translators and Interpreters of Indigenous
Languages after the
closing ceremony in
Quillabamba, Cusco.
Photo by Lee Bendez.

8 www. cs. org

generation or interrupted in their intergenerational transmission. A few others are near extinction with perhaps
only a single living speaker.
Quechua shares official language status with
Spanish. Is its vitality and continuation a certainty?

APJ: Like all Indigenous languages, Quechua is losing speakers. Perus bilingualism has typically been a subtractive, rather
than additive, process; a state-in-transitioni.e., toward
abandoning ones Indigenous language for Spanishwith
the ultimate goal of acculturation.
What impediments are faced by Native language
speakers?

APJ: Indigenous languages remain tied to poverty, marginalization, and exclusion, as well as challenging to the exercise of
citizenship. The judicial system, for example, has traditionally
not engaged them; neither have most scientific or academic
initiatives. None have been considered suitable for the type
of communication associated with progress in this country.
Given this contentious history, how can the Directorate
of Indigenous Languages, a government agency, affect
change from within what has long been an adversarial
system?

APJ: In this office, we feel as though were repaying a historical

debt. Without question, the Peruvian state has had a hostile
policy towards Indigenous languages. The right to speak ones
own language was not seen for what it truly is: a fundamental
human right. The issue has become more politically important,
however, since Law 29735 [the Law of Indigenous Languages]
was instituted in 2011, coinciding with the Law of Consulta
Previa (Prior Consultation). For the first time, thanks to the

government of President Ollanta Humala, language is now

included as a key component within Perus national policy
on social inclusion.
How is your work envisioned?

APJ: Our big vision for what has to be done regarding

linguistic policies in Peru includes five lines of action: language development and revitalization; engaging in research
and producing language resources; opening new spaces for
the use of Indigenous languages; promoting the implemen-
tation of language rights by the State; and supporting the
Prior Consultation process.
In the early-mid 20th century, Perus politics, arts and
academia weregreatly influenced by ideals of the IndianexaltingIndigenismomovement. However, its leaders,
so-called Indigenistas, were largely mestizos(of mixed
Native/European heritage,) socially/linguistically
disconnected from their own ancestral Indigenous
communities.What has changed since then?

APJ: The major criticism against Indigenismoa product

of its times, alasis for its having promoted a rather paternalistic view. El Indio was its central preoccupationbut as an
object of concern. Today, Indigenous peoples are the subjects
of law. For this office, central to our process is a commitment
to insure Indigenous Peoples own agency and empowerment,
within a process of clarity, openness, and negotiation. The
work we do comes not from outside but from within the
Indigenous reality, with Indigenous-led organizations
taking the lead.
How is this reflected in the composition of your team?

The Directorate of Indigenous Languages. From left to right,

upper row: Natalia Verstegui, Agustn Panizo, Frank Janampa and
Gerardo Garca. Lower row: Mara del Pilar Collazos, Julin Taish,
Cynthia Palomino and Miguel Damin. Photo by Gonzalo Silva.

APJ: 2015 is a historic moment for this country in terms of

linguistic rights. Court proceedings in Peru have always been
administered, developed, and managed in Spanish, a language
many Indigenous citizens do not understand. And this is the
first year in which the judiciary has issued legally valid rulings
worded in Indigenous languages (Aymara, Quechua, and
Awajn thus far) in a process led by the same. This has never
been seen in the history of the Republic of Peruand its just
the beginning.
For our part, weve been training interpreters and translators (252 thus far for 35 languages) to serve as communicative
mediators between the people and the state. Many of these,
in turn, have transformed into linguistic rights activists,
returning home to lead revitalization movements in their
own communities.

APJ: It is important that this office be made up of those who

are either Indigenous themselves or have real relationships
with Indigenous communities. I myself am not Indigenous,
but Im Peruvian. As a linguist concerned with the precarious
situation of Perus Indigenous languages, I have committed
my career toward improving this situation. Each of my esteemed colleagues, meanwhile, including Gerardo Garca
Chinchay, Natalia Verstegui, Cynthia Palomino, Frank
Janampa Pomasoncco, and Julin Taish Maanchi, has strong
community ties and commitments not only to the languages
our office currently includes speakers of Quechua, Shipibo,
Nomatsigenga, and Awajnbut also to the rights of their
speakers. We all share a vision of linguistic promise in Peru,
understanding language rights as a gateway to securing
other rights as well.

Considering the territorial overlap of several

languages spoken in Peru, are there any international
collaborations in the works you can speak to?

At the operational level, what developments has

your office been directly involved in?

APJ: The youth must take big steps in order to reverse the
psychological mechanism of oppression, which compelled so
many of their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents
to abandon their mother tongues. In certain arenas its happening already: art, music, and media produced in Indigenous languages. Through a process of social and cultural
revindication, theyre spreading the message: My language
has value and it serves the people.

Please shed some light on the important changes

taking place in the Peruvian judicial system and the
role your office has played.

Cristina Vern is an international Indigenous Peoples

issues specialist, research consultant, communications strategist,
multimedia producer, andlongtime United Nations correspondent
originally from Peru.

APJ: We manage the coordination among various sectors

of the Peruvian state to implement Indigenous languages in
all areas of operation. For example, government offices such
as the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion now
include among their staff members speakers of whatever
languages are spoken by their constituents.

APJ: Sure. Theres an agreement with Colombia to design

a bilateral participative documentation project with the six
Indigenous languages spoken on both sides of our border,
to construct a knowledge platform for each. Weve also connected with an institute in Brazil, hosted an interchange of
colleagues with Chile, and will soon welcome the Minister
of Linguistic Policies in Paraguay to Peru. This office also has
a fruitful relationship with our counterparts in Mexico and
a pending agreement with the Basque region of Spain.
Bolivia and Ecuador are priorities as well.
For the future, what do you see as the greatest hope
for a multi-linguistically sustainable Peru?

Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 9

r i ght s i n a ct io n

Without a Secured Right to Freedom

of Expression, There Is No Democracy
in Central America
We have come to very respectfully ask that the Commission follow up on our request. We
are well aware of current policies on radio broadcast throughout the region and the sustained
approach that favors monopolies and oligopolies. Central America is challenged in developing
human rights approach to communication.This requires dismantling the hyper-mercantilization
that has drawn the human rights map. A ncel m o
Agnes Portalewska (CS STAFF)

n October 23, the Inter-American Commission on

Human Rights held a Thematic Hearing on Examining Freedom of Expression in Honduras, El Salvador,
and Guatemala during its 156th Session in Washington, D.C. Organized by Asociacin Mundial
de Radios Comunitarias (AMARC-Subregin Centroamrica), Asociacin de Medios Comunitarios de Honduras
(AMCH), Asociacin de Radios Comunitarias de Guatemala
(ARCG), Asociacin Sobrevivencia Cultural, Central American
Institute for the Study of Social Democracy (DEMOS), Comit por la Libre Expresin (C Libre), Cultural Survival,
Fundacin de la Comunicacin para el Desarrollo (Comunicndonos), Junta Ciudadana por el Derecho Humano a la
Comunicacin, and Mujbabl yol: Encuentro de Expresiones,
the session sought to shine a spotlight on the daily rights
violations that Indigenous journalists and communities
face when exercising the universal right to freedom of
expression and communication.
These basic rights make up the foundation of a well functioning democracy, yet communities in Central America
share a common experience, history, and reality that citizens
freedom of expression and the right to communication are
not evenly respected and guaranteed. Indigenous journalists
and community radio operators, despite physical threats, state
persecution, and even risk of death, continue to exercise their
rights in order to serve their communities. Telecommunications laws in Central America do not recognize community
radio except in Honduras, and even there, a law that favors
commercial institutions is the one that prevails.
The panelists included Oscar Antonio Prez from
Asociacin Mundial de Radios Comunitarias, Anselmo
Xunic from Cultural Survival and Asociacin Sobrevivencia
Cultural, Christian Oztin from the Asociacin de Abogados
Mayas, Alma Gloria Temaj Morales of Asociacin Mujbabl
yol: Encuentro de Expresiones, and Carlos Ramn Enamorado Prez of Asociacin de Medios Comunitarios de Honduras (AMCH).
10 w ww. cs. org

X un i c

El Salvador

In El Salvador, there is a continuing trend of concentration

of media in the hands of corporate groups that control the
whole radio spectrum, said Prez during his address to the
Commission. He added, all oligopolies are tied to political parties. Five commercial groups have historically held
ownership of El Salvadors radio frequency spectrum. Former
president Elias Antonio Saca owned six radio frequencies
when he began as president, and fourteen by the end of his
presidency. The law does not distinguish between public,
private, or community radio; all frequencies are auctioned to
the highest bidder and no state entity exists to regulate radio
broadcasting. Prez requested that the Commission urge the
government of El Salvador to make the necessary changes to
the judicial framework such that the State of El Salvador fully
recognizes the three communications sectors, including community media. Additionally he asked that the Commission
support the State of El Salvador in guaranteeing a free and inclusive radio system. Finally, he demanded that in El Salvador
and Central America, those who work in community radio be
recognized as an indispensable sector working to strengthen
the quality of democracy.

