Tribal myself!
Adopt your indigenous culture
Monday, December 3, 2012
Juris Diversitas: a remarkable blog for Comparative Law
If you are passionate about Comparative Law (...and more) visit http://jurisdiversitas.blogspot.gr/
Native American Law Blog
Great Blog for updates and news for Native American Law http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/nativeamerican/
Supreme Court Rejects Atacameño Communities’ Consultation Argument in Tourism Concession Case Posted on indigenousnews.org, 30/11/2012 by Ryan Seelau
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Latin American indigenous groups join forces to fight dams - Read in BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17827131
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
'Human safaris' pose threat to uncontacted Amazon tribe
After the Observer highlighted the human safaris scandal in India's Andaman Islands, fears are growing about illegal 'viewing' trips in Peru, by David Hill guardian.co.uk, published on Saturday 25 February 2012 13.56 GMT
New concerns about "human safaris" are being raised in Peru, where tour operators are profiting from the exploitation of indigenous tribes in the Amazon jungle.
An increase in economic activity and tourism in the Manú region has led to a dramatic rise in the number of reported sightings of the Mashco-Piro – one of around 15 indigenous groups in Peru who have no regular contact with outsiders, and one of only 100 or so such tribes left in the world.
Fenamad, the local indigenous rights organisation, has criticised tour operators who have taken advantage of the sightings to take tourists "close to where" the tribespeople were seen. There is growing evidence that travellers and tourists are attempting to make contact. "Uncontacted Indians are not a tourist attraction," said Rebecca Spooner of Survival International, which aims to protect tribal peoples. "So-called tour guides should already know better."
Growing concerns over "human safaris" caused a scandal in India after the Observer revealed how tour operators in the Andaman Islands are colluding with police to offer sightings of an indigenous group, the Jarawa, who have only had contact with the outside world since the late 1990s.
In Peru, the Mashco-Piro live in the Manú national park of the Madre de Dios region, near the Brazilian border. More than a century ago the Mashco-Piro were driven off their land in the upper Manú river by rubber tappers supplying the American and European car and bicycle industries. The tribe was forced to retreat to more remote jungle areas.
After Survival International published photographs of the tribe last month to publicise the need to leave it in peace, a spokesman for Peru's national protected areas department (Sernanp) urged people to steer clear of "communities trying to remain apart from the outside world". However, independent research by the Observer has confirmed that unscrupulous tour guides are flouting that advice.
"The uncontacted peoples have been sighted on the Madre de Dios river in Manú. Let me know how many days you want and I'll suggest a tailor-made programme for your party," said one, contacted anonymously by the Observer with a specific request to seek out the tribe. "We can't be 100% sure we can see the uncontacted. If we are lucky we can see. In 2011 they came out in the months of May and October," said another.
"The best time to see these uncontacted natives is towards the end of the dry season, when the turtles are laying their eggs along the riverbank," said a third operator. "The best chance you would have to see them is between July and September. Along the main rivers is the best place… The tour with the greatest amount of distance covered and the best chance to see the uncontacted natives would be our eight-day/seven-night tour to Manú Biosphere Reserve by bus that starts and ends in Cuzco."
But other tour operators gave a markedly different response. Manú Nature Tours, based in Cuzco, said: "We do not offer any possibility to see [the tribe]. It is very dangerous to attempt any contact with them. A simple cold can kill them all. Any attempt to try to contact this people can put you in jail in Peru and Brazil."
Atalaya Tours said: "It is completely forbidden to contact 'non-contact people'. We have tours to Manú park, but Atalaya fully respects all the laws protecting non-contact natives and we don't agree with the illegal guides or operators that try to commercialise these kinds of visits."
According to Fenamad, "there's great concern because the Mashco-Piro are very vulnerable. In addition to their susceptibility to common diseases and epidemics, the sightings are occurring in an area of open-river transit where there is an intense traffic of commercial and tourists' boats." Glenn Shepard, an anthropologist who has worked in Manú, says tour operators have approached the Mashco-Piro on the riverbank so that tourists can "get photos like they would for a jaguar".
