Stories about Indigenous from April, 2009
China: Growing climigration
At Absurdity, Allegory and China, Jim Gourley discusses the extent and severity of China's climigration problem, and the reasons there's yet to be seen meaningful change.
Peru: Newspaper Mocks Indigenous Congresswoman's Spanish Language Proficiency
Isabel Guerra writing at Living in Peru provides an overview of a recent case of discrimination and racism by the local newspaper “Correo” for mocking the the indigenous congresswomen Hilaria Supa for her poor proficiency of Spanish. When in fact, she never attended school and Spanish is her second language. Others...
Fiji's expats create democratic movement
A group of ethnic Fijians living in Australia pledged support for Fiji’s return to democracy and called on Australia’s and New Zealand’s governments to apply more political and economic pressure to the new order of Frank Bainimarama. Members of the meeting also called on people of Fiji living elsewhere to help support the country’s political restoration.
Peru: Road Blockades in San Martín Region
The Blog de Ideeleradio – Red Nacional informs about the road blockade protests by 7,000 members of indigenous communities in the cities of Tarapoto and Yurimaguas. They say that they are protesting against government measures that will violate their right to stay on their land.
Puerto Rico: Indigenous Summit
The Voice of the Taino People Online says that a delegation of Caribbean Indigenous Peoples is speaking out on climate change at the Indigenous Peoples Global Summit.
Bolivia: Popular Sayings in Aymara Language
Nancy Condori of El Chairo [es] provides examples of popular sayings in the Aymara language.
Bahamas: Check Your Contents
On the subject of Bahamian cultural heritage, Bahama Pundit‘s Larry Smith says: “The real issue here is one of judgment. We already spend huge amounts of taxpayer dollars on packaging the Bahamas overseas, while very little thought or money is invested in the product we are selling.”
Peru: Mass Sterilizations During Fujimori Term
After the sentencing of Peruvian ex-president Alberto Fujimori for crimes against humanity, Silvio Rendón of Gran Combo Club [es] summarizes the events behind the mass sterilizations of indigenous women without their consent during Fujimori's term.
Brazil: Indian writers and poets on the blogosphere
Literature and poetry are the core subjects of this second article of a trilogy shining light on the Indian blogosphere in Brazil. The subject is controversial, with many claiming that the idea of an indigenous literature is imported from Western traditions. However, there are Indians in Brazil who call themselves poets and writers – and bloggers.
Dominican Republic, Haiti: Gagá
“Easter Sunday marked the end of the Gagá celebrations in the Dominican Republic”: Repeating Islands experiences the Dominican version of Haitian Rará.
Peru: Traditional Music Takes on Internet Love
While internet romance has lost its shock value to many online veterans, certain segments of the population who have so far remained outside of the online revolution are just catching up with these changes and are exploring the pros and cons of cyber-romance. Here we bring you three music videos for songs by Peruvian folklore singers who provide us their Andean perspective on these new ways of finding and bonding with romantic partners.
USA: No More Columbus Day at Brown University
In response to protests from Native American and other students, the prestigious Brown University in the United States has changed the name of the national public holiday Columbus Day to "Fall Weekend" on its academic calendar. Bloggers are debating this modification of a holiday that honors the European explorer Christopher Columbus for “discovering” America.
Fiji's President voids constitution, calls for elections in five years
Less than 24 hours after a Fiji court declared the country’s military backed government to be unconstitutional, Fiji’s president has voided the country’s constitution, made himself head of state and dismissed the country’s judiciary. The issue stems from a Thursday, April 9 court ruling stating the military leader Frank Bainimarama...
Palestine: Parallels with Native Americans
Samuel Nichols, an American who works with the Christian Peacemaker Teams in the West Bank, writes about the parallels he sees between the history of the Native Americans and the situation of the Palestinians.
Colombia: Humanitarian Minga Recovers Bodies of Awá Indigenous
A group of 470 Colombian indigenous participated in a humanitarian minga, which is a collective mission towards a common goal, to recover the bodies of members of the Awá indigenous communities that were killed by the FARC, who accused them of cooperating with the army. The blog from the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) provided regular updates on the progress of the minga, as well as the situation that led to the action.
Bolivia: The Anniversary of Chaguaya
The community of Chaguaya on the Bolivian Altiplano recently celebrated its anniversary. Cristina Quisbert of Bolivia Indigena [es] has photographs of the ceremony.
Brazil: lndian culture, poetry and rights on the blogosphere
Brazil has one of the most impressive mosaics of indigenous peoples in the world and this cultural richness has started to show up on the Brazilian blogosphere. For this reason, GVO is dedicating a trilogy to cover aspects of indian blogging in the country, starting with this introduction to the indian blogosphere.
Australia: Indigenous Rights Declaration Approved
Australia’s government has endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a year and a half after voting – along with Canada, New Zealand, and the United States – against the September 2007 document. Reform Wollongong City Council, a blog from Australia, writes: On Friday 3 April...
Taiwan: Dancing with the glass eels
The adult eels live in rivers. During the reproduction season in summer, they swim downstream toward the deep sea thousands miles away (besides Philippine and the Mariana Islands) to lay their eggs. The eel larvae drift with the North Equatorial Current toward Philippine. They then drift with the Kuroshio toward north. Therefore, we can see people in different countries catch elvers along the way of the Kuroshio: Philippine, Taiwan, and Japan.
Fiji's chief system debated
After a local academic argued that Fiji's chiefly system holds back the country's democratic progress because it could allow certain people to grab resources for themselves, Luvei Viti: Children of Fiji counters the organization of chiefs binds society together and offers solutions for handling disputes, especially at the village level.
Puerto Rico: Indigenous Summit
The Voice of the Taino People Online reports on the upcoming 3rd Indigenous Leaders Summit of the Americas, to be held in Panama.