Guatemala

Guatemalas diversity is its strength, but there is discrimination, and it has been co-opted by de facto groups that hold
power and abuse it. The concentration of media is viewed
as normal among the people who do not realize it is a violation of social, civil, and political rights and an attack on their
freedom of expression. It violates the quality of democracy,
democratization of media, and the constitution, said Temaj
Morales. The 1996 Peace Accords that ended Guatemalas
36-year civil war guaranteed the democratization of the
media. However, the current telecommunications law makes
no provision for nonprofit community radio. One of the
strategic resources is radio frequency. We are seeing a greater
concentration of media outlets, and concern is strong when
greater concentration of media is in few hands. These outlets
have undermined standards of democracy. Young democracies

Left: IACHR Commission members react to the panelists. Inset: Edison Lanza, IACHR special
rapporteur on the freedom of expression. Right: Panelists (LR): Cristian Otzin, Alberto Recinos,
Alma Gloria Temaj Morales, Carlos Enamorado, and Oscar Prez.

Honduras

are at the mercy of serious structural voids that threaten

the progress of their political systems, said Xunic.
In Guatemala, radio frequencies are either reserved for
government use or auctioned to the highest bidder, so Indigenous communities must compete directly with commercial
radio stations. The Community Radio Movement of Guatemala brought a case to the Constitutional Court arguing that
this practice is discriminatory against Indigenous Peoples.
In March 2012, the court exhorted the congress to legislate in
favor of Indigenous community radio stations, allowing them
access to radio frequencies. Since then, Bill 4087, which seeks
to legalize and regulate community radio, has been introduced to the Guatemalan Congress, but it has not been ratified into law. As a consequence, the further concentration of
Guatemalas media has prevented the exercise of real democracy by barring the broadcast of varied sources of information
and opinions, and has contributed to a loss of Indigenous
cultures and values.
The concentration of ownership of media is a violation of
Article 130 of the Guatemalan Constitution, which prohibits
media monopolies. The concentration of media due to political
candidates asking for airtime...these are structures of power
that are coordinated around traffic of influence and corruption.
We call on the Commission to raise the profile of this situation
and put conditions in place where Indigenous Peoples and
others can utilize the radio spectrum, said Temaj Morales. In
addition, in recent years, community radio stations have been
the targets of police raids, criminal investigations, and unlawful
imprisonment. Under rule of law, its impossible to allow
community radio broadcasting to be prosecuted. It is a contradiction, said Xunic. Official state propaganda in Central
America continues to be used to either reward or punish
media. The Commission and Special Rapporteur must make
efforts to work with civil society to ensure greater plurality
of voices to strengthen democracy in the region.
All photos by Daniel Cima/IACHR.

In Honduras, restrictive laws, the criminalization of the right

to free expression, wiretapping, and murder of community
journalists are all common occurrences. In less than four
years there have been seven murders of journalists and broadcasters working for community media outlets. From 2014
2015, there were 55 acts of aggression against those who
work for community and alternative radio stations; journalists regularly face threats to their lives by local governments.
The Honduran state is violating freedom of expression over
internet and all forms of communication due to questions of
security. We request that the Commission and Rapporteur
ask the government to remove legislation that attacks freedom
of expression. We call on the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights to help create a law that includes the term
community media, and ask that an office of community
broadcasting be created to help facilitate the procedures for
organizations to apply for a frequency. This is part of democracy, having media availability, said Prez.
The Commission members asked the panelists for more
information regarding their opinion on adequate regulation
and laws with regard to community radio broadcasting as
well as more information on the abuse of criminal law against
people who engage in community radio broadcasting. The
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Edison Lanza,
stated that the Commission firmly believes that diversity and
pluralism are conditions and ends to democratic systems, and
that in order for freedom of expression to wholly exist, States
must assume their obligations and adopt legislation and effective public policies that enforce social inclusion. Mark Camp,
deputy executive director of Cultural Survival, who attended
the hearing, said, It is clear that Indigenous community radio
is an extremely important tool for Indigenous Peoples. It can
help sustain Indigenous cultures and languages. And when
radio stations are operated by the community and for the
community, it promotes participatory democracy. Governments must demonstrate their respect for the right to freedom of expression by ceasing their attempts to bar Indigenous
community radio from meaningful access to the airwaves.
Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 11

kissing the

water
Launching Nookomuhs

Nookomuhs and
crew beginning her
maiden voyage.

Jonathan Perry

It was dusk; as light faded and the darkness crept in

around the site, we were quietly sitting, watching the
fire. Blasts of smoke would hit us as the wind shifted.
Bird calls made way for the bats flying silently above
us. And the boat just burned on.

y community has been fortunate to have

many knowledgeable mentors in the traditional arts, so I would like to begin by
acknowledging Darrel Wixon and the late
Nanepashemet (Anthony Pollard), who,
along with many others, helped to maintain our traditions
of constructing vessels and homes as well as the fine arts.
Our community has many accomplished artisans, researchers,
and knowledge keepers, and I had the pleasure of studying
under them as a young teen and into my young adult years.
I honed my skill working for the Wampanoag Indigenous
Program at Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum
located south of Boston, Massachusetts. There were many
days spent by the river working on various sized dugout canoes alongside Darius Coombs of the Mashpee Wampanoag
Tribe, among numerous others. In my early days at Plimoth
Plantation, it was Coombs who helped me to expand my
understanding and experience with the process of burning
a dugout canoe. Between he and I, we have made over 100
dugouts. This experience gave me the confidence to take
on a project of even greater magnitude.
Mission Mishoon was a 12-week exhibition at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center demonstrating
the creation of a mishoon (dugout canoe) from start to finish
for the museums grand re-opening in May 2015. To make
this happen, I assembled a team consisting of Coombs; Andrew DeVido and James Hakenson (Aquinnah Wampanoag);
12 www. cs. org

and Leah Hopkins (Narragansett). The manager of museum

education, Christopher Newell (Passamaquoddy), museum
educators Matt Bigos (Schagticoke) and Nakai Northrup
(Mashantucket Pequot), museum executive director Jason
Mancini, and Jay Levy, an Indigenous Colombian, were integral as well.
We began by removing the bark from a 36-foot tulip
poplar log harvested locally in Ledyard, Connecticut, upon
which we built several small fires along the top to begin the
shaping process. Much like our ancestors, we decided to burn
24 hours per day for the duration of the exhibit. We took
turns sleeping and watching the vessel burn throughout the
night to ensure the continuous removal of material. The 3 a.m.
shifts were the hardest as we were tired and chilly, waiting
for our relief. But at the same time, this was when it was the
most beautiful: the dark silent night, the fog in the air, and
the crackle of the red and blue embers emanating intense
amounts of heat. The only sounds were the hissing of the
evaporating sap and the crackle of the hardwood. Youth and
Elders ensured the continuous burn in the early evenings;
stories and beautiful songs were told and sung, and in this,
the spirit of the boat came alive.
The vessel became a gathering placean extended community center at times, where feasts were created on the very
fires that burnt the vessel out. Great meals were shared of
traditional foods, and people from far away Nations visited
and bestowed gifts upon the boat to aid her in the preparation
for her journey. Many laughs were shared over the fire, as
well as many prayers and memories too numerous to recount.
The project brought our larger Native community together
in ways that I cannot remember since my youth.
Mission Mishoon brought together folks from the Aquinnah
and Mashpee Wampanoag communities, the Narragansett,
Pequot, Mohegan, Passamaquoddy, Schagticoke, Hunkpapa
Lakota, Crow, Haliwa-Saponi, Navajo, Shinnecock, Cree,
Apache, and many other Nations. Each of the visitors
brought a piece of themselves and their community to the
boat, and each of those gifts are now part of the vessels exAll photos Craig S. Milner.