In India, tourists plunge into the heart of Jarawa territory along the Andaman Trunk Road, while in Peru they travel down the Madre de Dios river, where the Mashco-Piro have been seen on the left bank, or up and down the River Manú, where they have been seen on both banks. Video footage of the Mashco-Piro emerged last year that appeared to show travellers "playing a game of cat and mouse with the naked tribesmen" and discussing whether to leave food or clothing for them on the riverbank. None of the trips to Manú advertised by tour operators on their websites openly offers Mashco-Piro sightings, but several acknowledge the presence of "uncontacted" people in the rainforest.
"We need governments to act to protect indigenous communities, tour operators need to follow a code of conduct and tourists need to be educated and informed," said Mark Watson, director of Tourism Concern.
New concerns about "human safaris" are being raised in Peru, where tour operators are profiting from the exploitation of indigenous tribes in the Amazon jungle.
An increase in economic activity and tourism in the Manú region has led to a dramatic rise in the number of reported sightings of the Mashco-Piro – one of around 15 indigenous groups in Peru who have no regular contact with outsiders, and one of only 100 or so such tribes left in the world.
Fenamad, the local indigenous rights organisation, has criticised tour operators who have taken advantage of the sightings to take tourists "close to where" the tribespeople were seen. There is growing evidence that travellers and tourists are attempting to make contact. "Uncontacted Indians are not a tourist attraction," said Rebecca Spooner of Survival International, which aims to protect tribal peoples. "So-called tour guides should already know better."
Growing concerns over "human safaris" caused a scandal in India after the Observer revealed how tour operators in the Andaman Islands are colluding with police to offer sightings of an indigenous group, the Jarawa, who have only had contact with the outside world since the late 1990s.
In Peru, the Mashco-Piro live in the Manú national park of the Madre de Dios region, near the Brazilian border. More than a century ago the Mashco-Piro were driven off their land in the upper Manú river by rubber tappers supplying the American and European car and bicycle industries. The tribe was forced to retreat to more remote jungle areas.
After Survival International published photographs of the tribe last month to publicise the need to leave it in peace, a spokesman for Peru's national protected areas department (Sernanp) urged people to steer clear of "communities trying to remain apart from the outside world". However, independent research by the Observer has confirmed that unscrupulous tour guides are flouting that advice.
"The uncontacted peoples have been sighted on the Madre de Dios river in Manú. Let me know how many days you want and I'll suggest a tailor-made programme for your party," said one, contacted anonymously by the Observer with a specific request to seek out the tribe. "We can't be 100% sure we can see the uncontacted. If we are lucky we can see. In 2011 they came out in the months of May and October," said another.
"The best time to see these uncontacted natives is towards the end of the dry season, when the turtles are laying their eggs along the riverbank," said a third operator. "The best chance you would have to see them is between July and September. Along the main rivers is the best place… The tour with the greatest amount of distance covered and the best chance to see the uncontacted natives would be our eight-day/seven-night tour to Manú Biosphere Reserve by bus that starts and ends in Cuzco."
But other tour operators gave a markedly different response. Manú Nature Tours, based in Cuzco, said: "We do not offer any possibility to see [the tribe]. It is very dangerous to attempt any contact with them. A simple cold can kill them all. Any attempt to try to contact this people can put you in jail in Peru and Brazil."
Atalaya Tours said: "It is completely forbidden to contact 'non-contact people'. We have tours to Manú park, but Atalaya fully respects all the laws protecting non-contact natives and we don't agree with the illegal guides or operators that try to commercialise these kinds of visits."
According to Fenamad, "there's great concern because the Mashco-Piro are very vulnerable. In addition to their susceptibility to common diseases and epidemics, the sightings are occurring in an area of open-river transit where there is an intense traffic of commercial and tourists' boats." Glenn Shepard, an anthropologist who has worked in Manú, says tour operators have approached the Mashco-Piro on the riverbank so that tourists can "get photos like they would for a jaguar".
In India, tourists plunge into the heart of Jarawa territory along the Andaman Trunk Road, while in Peru they travel down the Madre de Dios river, where the Mashco-Piro have been seen on the left bank, or up and down the River Manú, where they have been seen on both banks. Video footage of the Mashco-Piro emerged last year that appeared to show travellers "playing a game of cat and mouse with the naked tribesmen" and discussing whether to leave food or clothing for them on the riverbank. None of the trips to Manú advertised by tour operators on their websites openly offers Mashco-Piro sightings, but several acknowledge the presence of "uncontacted" people in the rainforest.
"We need governments to act to protect indigenous communities, tour operators need to follow a code of conduct and tourists need to be educated and informed," said Mark Watson, director of Tourism Concern.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
New Indigenous Reserve Aims To Save A Fading Culture by Silvia Usuriaga, Program Coordinator for Nature and Culture International
Posted: 02/23/2012 7:24 am on Huffpost Green, link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/silvia-usuriaga/new-indigenous-reserve-aims-at-saving-fading-culture_b_1294907.html?ref=green&ir=Green
A bright, cloudless day. A remote village in the heart of a vast Amazon wilderness. The head of his tribe moved to tears -- tears of joy, pride and gratitude.
It was February 4th, 2012, and Romero Ríos Ushiñahua, leader of his people and one of the last members of the Maijuna tribe was witnessing a ceremony to declare the nearly 1-million acre Maijuna Reserve.
I was privileged to be on hand that day, and to see history in the making.
The Maijuna Reserve declaration was the culmination of years of efforts by the Maijuna People, in conjunction with conservationists and the government of Loreto, Peru.
This heroic conservation success happened because the Maijuna People made it happen. They recognized the unbreakable bond between their ancient culture and their natural environment - and acted to preserve both.
Romero Ríos Ushiñahua and the remaining 200 adult members of the Maijuna People approached the group I work for, Nature and Culture International, in a bid to protect their ancestral land.
The result--an astounding new protected area that is 22% bigger than Yosemite National Park--is one of a growing catalog of South American indigenous reserves that aim to conserve the environment, as well as cultural identity.
For many of these native groups, the stakes are extremely high.
While in more industrial parts of the globe, we have the luxury (and, to some extent the misfortune) of living "apart" from "the environment, " native subsistence dwellers of the Amazon Basin make no such imaginary distinction.
A healthy ecosystem is essential to all of our livelihoods, but for indigenous groups, many of whom have suffered slave-like treatment at the hands of (in historical succession) missionaries, robber barons, loggers, miners, industrial farmers and drug gangs, protecting their environment means saving themselves from utter obliteration.
Consider, for example, the story of Amadeo García.
Amadeo lives on the upper reaches of the Tigre River in the northern tip of the Peruvian Amazon, only 150 miles from the new Maijuna Reserve. He speaks the Taushiro language, a tongue that no one else in the world can understand.
You see, Amadeo is the last member of his tribe.
His story epitomizes the tragedy of Amazon indigenous peoples.
For thousands of years Amadeo's people inhabited the forests between the Tigre and Corrientes Rivers. The arrival of loggers was the last of a succession of misfortunes for the Taushiro, who suffered terrible exploitation with the arrival of each new economic boom. Their villages were converted to timber camps and their people conscripted and scattered.
And while the Taushiro still count as one of the 28 remaining indigenous groups in Peru's massive Loreto province (which is nearly the size of California), when Amadeo is gone, so too will go millennia of cultural knowledge, of ancestral wisdom, and of beautiful stories.
The Taushiro will have been extinguished.
But this will not be the fate of another of Loreto's remaining tribes: The Maijuna.