istence. Levy, who spent time late into the evening tending
the fire with his young son Cacique and camping out next to
the mishoon, reflected upon his experience: This canoe has
brought the community together as it is supposed to. You
can learn a lot around a fire. This burning brought pride and
tradition. Knowledge and laughter were shared, ceremony,
prayer and songs were sunglife was celebrated as the tree
gave its life for its new life as a mishoon. It is a part of our
way. A part of the Pequot people. A part of all of us. It will
continue to bring the community together, educate, and
share its beauty.
After 12 days and nights of burning and scraping, the
mishoon was ready for the water. She was quietly moved on
an early August morning to the Mystic River in Connecticut
where the launch would occur at the Mystic Seaport Museum.
Last minute preparations were made: the scraping and cleaning of the vessel by the Pequot youth, as well as the carving
and sanding of the paddles by Manuel Lizzeralde. That first
moment when we each stepped into the mishoon as part of
the practice run the night before the journey into the ocean
was the moment it was made real. We all agreed that she
should be named Nookomuhs (My Grandmother), as she is
the first of her size made by the hands of many Nations for
the first time in over 200 years.
The sun was setting as each of us stepped into Nookomuhs, and she didnt rock, she didnt tip; she was the most
stable boat that has ever carried me. It was a surreal moment
pushing off from the dock and heading west, hearing our
paddles kiss the water for the first time in the Mystic. The
water was calm and the river was quiet. Despite the houses,
boats, docks, and surrounding developments, we were alone.
It was just about us and the mishoon, and all the work we
had done finally coming to fruition. Birds in the distance
were settling into their nests for the night, and the only other
sound was the water dripping off of our paddles. All that
was left was the journey itself.
The next morning we gathered the supplies and medicines,
ate a hearty breakfast, and prepared ourselves mentally and

spiritually for the paddle. As we arrived at the dock, we were

greeted by a crowd of well-wishers, family, friends, and community members. Our paddlersmyself, Coombs, DeVido,
Hopkins, Newell, Levy, Northrup, Bigos, Cliff Sebastian,
Chanae Bullock, Lizzeralde, and Mashantucket Pequot Chairman Rodney Butlerparticipated in the blessing of our
paddles, ourselves, and Nookomuhs.
We departed with an eruption of cheers and sang our way
down the river, which was active with large boats, kayakers,
and other canoes, many of them having come out to join us in
our endeavor. The waves increased in frequency and height as
we neared the bay and headed into the open ocean. We were
passed by larger boats creating strong wakes, but we were
able to turn the boat in such a way that we broke these larger
wakes and created our own. Due to the length and weight
of the vessel, it often required two people to steer.
We snaked our way down the river and landed at Noank,
the first Pequot reservation established in 1651, where we
took a short break and feasted on blueberries. After recouping, we launched Nookomuhs once again and started our
journey back to the seaport. All of the paddlers were in sync,
and we were pulling the water underneath the boat with such
force that we were passing motored boats traveling alongside
of us. To maintain our momentum, we each took turns singing old songs and calling cadence to keep us on beat. The
most powerful moment was when we were paddling back into
downtown Mystic and the public was gathered on either side
of the river, as well as above us on the drawbridge. We paddled
deeper, our songs got louderso loud that they echoed in the
town above usand everybody knew that we are still here.
The moment we tied off onto the dock was the culmination
of all the dedication, hard work and experience in the water,
and skill of the paddlers. It was powerful and bittersweet. We
were bringing Nookomuhs back to port, we were bringing her
home. We had worked and taught peoplethe Indigenous
peoplefrom start to finish, and it ended in success.
Jonathan Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag) is a traditional
artist and performer, and is a senior cultural resource monitor
for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).He also
serves as a councilman for his Nation and a board member
of the Association of American IndianAffairs.

The crew of Nookomuhs.

James Hakenson
(Aquinnah
Wampanoag)
digging out
the canoe.

Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 13

Envisioning the Future

by Revisiting the Past

Massachusetts Tribes Make Their Voices Heard

Agnes Portalewska (CS STAFF)
We are not able to live. We have been
surviving for so long; we just want to live.

ntil this past fall, the so-called Earle Report, published in 1861, was the most recent assessment
of the state of affairs of Native peoples in Massachusetts. In 1859, Worcester politician and newspaper
publisher, John Milton Earle, was appointed to
investigate the social condition of Massachusetts
Indians and recommend whether they should be afforded
citizenship and given the right to vote. Last August the state
of affairs of Massachusetts Native peopleswomen includedwas reexamined through a series of listening sessions
across the state. The project, Massachusetts Native Peoples
and the Social Contract: A Reassessment for Our Times,
was co-funded by MassHumanities, Suffolk University Law
Schools Indigenous Peoples Rights Clinic, and UMass Bostons
Institute for New England Native American Studies.
The survival of tribal communities is a testament to the
will and resilience of Native peoples. Outdated statutes like
the Earle Report and the Massachusetts Enfranchisement and
Allotment Act of 1869 still impact the lives of contemporary
Native Peoples who reside in the state. Cedric Woods (Lumbee), director of the Institute for New England Native American Studies, explains, These two state-sanctioned activities
set the stage for state citizenship for Native men, disenfranchised Native women, and changed the legal relationship
between many Native peoples and their homelands. Instead
of the various Indian districts, reservations, or towns having
ultimate collective ownership of their homelands, they were
divided up to individual heads of households and subject to
state taxation...a change in the legal status of Indian land that
would dramatically accelerate the loss of this land between
1870 and the time of the Great Depression.
The projects first listening session and roundtable was
held in Worcester, hosted by the Nipmuc Tribe, drawing 61
people and 9 online participants. In addition to presentations
from the Nipmuc and the Pocasset Wampanoag, numerous
audience members shared their thoughts, concerns, and questions. Tribal members spoke about the impacts of enfranchisement on Native peoples in the mid-1800s, which gave Native
men the right to vote but led to the dissolution of many collective rights Native communities had prior. The Allotment
Acts, which aimed to lift Native people out of poverty and
assimilate them into mainstream American society, created
14 www. cs. org

Cedric Woods (Lumbee) of UMass Boston introducing the panelists

at the consultation in Mashpee, Mass.

devastating losses for communities by prioritizing the

Euro-American model of individual land ownership. The
acts also allowed the government to sell excess Indian
reservation lands remaining after the allotments on the open
market, which made way for purchase and settlement by
non-Natives. From 1870 to the end of the Great Depression
in the 1930s, the Mashpee alone lost upwards of 70 percent
of their land holdings.
Among other concerns raised was the removal of tribal
children and their placement into state-run care, a practice
that still happens today. Ensuring that Native youth know
where they fit in and connecting them to their Native community is essential to our survival, said one audience member. Health and food were also discussed, with participants
asserting that the return of land would allow for Native communities to engage in sustainable agricultural practices by
reviving how their ancestors grew food and preserved lands.
Several speakers also made the connection between mental
health and access to traditional territories and offered this as
a potential remedy for those suffering from substance abuse.
Dispossessed Native communities have difficulty staying connected as many tribe members live in dispersed areas; nevertheless, they expressed the desire to being more closely knit
and holding more community events.
For several participants, the highlight of the listening
session was the presentation by Nipmuc youth Keely Curliss
and Nia Holley, who shared their thoughts on a variety of
issues including land, sovereignty, recognition, and the health
All photos by Alexis White-Mobley.

of their communities. Other youth in the audience echoed

Curliss and Holleys wish to be more connected with their
Native communities and spoke to the difficulty of growing
up and not of being able to get to community gatherings and
events. The passion with which the youth expressed their
hopes for the future of their communities was infectious,
said Woods.
The second consultation, hosted by the Mashpee Wampanoag in Mashpee, drew over 80 attendees. Executive Director
for the Massachusetts State Commission on Indian Affairs,
Jim Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag), and Sonksq Alma Gordon
(Chappaquiddick Wampanoag tribal leader) gave an overview
of how racist state policies, specifically the Allotment Acts,
historically disenfranchised their peoples, leaving communities fighting for their cultural survival. The history of the
Mashpee Wampanoags relationship with non-Native settlers
predates the formation of the Commonwealth and the United
States. They were present for the landing of the Pilgrims, but
only just received federal recognition as a tribe in 2007. As
Peters said, We have been playing a lifetime of catch up
but we are still here today. We lived as one, in balance with
nature; matrilineal, welcoming and communal people, where
things are not about I but us. It is humbling to be able to
trace my bloodline to this land.
Gordon also spoke about her people, a tribe of first contact with a 400-year documented history but not yet formally
recognized by the state or federal government. She voiced
the concerns of her 500 tribe members about the land loss
suffered on the Island of Chappaquiddick near Marthas Vineyard; the need for health coverage; the lack of a formal state
recognition process; and having been dispersed by history.
We are a forgotten people. We have no formal recognition,
but we do have heart, pride, and passion, she said. Nicole
Lach-Freeman, representing the Chappaquiddick youth
perspective, spoke about her peoples focus on rebuilding,
reclaiming land and traditions, and building strong
minds as her vision for the future.
The audience responded with largely positive feedback,
with many saying the event exceeded their expectations.
A young Mashpee man stated, As a young person, it is
very powerful to be here. Hearing the history of our cousins
helps us build stronger individuals. Connecting is a beautiful
thing, as many of us have lost our ways. One woman said
the listening sessions were helping to tilt the circle back
into place, which is long overdue. An elder reminded the
audience about the importance of land and traditional values
that respect people over things. Where your roots are, that
is your home, he said. We have to strengthen people consistent with our tradition. If you do not know who you are,
you will not know where you are going.
The listening sessions reaffirmed that Native people in
Massachusetts have a deep desire to learn more about their
histories and laws and policies impacting their communities.
What became very clear is that the issue of the allotment of
land at Mashpee and Chappaquiddick is still having very real
impacts on individual tribal members and their communities
as a whole. The loss of allotted land due to unpaid taxes is
still occurring in the areas that used to be recognized by the
state as Indian land unalienable for debts, said Woods.
The project continues with two more listening sessions

and will culminate with a wrap-up event at Suffolk University

in the Spring of 2016 that will present a report on findings.
We will identify areas of concern, what we believe we accomplished through the project, public feedback on the project,
and perhaps some recommendations based on the former. We
will get it to legislators, particularly those in whose districts
we held events, as well as to tribes, Native nonprofits, and
other interested parties, Woods said. Nicole Friederichs
of Suffolk University Law Schools Indigenous Peoples Rights
Clinic said, The purpose of the wrap up meeting is to begin
discussing next steps [to] present to the public and the Commonwealth. But, she added, ultimately it will be up to the
communities to decide how to move forward.

Mashpee
Wampanoag
children at
the Carlisle
Indian
Industrial
School.

Some of the Native Tribes

in Massachusetts Today
Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation
Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck
Chappaquiddick Wampanoag
Nipmuc Nation
Herring Pond Wampanoag
Mashpee Wampanoag
Natick Nipmuc
Pocasset Wampanoag
Massachusetts
Seaconke Wampanoag
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)

Attend the final consultation:

March 11, 2016, 122 p.m.
North American Indian Center of Boston
105 South Huntington Ave., Jamaica Plain
To learn more about the project, visit:
blogs.umb.edu/inenas.

Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 15

Truth
and
Reconciliation
The Findings on Wabanaki Child Welfare in the State of Maine
Penthea Burns

Imagine youre about to have a little one, the love that

you have for that little one... and then imagine somebody
outside of your family you dont even know making claims
on your little one. They dont like the way you live and
theyre going to take your little one by force. Imagine
what the loss is when this is not just your family, but
your entire community loses its children.
gkisedtanamoogk, Truth and Reconciliation
Commission member in the documentary
film First Light

he U.S. governments historical attempts to solve the

so-called Indian problem have included stealing
land, introducing disease and warfare, and killing
entire tribes. The documented atrocities have been
relentless, resulting in great harm to the Indigenous
people of this land. One of the most painful of these
has been the forced removal of Native children from their
families and communities.

Georgina Sappier-Richardson (Passamaquoddy)

and First Light co-director Ben Pender-Cudlip
at Pleasant Point in Sipayik, ME.
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In the 1800s Congress authorized the Civilization Fund

Act, providing funding for boarding schools for Indian children. Native children were taken far from their homes to
boarding schools where they were forbidden to speak their
language or practice their customs. Children were separated
from siblings and were often badly abused; many died there.
Those who survived returned to their communities not
knowing their language and traditions, and they and their
communities were never the same. The last boarding
school closed in 1984.

Child Welfare

In the 1950s, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Child

Welfare League of America created the Indian Adoption Project,
through which hundreds of Native children were taken from
their families and placed with mostly white adoptive parents.
The 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act gave Indian children, families, and communities greater legal protections by recognizing the essential tribal relationship of Indian people and culture and social standards prevailing in Indian communities
and families. Still, through the 1990s, Native children were
being placed in foster care in Maine at a rate higher than
most other states.
In 1999, Wabanaki Tribes and the state of Maine
collaborated to improve state compliance with the Indian

Introducing the Commissioners

gkisedtanamoogk (key-said-TAH-NAH-mook), Wampanoag from the community of Mashpee in Cape Cod,
Massachusetts, and adjunct instructor in the Native American Studies and Peace & Reconciliation Programs
at the University of Maine
Matt Dunlap, Maines secretary of state and former Maine state representative
Carol Wishcamper, former chair of the Maine state board of education, the Maine Center for Educational Service,
and the Maine chapter of the Nature Conservancy
Sandy White Hawk, Sicangu Lakota from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota and founder and director
of the First Nations Repatriation Institute
Dr. Gail Werrbach, director and associate professor at the University of Maine School of Social Work

Child Welfare Act. The Muskie School of Public Service, with

funding from the Maine Office of Child and Family Services,
established a working group (later named Maine-Wabanaki
REACH) with tribal and state child welfare representatives as
members. The working group trained caseworkers, developed
policy, and gathered data about compliance in many Maine
communities.

Truth and Reconciliation

Despite positive steps, the working group found that sig-

nificant problems remained in practice and attitudes toward
working with Native children, families, and communities.
In 2008, they concluded that in order to create lasting change,
the past needed to be investigated and better understood.
Over the next four years, the working group created the
Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commissionthe first of its kind to address issues of
Native child welfareto investigate systemic abuses and
the factors that contributed to them.
The Commissions articulated intent was to uncover the
truth of what happened to Wabanaki people in state child
welfare following the passage of the Indian Child Welfare
Act in 1978, and to promote healing and contribute to change
in child welfare practices. Its mandate was signed in 2012 by
the five Wabanaki Chiefs and the Maine governor, outlining
responsibilities, timelines, and guidelines for interactions
with tribal communities.

Commissions rely on personal testimony, documentary

research, and other sources of evidence to understand the
past. The Maine Commission held listening circles, ceremonial gatherings, and interviews in six Wabanaki communities
and in five regions with non-Native Mainers. Hundreds of
people participated, including Wabanaki elders, children
formerly in care, foster and adoptive parents, tribal leaders,
service providers, incarcerated people, attorneys and judges,
caseworkers and administrators, and parents and grandparents.
Talking about memories, often painful and traumatic, was
not an easy task, as many people had never before shared
their stories.

Commission Findings

The Commissions final report, presented in 2015, found that

Wabanaki children in Maine entered foster care at an average
of five times the rate of non-Native children. The report concluded that to improve Native child welfare, the state and
the tribes must continue to confront:
1. Underlying racism still at work in state institutions and
the public
2. Ongoing impact of historical trauma, also known as intergenerational trauma, on Wabanaki people that influences
the well-being of individuals and communities
3. Differing interpretations of tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction that make encounters between the tribes and the
state contentious
Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 17

Truth and Reconciliation

(CONTINUED)

The report further asserted that these conditions can be held within the context
of continued cultural genocide, as defined by the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948.

Whats Next?

Georgina Sappier-Richardson (Passamaquoddy)

taken from parents at age 2.

The Commission issued a series of recommendations, inviting communities and

stakeholders to engage with the underlying conditions that contribute to the problematic relationship between the Wabanaki Tribes and the state of Maine and with
child welfare practice failures. The Upstander Project represents one such effort
with its films, First Light and Dawnland, companion learning resources, and
teacher workshops.
Maine-Wabanaki REACH, which formed the Commission, provides education
on history, trauma, resiliency, healing, and ally-building to Maine and Wabanaki
communities. Healing circles, health and wellness workshops, and community events
focus on resilience and capacity building in all tribal communities in the state. This
includes restorative justice and peacemaking circles and creating connections to
Wabanaki incarcerated relatives through a prison book drive and pen pal initiative.
REACH provides educational events, ally-building, and ongoing ally supports across
Maine to deepen the understanding of the shared history between Native and nonNative Mainers. Allies are encouraged to take action to create a more just relationship
between Native and non-Native people in Maine via legislative hearings, rallies, letters
to the editor, letters to legislators, and volunteering at Truth Commission events.
REACH staff are also working with the Indian Child Welfare Act working group
on child welfare improvements. REACH will play a vital role in the implementation
of the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions recommendations.
As the Commission stated in its final report, We have heard the voices of the
many who spoke with us and to remain quiet is to continue to perpetrate harms
that must be known. Consider this report as a step toward refusing that silence and
continuing this conversation, that will, we hope, like all the best communication,
offer ample time for everyone to simply listen.
Penthea Burns is Maine-Wabanaki REACH co-director
(www.mainewabanakireach.org).

Penthea Burns is Maine-Wabanaki REACH

co-director.

To read the Commissions report in full,

visitwww.mainewabanakitrc.org/report.

First Light
First Light is the first film in a series, anchored by the feature film Dawnland (to be released in 2017), conveying
the stories of pain and resilience that emerged during the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions process. It
tells a piece of the story of the Commission and its origins. Dawnland will bring viewers inside the Commission
and share testimony from those who suffered because of the child welfare system, along with those who
upheld its policies. When we tell these stories, we feel it in our bodies and our hearts. But I believe we can
get to the point where it has less power over us. This was a perfect example of the readiness, that its time.
Sandy White Hawk, TRC Commissioner,
First Light and its learning resources areavailable for free at upstanderproject.org. These resources help
teachers and students deepen their understanding of the brutal and disturbing history of settler colonialism
that began with the invasion of Native peoples homeland, and government policies that aimed to force Native
people to stop being who they are. These resources are central to the Upstander Projects teacher and student
workshops.
The Upstander Project helpsbystandersbecomeupstandersthrough compelling documentary films and
learning resources.Its goals are to help educators and students overcome indifference to social injustice, develop
the skills of upstanders, and contribute to action-oriented campaigns in response to vital social issues.View
First Light here: upstanderproject.org.

18 www. cs. org

All photos courtesy of Upstander Project.

On O ur Ow n Te r m s

Spokane Tribe of Indians

to Turn Consent Into Tribal Law
Carla Fredericks

ree, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is an emerging international standard for companies that interact
with Indigenous Peoples. Closely tied to the concepts
of tribal sovereignty and self-determination, FPIC
is designed to replace the processes that historically
excluded tribes from decision-making related to
activities taking place on or near their land. Many entities,
particularly in the extractive industries, have established their
own protocols for interacting with Indigenous Peoples, but
few FPIC protocols have been developed by Indigenous
Peoples themselves. The Spokane Tribe of Indians of Washington have not only developed such a protocol, but have
gone a step further by examining the enforcement of the
right to FPICspecifically as described in Articles 10, 19, 28,
and 29 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoplesas part of tribal law.
In April 2015, students from the University of Colorado
Law School and the director of Colorado Laws American
Indian Law Program traveled to New York City to participate
in the 14th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues where, along with Cultural Survival, First Peoples
Worldwide, and the Spokane Tribe, they held a side event for
representatives from those organizations and tribal officials
to present the Tribes innovative work.
The precise set of actions that constitutes consent is not
legally defined in international or domestic law. It is clear,
however, that a tribe must be able to say no to a proposed
activity. Other essential considerations involve the question
of whose consent must be obtained, and whether consent
must only be given once, or if it should be required at each
phase of an agreements implementation. It is also clear that
a tribe must be given time to understand, access, and analyze
information concerning potential harms and impacts of a
proposed activity before giving consent. This includes access

Side event organized at the

2015 UN Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues on FPIC.
Photo by Danielle DeLuca.

to information in the local language and in a format that is

culturally appropriate. Consent can only be made freely if it is
given without coercion, external pressure from government
or industrial sectors, manipulation, intimidation, or externally
imposed timelines.
By establishing its own FPIC protocol, the Spokane Tribe
can make critical decisions protecting tribal sovereignty and
self-determination. Now, the Tribe wants to communicate
the need for Indigenous FPIC with other Indigenous groups.
To this end, faculty and students in the American Indian
Law Program have been working closely with UN Special
Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria
Tauli-Corpuz. When the rapporteur learned about the Tribe
and Law Clinics efforts, she asked that a parallel event be
coordinated at the 30th session of the UN Human Rights
Council meeting in Geneva to showcase their work.
On September 22, Cultural Survival, Tebtebba, and the
American Indian Law Program hosted Indigenous Operationalization and Implementation of UNDRIPs Free, Prior
and Informed Consent. Indigenous participation in the UN
has been challenging, but the panelthe only side event for
Indigenous Peoples during the two-week sessionhelped
increase awareness of Indigenous issues. Working together,
Cultural Survival and the American Indian Law Programs
continued advocacy on behalf of tribes and other Indigenous
groups worldwide will further help Indigenous Peoples realize
the implementation of rights expressed in the Declaration.
And the Spokane Tribes crucial work in bringing the right
to FPIC into tribal law will serve as a model for Indigenous
groups throughout the world.
Carla Fredericks is an enrolled member of the Mandan,
Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations and is director of the American
Indian Law Clinic and American Indian Law Program at the
University of Colorado Law School in Boulder.

Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 19

A Gathering of Nations

First-Ever World Indigenous Games Held in Brazil

Over 20,000 Indigenous athletes from nearly 50 ethnic groups

participated in the World Indigenous Games.

Alexis White-Mobley

or the first time in history, Indigenous athletes from

all over the world gathered in the city of Palmas in the
Amazon jungle state of Tocantins, Brazil, to compete
in the first World Indigenous Games, held October 23
to November 1, 2015. Over 2,000 athletes representing
nearly 50 different ethnic groups (including 22 from
Brazil alone) participated in a variety of events, from a few
Western-style games to many Indigenous traditional games.
Some events were competitive, such as canoeing, archery, the
spear toss, and the 100-meter rustic race, while others were
demonstrative events, such as the football-like game of xikunahity, in which players control the ball only with their heads.
During the official announcement of the Games to the
United Nations back in April, organizer Marcos Terena said
that the World Games of Indigenous people is a decades-long
dream finally being realized and a major achievement for
Indigenous Peoples. The Games were run by the Inter Tribal
Council, a Brazilian Indigenous Peoples NGO that has organized Brazils national Indigenous Games since 1996. Billed
as the Olympics of Indigenous sport, they were put on in
partnership with the Brazilian governments Ministry of Sport
20 ww w. cs. org

and the United Nations Development Program. At the 14th

session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,
Brazils Minister of Sport, George Hilton, addressed over 100
Indigenous men and women, UN officials, journalists, and
government representatives at the UN headquarters in New
York. These Games celebrate the lifestyle, the harmony
with nature, and the diversity of Indigenous people of all
ethnicities, he said.
Canadian lawyer, former member of Parliament, and
Honorary Chief Wilton Littlechild (Cree) attended the Games
with his family. Littlechild has said he credits sports for helping
him survive the trauma of the infamous residential schools.
He started Canadas first all-Aboriginal hockey team in Alberta,
encouraging his players to focus on their education. He was
also a founder of the North American Indigenous Games. Of
this years World Indigenous Games, he said, We wanted to
be there for this historic event. It was 38 years in the making.
Littlechild was not only a delegation head in Brazil, but also a
Games participanthe joined the river swimming race and
brought home the gold in his age group. At 71, he was the
oldest athlete by nearly a decade.
Beyond the athletic events, an additional aspect of the
Games was a comprehensive program of discourse and celebration of culture, including the latest Indigenous Peoples
Social Forum, activities for Indigenous women, a lecture
series, and various fairs; all forums in which participants
could discuss human rights and environmental issues. One
such event was the parade of Indigenous beauty, in which
60 women and girls took part. The Games organizers stressed
that it wasnt supposed to be a beauty contestno queen was
crowned, no runners-up chosen. Rather, they said, it was a
celebration of facial features, body types, and adornments
not often given their due.
Parade organizer Tainara da Silva (Terena) from Brazils
Mato Grosso do Sul state, said that up until recently, such an
event would have been unthinkable. Before, the elders didnt
want to show their womenfolk in public, said Silva, an agronomist who began organizing beauty contests on her home
reservation several years ago. But thats changing. They now
see that this is a way of valorizing our culture and traditions.
Silva views the Games auxiliary events as a way to show
the Brazilian public how diverse the country truly is. Brazil
has more than 300 Indigenous groups, although their numbers have dwindled since pre-Columbian times and they
now constitute less than 0.5 percent of the population. Most
times, people say, Look, theres an Indian, without even realizing how many Indigenous groups there are, she said. I
want to show the richness of our people, how each of us is
different and special. Fittingly, the motto of the first World
Indigenous Games was En 2015, somos todos indgenas
(In 2015, we are all Indigenous).
All photos courtesy of Tiago Zenero/PNUD Brasil.

 The event was not without substantial controversy. Leaders

from two Indigenous groups in Brazil, the Kraho and Apinaje
tribes, announced their refusal to take part in the Games,
citing the Brazilian governments failure to address concerns
about land rights and violence in many Indigenous communities across the country. The Union Association of ApinajPempx Villages said in a statement: [We] cannot accept and
participate in a sensationalized media event which aims to
use images of Indigenous Peoples to distort the facts and lie
abroad; hiding the true reality and suffering of the Indigenous
Peoples of Brazil. Some critics suggested that the federal
money spent on the Games would have been better set aside
for improved healthcare and education for Brazils Indigenous
Peoples.
In addition, much criticism centered around a government
proposal that would provide the countrys legislative branch,
which is heavily influenced by agricultural lobbies, with power to define Indigenous lands, many of which contain valuable
natural resources. The measure was approved by a congressional commission in the middle of the Games. In response,
demonstrators burst into the arena during the 100-meter dash
Wednesday night, effectively ending the evenings activities
and causing organizers to dramatically increase security. An
international social media campaign backed by 83 organizations
called for a global boycott of agricultural product imports
grown on Indigenous lands shortly thereafter. The issue continued to develop alongside the positive media coverage of
the Games, illuminating the dark underbelly of Indigenous
struggle in Brazil along with corresponding struggles worldwide in tandem with international spectacles such as the
Games.
The World Games, despite its many issues, was ultimately
praised for what it tried to do. Chief Tammy Cook-Searson
of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band told CBC News in Canada,
Ive always been proud to be First Nations, but even prouder
now after going to the Games. It just renews and rejuvenates
ourselves as Indigenous Peoples of the world. Felicia Chischilly (Navajo) of New Mexico, one of the United States
19 delegates, said to the Associated Press, Its a powwow
in the true sense of the worda gathering of nations.
The next World Indigenous Games are set to be held in
Canada in 2017. The country was selected in a consensus by a
council of international Indigenous leaders during the Games
in Palmas, based in large part on First Nations experience in
organizing the North American Indigenous Games. Organizers say the precise location and date will be determined after
spiritual and political consultations. Littlechild, who will play
a key role in organizing this next edition of the Games, looks
favorably upon this decision. Government partnership will
be important, he said, since the main challenge in staging the
games will be financial. He added that he will be looking for
commitments from Indigenous communities as well as the
private sector, saying that some [corporations that] have
a very bad name in terms of their activity on Indigenous
territory [will have] a chance to reconsider how they have
dealt with those communities.
Right: The World Indigenous Games were
a chance to showcase skill, strength, and
resilience and celebrate diversity.
Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 21

A barricade with a sign, "the resistance is growing" blocks the

road leading to the Kallak iron mine.

A Sami manwatches a reindeer raceduring Jokkmokk's

annual winter market.

A New Era of Exploitation?

Mining Sami Lands in Sweden

Alec Forss

dirt road leads deep into a thick forest of pine

and spruce some 25 miles west of the small town
of Jokkmokk, in Norrbotten County, in Swedens
far north. Beard lichen, an indicator of the pure
air quality, hangs thickly from the branches while
Siberian and Eurasian jays dart between the trees
harboring a bounty of berries.
Turning left at a sign for Kallak, the sound of heavy
machinery operating suddenly cuts through the stillness of
the forest. A bit further in lie a dozen test pits stripped bare
of vegetation and ready for dynamiting. In the middle of a
pit is a reindeer, oblivious to the rich deposits of iron ore
in the bedrock underneath.
In this remote corner of Sweden above the Arctic Circle,
a battle line has been drawn over the proposed Kallak iron
mine, pitting environmentalists and the regions Indigenous
populationthe Sami, who number around 20,000 in Sweden
against those in favor of mining as a means of boosting
jobs and revenue.
Keen to cash in on the regions resource wealth is the
British-based mineral exploration company Beowulf Mining,
which, through its Swedish subsidiary Jokkmokk Iron Mines
AB, has applied for an exploitation concession for the Kallak
North iron ore deposit. Noted as an Area of National Interest
by the Swedish Geological Survey, the company announced
an indicated resource base of 118.5 million tonsone of the
largest deposits in Sweden not yet to have been exploited.
With a population in long-term decline and a dearth of
steady employment opportunities, mining is seen by some as
a lifeline for northern inland communities. Others are skeptical that the mine will deliver the promised jobs and benefits,
and also fear the ecological risks of contamination and waste.
22 ww w. cs. org

The debate has split the community. It is, however, the minority Sami population, the original custodians of this land, who
stand the most to lose.
The Sami have inhabited the northerly reaches of Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula in Russia (a place they call
Spmi) for thousands of years, living off the land and its
resources as pastoralists and hunters. While the Sami today
live in modern houses and have other jobs, for many Sami
in Jokkmokk reindeer herding remains a cornerstone of
their culture, identity, and economy.
The proposed mine not only lies on an important spring
and autumn grazing ground for the Samis reindeer, but it
would also require an upgraded road and rail infrastructure
to get the iron to the Swedish port of Lule and the Norwegian
town of Narvik on the Atlantic coast. The Sami community
is adamant that if the mine goes ahead, it will endanger
their livelihoods.
It could be devastating, says Jonas Vannar, reindeer
herder and vice-chairman of Sirges Sameby, one of the three
Sami reindeer herding communities affected by the mine.
In reindeer herding it is crucial for the reindeer to be able
to migrate. Weve seen the negative impact in other places
where there are mines . . . and this area is precisely between
the winter and summer pastures. [A railway] will cut off
the migration routes.
The Norrbotten County Administrative Board took the
view that an exploitation concession should not be granted
with specific reference to chapters 3, 4, and 6 of Swedens
environmental code, concluding that the damage mitigation
measures proposed by Beowulf would not change the fact
that reindeer herding would be severely affected by the mine.
Worst affected would be the herding community of
Jhkgsska Tjiellde, whose territory would be cut in two. Its
chairman, Jan-Erik Lntha, is unequivocal about the mines
All photos by Alec Forss and Bjrn Nordkvist.

From left to right: Workers drill into the iron ore-rich bedrock; A reindeer sits in an important grazing site,
now a test pit, oblivious to the deposits below; The Sami flag painted on a board at the Kallak mine site.

potential impact: This location is particularly sensitive. It

would be a big area affected with a lot of disturbances, reducing valuable winter pasture ground for the reindeer, preventing
their ability to roam, and also negatively affecting the gathering of the reindeer and migration, especially in the spring
season.
Vannar also fears that the mine could affect the livelihoods
of hundreds of Sami who depend on reindeer herding. The
grazing pastures for the reindeer have already grown smallerits hard to say when a point of no return is reached. But
with this mine, I personally fear that it will affect my survival
as a reindeer herder, he says.
Of further contention is the fact that the mine is located
just 50 miles away from Laponia, only one of a handful of
places in the world designated as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site both for its natural value and cultural importance. If
access to and from our summer pastures is impeded because
of this mine, that undermines the cultural basis on which
Laponia was chosen as a World Heritage Site, Vannar says.
Other exploration permits for mining exist throughout
the municipality. Definitely, if theres one open pit mine,
there could be another two, three, four, five mines, admits
Jokkmokk municipal chief executive Anders Nygrds. And
while environmental regulations are strict in a region dominated by a patchwork of national parks and nature reserves,
a study commissioned by Beowulf Mining (which holds eight
additional exploration permits) noted that exemptions could
apply if deemed in the public interest.
It is not only the livelihoods of the Sami that are stake,
but the right to determine how their land should be used.
In May 2014, the Sami Parliament called for a moratorium
on all exploitation in Spmi, stating that all natural resources
above and below ground within the traditional Sami land
areas belong to the Sami people [and] no decision can be
taken without the consent of the Sami parliament and communities involved. Yet Sweden is conspicuously absent from
the list of countries that have ratified ILO Convention 169, a
legally binding instrument that recognizes Indigenous land
rights. And while Sweden is a signatory to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, its implementation
of the articles relating to land, water, and natural resources
remain controversial.

Some worry that Sweden may be on the threshold of a

new era of exploitation with a mineral strategy outlined by
the previous government that envisages tripling the countrys
number of active mines from 16 to 47 by 2030. Many of these
mines are located on Sami lands, a resource Eldorado that
for decades has provided the majority of the countrys hydropower and is already the site of Europes largest iron and copper
mine. Kallak could be the thin end of the wedge in a region
that is seen as ripe for development. Less than 150 miles
to the southwest at Rnnbcken in Vsterbotten, Vapstens
reindeer herding community has reported the governments
decision to proceed with a nickel mine to the UN Committee
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Lntha is adamant that more needs to be done to protect
Sami rights. There has to be greater awareness of and priority
attached to Sami culture and reindeer herding and its needs
and interests. If we always have to compete with short-term
economic thinking, then we are going to lose. We believe that
in thelong term, the preservation of reindeer herding and
the environment would be more valuable, he argues.
Unable to determine whether the Sami reindeer herding
communities affected could be able to continue reindeer
herding at a manageable level, the Mining Inspectorate of
Sweden referred the decision regarding the Kallak mine to the
Swedish government in February 2015. The decision expected
this fall is a litmus test for the future and signal of the intention
of the new government, and whether it is genuinely committed to safeguarding the rights of the Sami to determine the
development of their lands.
As birch leaves shimmer lemon-yellow with the onset of
fall, an uneasy calm settles around Jokkmokk as all sides await
the governments decision. Its an especially nervous wait for
Vannar, Lntha, and the communities they represent. Reindeer
herding has already suffered a lot of blows over the decades
and this has been a long struggle, Vannar says, adding defiantly, but I just know that we will not give up.
Alec Forss is a writer and editor with a focus on adventure,
environment, politics, and culture. He lives in Stockholm,
Sweden. His website is:www.alecforss.com.

Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 23

A Modest Revolutionary
in focus, has forged a more measured, self-reflective path
one that inspires of its own accord. She was raised to live a life
filled with and guided by purpose, and she found hers in the
same medical calling her father once did. For her, however,
the practice of medicine was not a stepping stone to fomenting a political revolution. For her, health care is the revolution.
Cristina Vern: Describe for us what your work entails
as a medical doctor, internationalist, and representative
of Cuba to the world.
Aleida Guevara March: Im an allergist and pediatrician,
thats my real job. But I also engage in solidarity work with
peoples throughout the world. Wherever I travel, I bring with
me the message of respect for all human beings; above all,
Indigenous Peoples. For far too long, theyve been left behind
or forgotten on the road to so-called progress, yet it is precisely they who can teach the rest of us how to live our lives
with greater dignity.
CV: Youve spent a major portion of your professional life
working in Africa and South America. Please share some
experiences which have been most eye-opening or otherwise significant.

Aleida Guevara March speaks during the unveiling of a statue honoring

her father, Ernesto Che Guevara, at the square named for him in his
birthplace of Rosario, Argentina. Photo by Pablo Flores.

Cristina Vern
Aleida Guevara March isnt content to rest on the laurels of
her iconic father. Guided by the Hippocratic Oath as much, if
not more, than any political manifesto, her fervor to heal the sick
especially childrenis unabashedly tempered by experience
working among Indigenous Peoples throughout the world.

evolutionaries dont typically cultivate humility among

their attributes to further their causa, and Che Guevara
an Argentine medical doctor who became a central
figure to the Cuban Revolutionwas hardly an exception.
A hero in the hearts of many Indigenous people throughout Latin America and Africa especially, his internationalist
interventions have not escaped criticism for what some view
as a paternalistic attitude toward Indigenous Peoples.
Aleida Guevara March (Gueveras daughter, born to his
second wife, Aleida March), while hardly less international

24 ww w. cs. org

AGM: For one, I spent some time in Ecuador and became very
interested in the culture of its Quichua people. I met with a
group of Quichua midwives, which was very enlightening.
They recognize, for example, that women should give birth
in a place that is cozy and warm, comforted by loved ones
not isolated in some sterile room. If Id had the privilege of
speaking with such knowledgeable women back when I was
studying medicine, perhaps the births of a hundred babies
or more would have gone much better!
CV: How would you describe the distinctions between theirs
and your own Cuban, or Western, ideas about childbirth
and maternal care overall?
AGM: Lets look at history. The Spaniards brought their own
cultural and religious ideas with them to the Americas. Back
in the 11th century, the Catholic church had declared that for
any woman to give birth without experiencing pain would
prove she was in league with the Devil; that women should
suffer in childbirth. Can you imagine? Western doctors obsess
over thingseven to the extent that this may cause agony or
harm to their patients. Thats crazy! The Indigenous healers
that I worked among, however, take physiological things so
calmly, so self-assuredly, and their patients benefit greatly
from this.
CMV: You worked for quite some time in Bolivia, where
your own father was killed. How did you find peoples
receptivity to Cuban medical intervention in their lives?

AGM: We Cuban doctorsmore than 1,000 of us there at the

timehad been taught to demonstrate the utmost respect for
all our patients. The Indigenous communities felt this, and
so they trusted us. We actually found ourselves at the center
of conflict, wherein they were refusing to be seen by Bolivian
doctors; only Cuban ones. I had not imagined anti-Indian
racism would be so widespread in a country that is itself so
fundamentally Indian. For so long, Indigenous Bolivians have
been treated as inferior beings by their own countrymen.
CV: The Indian population of Cuba is nebulous; meanwhile,
those who are of Spanish and/or African descent prevail in
number. Is anything in that Bolivian experience relatable
to some context in Cuba?
AGM: Just as Bolivia is an Indian nation, we are now an
Afro-Latino one. Unquestionably, Cubas Afro-descendents
have suffered racism comparable to that experienced by Indigenous Boliviansespecially before the revolution. Today,
to speak of Cuba and Cuban identity, we refer to the three
main tribal groups from Africa brought to our island, and
say, l que no tiene de Mandinga tiene del Congo o Carabal
(He who lacks the blood of the Mandinga people surely has
that of the Congo or Carabal).
CV: Youve spent a great deal of time in West Africa.
How did you and your Cuban comrades, especially those
of African descent, engage with and relate to the Indigenous Peoples there?
AGM: When I was in Angola during the war, a brigade of
Cuban folkloristas visited us and went around performing in
many Native villages there. Each time theyd play the drums,
the Angolans expressed amazement, saying, It cant be possible! You Cubans maintain our native customs even better
than we do!
CV: Cubanshundreds of years removed from Africa
are representing some Indigenous cultural practices more
fully than the Native Angolans themselves?
AGM: Well yes, thats what they told us. As I understand it,
in trying to maintain their identity and hold onto their culture
during the era of slavery, all the traditional knowledge that
the Africans had brought with them to Cuba from that time
was frozen thereafter in their collective memory. To change
or add even a word to their their songs, their prayers . . . that
would have altered their connection to the ancestors. And
so what has been preserved in Cuba is akin to what was
practiced in Angola and elsewhere in West Africa hundreds
of years ago.
CV: And for you? What connection, if any, did you feel
there?
AGM: As I watched the performances, hearing the drums,
with my Cuban people singing and dancing in that context,
I began to feel as though I was also part of that village, part of
Angola. Living there changed my outlook on life completely.

Aleida Guevara March, Cuban pediatrician and daughter of former minister

of industries of Cuba, Ernesto Che Guevara, meets withpresident of
Peruvian Congress, Daniel Abugatts Majluf, while visiting the country
to meet with local social and political organizations.
Photo by Congreso de la Repblica del Per.

CV: Have you had the opportunity to connect with Native

communities in North America during your travels?
AGM: I grew up seeing the old movies filled with cowboys,
presenting only a fictional, Hollywood image of Indians.
When I went to Canada for the first time, to Winnipeg, I
asked to be taken to First Nations communities there to get
a better understanding of their reality today. What a shock
it was to discover so many living on what looked to be the
poorest lands in the country. Drugs, violence, and alcoholism were rampantyet Canada talks about human rights.
Any nation that dares to open its mouth to talk about human
rights anywhere else, when it forces its own Indigenous
people to live in that way... its shameful.
CV: Your father began as a doctor, but his calling to change
the world ultimately manifested through asserting political
ideology through armed struggle. Your own path, revolutionary in a different sense, is firmly situated in the practice of medicine. Is there a connection?
AGM: How can we, as doctors, relieve the sickness of human
beings if they have nothing to eat? How can we improve the
overall health of people if they dont have their own lands on
which to grow food and cannot feed their children? My father
asserted that you cannot talk of peace while there are children
dying in need. Indeed, we cannot simply talk; we must act.
And so I do.

Cristina Vern is an international Indigenous Peoples

issues specialist, research consultant, communications strategist,
and multimedia producer. Her work focuses at the intersections
of human rights, political engagement, the arts, and community
development. She is a longtime United Nations correspondent
and was a founding member of the UN Indigenous Media
Network.
Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 25

B a zaar art i st:

Rhyming for My A ncestors

Tzutu Kan

ailing from what the Maya consider the bellybutton of the UniverseLake
Atitlan in the central Guatemala highlandsTzutu Kan is a hip-hop artist who
lays down rhymes in the ancient Mayan languages of Tzutujil, Kakchikuel, and
Quiche. He is also a member of the group Balam Ajpu, which means Jaguar
Warrior or Warrior of Light. Balam Ajpu represents duality, the balance
of light and dark, male and female energy, and the return to a relationship with the cycles
of nature. The group imbues modern culture with meaning through its relationship to
ancestral wisdom in the arts and music.
Language in itself is music. The ancestral sound of languages is music. About six years
ago I felt the urge to communicate in my language, Kan recalls. I would only speak the
language at home, but I felt the need to communicate with my friends, with the people.
[So] five years ago I started to work on this project, Cosmovision Maya hip-hop. I began to
work with producers and we created a demo with five songs. We havent finished this project
yet because of a lack of resources, but at the same time we started another project, the 20
Nawales (spirits), and I worked on this with Balam Ajpu, the group I am working with now.
Balam Ajpus members work to revitalize and share their cultures. In Guatemala, there
are approximately 23 Maya cultures, most of which speak their own languages. Our spiritual
guides asked us to make a tribute to the nawales in 2012, because it was the change of an
era, it was the end of Baaktun 13 and the start of the jun baaktun. That was the start,
what we based our project on, and now we are touring in Europe, Kan says.
Balam Ajpus lyrics convey interpretations of the ancient Maya calendar through Maya
sounds and intercultural borrowing from Native American, Andean, Rastafarian, hip-hop,
and dancehall rhythms. They work to instill in youth pride for their culture through their
Hip-Hop Cosmovision School in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. [The Mayan language] holds
thousands of years of knowledge that little by little we are uncovering, as more people study
it and more people practice it, write poetry, compose music, write anthologies, poems, books.
The album we are promoting is what we call the real time, because we use a bad calendar,
the mechanical calendar... this is separating us from the calendar of the worlds natural
cycles. And that is what we propose, a calendar which has been always used, closer to the
exact, closer to the natural, says Kan.
Kan also works closely with Canal Cultural, a collective of artists in Guatemala that aims
to bring about social, political, and economic transformation in rural Maya communities
through visual, musical, and performance arts. We are making a small contribution to music. There are many artists trying to revive ancestral knowledge by way of the arts, through
painting, theater, and music, Kan says. Through Canal Cultural, we are giving grants to
young people so they can learn and grow, cultivate their talents, their art.
Over the past five years, the group has also worked with children through Escuela Caza
Ajaw, a free school of cosmovision hip-hop. We are not purists; that is why we create a
fusion with other things, like hip-hop with reggae, cumbia...that is what we are trying to do,
stay afloat with everything that is happening in the world, globalization. We have an advantage,
because there arent many who are singing in Mayan, not many who promote the Mayan
languages, Kan says. In a country plagued by environmental degradation and economic
exploitation, violence, and political instability, Kan sees music as an instrument to teach
young people to live in harmony with others and nature by returning to the Maya traditions. Through art, he says, we can contribute to changing humanity, and ourselves.
Check out our upcoming schedule of Cultural Survival Bazaars
at www.bazaar.cs.org.
December 1113: The Shops at Prudential Center, Boston, MA.
December 1920: Center for Government & International Studies
at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

26 ww w. cs. org

Photo by Hawk Henries.

S up por t Ou r E f f o r t s

Ways to Support

Cultural Survival

he concentration of Guatemalas media has prevented

the exercise of real democracy by barring the broadcast of varied sources of information and opinions,
and has contributed to a loss of Indigenous cultures
and values. Under rule of law, its impossible to allow
community radio broadcasting to be prosecuted. It
is a contradiction, said Cultural Survival Community Media
Program Manager, Ancelmo Xunic, explaining why international pressure needs to be put on Guatemala to respect
Indigenous Peoples rights to freedom of expression.
This past October, Xunic travelled from Sumpango,
Guatemala to Washington, D.C. to advocate for the right to
freedom of expression in Guatemala at the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (see page 10). The 1996 Peace
Accords that ended Guatemalas 36-year civil war guaranteed
the democratization of the media. However, the current
telecommunications law makes no provision for nonprofit
community radio, such as Radio Ixchel in Sumpango, which
Xunic is involved with.
Consider making a gift this holiday season to support
community media projects like this in 2016.

The best way to find

yourself is to lose yourself
in the service of others.
M a h at ma Ga n d h i

Thank you for your continued

support of Cultural Survival!
Together, we have made it possible for Indigenous
voices to be heard on important issues affecting
their cultures, lands, communities, and economic
wellbeing for more than 43 years. In 2015, you
helped support community radio projects all over
Central America, uplifted the voices of Indigenous
women at international forums, and helped stall a
mining project in Bangladesh by backing grassroots
community protests. (Just to name a few programmatic highlights.)
Please consider making a tax-deductible yearend gift to Cultural Survival this holiday season.
Together, we will continue to work towards selfdetermination, culture revitalization, and political
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For more information or to make your gift, please
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Take part in an advocacy campaign and
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Ancelmo Xunic.
Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 27

get i nvo lve d

Convention Against Torture

Joshua Cooper
Human rights are measured through United Nations human
rights conventions and covenants. Regular reviews monitor how
states are realizing the rights recognized in the treaties. Civil
society can influence international institutions by participating
in every phase of the review process. Involvement of Indigenous
Peoples is imperative to seek justice through every review and
contribute to global standard setting. In this series we aim to
break down the core treaties. The review of every nation offers
NGOs a chance to educate citizens about their rights and engage
together to demand realization of rights enshrined in the
treaties ratified by their governments.

ndigenous Peoples have long been the target of government-sanctioned, systemic actions intended to intimidate
and cause harm. The Convention Against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) is a human rights mechanism created to
criminalize such actions, as well as to provide an enforceable
right to redress. There are measures to train and educate state
officials at every phase of interaction from arrest to imprisonment. There is also a process for cases to be raised with competent authorities for impartial investigation of accountability.
Under the Convention, a 10-member committee of experts
reviews states as guarantors of the rights enshrined, focusing
on comprehensive protection from the full spectrum of severe
pain or suffering intentionally inflicted to obtain information,
intimidate, coerce, or punish. The Convention also covers
punishment of persons broadly for any reason, based on
discrimination of any kind, which is particularly pertinent
to Indigenous Peoples. Survivors of torture have the right
to complain and have their case promptly considered by
competent authorities without consequence, and to receive
consideration for rehabilitation and family compensation.

Committee Process

When a country ratifies the Convention Against Torture, it

must submit an initial report within one year to be reviewed
by the committee of experts. Periodic reports are subsequently due every four years. The UN Committee Against Torture
meets three times a year for four-week sessions, each time
reviewing eight or nine states under Article 19 of the Convention. Indigenous Peoples must complete their own shadow
reports two weeks prior to the start of the session. The shadow reports should be clear and precise, providing the experts
with factual information.
The procedural List of Issues is adopted at the session
prior to the actual review; Indigenous Peoples can also submit
information to be included. A country rapporteur is assigned
to lead the dialogue with the state under review. One can examine the committee members research records or watch a
webcast of a previous review to gain better understanding and
28 ww w. cs. org

Palais Wilson in the UN

compound in Geneva.

ThePalais Wilson cafeteria is

a good location for informal
dialogue with experts.

match up ones issues with the most appropriate committee

members. Also, there is a one-hour private meeting with the
committee with thirty minutes assigned for the presentation
of shadow reports. The remaining thirty minutes allow for
the committee to follow up on the briefing presentations.
The day following the private briefing are two, three-hour
sessions of interactive dialogue. States open the dialogue with
a short overview on the situation of torture. The countrys
assigned rapporteur leads with questions and comments
regarding the states report, responses to the list of issues, and
specific situations regarding torture. The remaining committee members ask questions and make comments regarding
the rights enshrined in the convention articles, to which the

state responds. Then there are followup questions and comments to allow the committee to fully understand the situation
under review. At the conclusion of the review, the rapporteur
and the state each make closing statements, and the secretariat
and rapporteur draft concluding observations to be adopted
following the review.
The committee identifies a number of concerns and recommendations in the concluding observations that could be
achieved within one year. In serious cases, states are required
to provide information on measures taken to realize the recommendations. Civil society can also submit responses on
how the state is addressing the issues, which will be published
on the Convention Against Tortures website. Indigenous
Peoples dont have to wait until a state is under review. Under
Article 20, confidential inquiries may take place when reliable
information of systematic practice of torture is received by
the committee. Also, if state has accepted Article 22, the
committee can consider individual complaints.

General Comments

The committee also determines General Comments elaborating

on articles in the Convention Against Torture and provides
guidance to governments on interpretations of enshrined
rights. General comments can provide insight into potential
actions by states to address compliance with the Convention.
Participation in the creation of a general comment allows one
to frame the right. The committee conducts an open dialogue
among experts, NGOs, and UN specialized agencies based on
prepared position papers and conversations developed during
the interactive exchange of the open dialogue. A committee
member is then tasked with drafting the general recommendations to be discussed at a subsequent session where the
revised draft will later be adopted.

Cycle of Consideration

The UN human rights treaty body follows a five-phase process for each state review: preparation, interaction, consideration, adoption, and implementation. The first and final phases
are concentrated more in ones community and country level,
where human rights of Indigenous Peoples matter most. The
three middle phases are centered around the committee process and the interactive campaign with the committee experts.
For each phase, it is essential to coordinate a courageous and
creative campaign at three levels: grassroots community, government at capital level, and global civil society.
The preparation phase is predominantly centered around
educating and empowering people to participate in the process
effectively. The heart of the action is examining the human
rights record of the government and coordinating a creative
campaign to realize the rights enshrined in the Convention
Against Torture, thereby influencing state policies and practices
that will impact Indigenous Peoples daily lives. The result of
preparation is mobilization of a movement around the rights
of the aggrieved and creation of a shadow report summarizing the issues, questions, and recommendations to be raised.
The interaction phase initiates participation with the UN
secretariat and committee members to ensure that the issues,
questions, and specific recommendations raised in the previous phase are understood and will be utilized in the state
review. This phase must be rooted in the reality of Indigenous

Peoples experience and will prepare the committee to see

through government rhetoric and raise specific questions
regarding current practices. It further prepares the committee
to better discuss the facts and suggest specific recommendations to change conditions in police actions and prisons,
as well as Indigenous Peoples experience with state officials.
The core concentration in this phase is to build a relationship
of trust with the committee members.
The consideration phase revolves around the rights enshrined in the Convention Against Torture and those raised
in the reviews by the experts based on the contribution of
shadow reports and communication with committee members. The Convention is unique within the UN human rights
treaty body, as the entire committee meets with National
Human Rights Institutions and NGOs for one hour prior to
the actual consideration in advance of the review. The consideration phase should empower people to coordinate campaigns reflecting the reality of the human rights situation
and support the demands for inherent dignity for Indigenous
Peoples at the global level.
The adoption phase is where recommendations are issued
based on the responses to list of issues, the shadow reports of
NGOs, and the actual five-hour review. If ones concerns are
well presented, the priorities of Indigenous Peoples regarding
specific human rights enshrined in articles of convention
should be featured in the committees concluding observation.
There is a press conference on the final day sharing the results
of the review.
The implementation phase closes the cycle, returning
to the community and country level and demanding action
based on the specific recommendations made in the concluding observations. Demands arising from the denial of dignity
should be at the forefront of government actions to guarantee
fundamental freedoms raised by Indigenous Peoples. During
each of the five phases, Indigenous Peoples can follow up on
previous recommendations as well as identify urgent matters
to be prioritized in upcoming cycles to ensure Indigenous
rights are protected and respected.
The Convention Against Torture can be a powerful ally
to protect Indigenous Peoples from new forms of cruel and
inhuman treatment. Degrading policies and practices of
colonization and control have historically aimed to cause
physical and mental anguish for Indigenous Peoples, so the
Convention is a human rights treaty body that should be
engaged whenever possible. Other mechanisms that can be
engaged include the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention
of Torture and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and
other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
each of which have been created to ensure that the issue of
torture of Indigenous Peoples is no longer ignored and
initiatives are taken to prevent it in the future.
Joshua Cooper is a professor at the University of Hawaii,
West Oahu, Kapolei and director of the Hawaii Institute
for Human Rights.
Read the Convention Against Torture here:
goo.gl/OwPr1H.

Cultural Survival Quarterly

December 2015 29

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