They have developed a long-term conservation plan with Nature and Culture International - making a strong commitment to protecting their forest home, now and in the future. They have taken the first steps toward recovering and preserving their ancient culture, along with the incredible biodiversity of their native lands.
The Maijuna have gone from lamenting their historic decline to enthusiastically controlling their own future.
It is a hopeful sign.
A bright, cloudless day. A remote village in the heart of a vast Amazon wilderness. The head of his tribe moved to tears -- tears of joy, pride and gratitude.
It was February 4th, 2012, and Romero Ríos Ushiñahua, leader of his people and one of the last members of the Maijuna tribe was witnessing a ceremony to declare the nearly 1-million acre Maijuna Reserve.
I was privileged to be on hand that day, and to see history in the making.
The Maijuna Reserve declaration was the culmination of years of efforts by the Maijuna People, in conjunction with conservationists and the government of Loreto, Peru.
This heroic conservation success happened because the Maijuna People made it happen. They recognized the unbreakable bond between their ancient culture and their natural environment - and acted to preserve both.
Romero Ríos Ushiñahua and the remaining 200 adult members of the Maijuna People approached the group I work for, Nature and Culture International, in a bid to protect their ancestral land.
The result--an astounding new protected area that is 22% bigger than Yosemite National Park--is one of a growing catalog of South American indigenous reserves that aim to conserve the environment, as well as cultural identity.
For many of these native groups, the stakes are extremely high.
While in more industrial parts of the globe, we have the luxury (and, to some extent the misfortune) of living "apart" from "the environment, " native subsistence dwellers of the Amazon Basin make no such imaginary distinction.
A healthy ecosystem is essential to all of our livelihoods, but for indigenous groups, many of whom have suffered slave-like treatment at the hands of (in historical succession) missionaries, robber barons, loggers, miners, industrial farmers and drug gangs, protecting their environment means saving themselves from utter obliteration.
Consider, for example, the story of Amadeo García.
Amadeo lives on the upper reaches of the Tigre River in the northern tip of the Peruvian Amazon, only 150 miles from the new Maijuna Reserve. He speaks the Taushiro language, a tongue that no one else in the world can understand.
You see, Amadeo is the last member of his tribe.
His story epitomizes the tragedy of Amazon indigenous peoples.
For thousands of years Amadeo's people inhabited the forests between the Tigre and Corrientes Rivers. The arrival of loggers was the last of a succession of misfortunes for the Taushiro, who suffered terrible exploitation with the arrival of each new economic boom. Their villages were converted to timber camps and their people conscripted and scattered.
And while the Taushiro still count as one of the 28 remaining indigenous groups in Peru's massive Loreto province (which is nearly the size of California), when Amadeo is gone, so too will go millennia of cultural knowledge, of ancestral wisdom, and of beautiful stories.
The Taushiro will have been extinguished.
But this will not be the fate of another of Loreto's remaining tribes: The Maijuna.
They have developed a long-term conservation plan with Nature and Culture International - making a strong commitment to protecting their forest home, now and in the future. They have taken the first steps toward recovering and preserving their ancient culture, along with the incredible biodiversity of their native lands.
The Maijuna have gone from lamenting their historic decline to enthusiastically controlling their own future.
It is a hopeful sign.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Guyana: Wapichan People In Guyana Showcase Community Proposal To Save Tropical Forests On Their Traditional Lands
Published on Tuesday, 07 February 2012 13:48 on http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com
The indigenous Wapichan people of Guyana, South America, will make public today a locally-made digital map of their traditional territory alongside a ground-breaking community proposal to care for 1.4 million ha of pristine rainforest for the benefit of their communities and the world. The territory’s rich variety of rainforests, mountains, wetlands, savannah grasslands and tropical woodlands are the homeland of 20 communities, who make a living from small-scale farming, hunting, fishing and gathering, which they have practised over the whole area for generations. The same area, located in the South Rupununi District, south-west Guyana, has an outstanding abundance of wildlife, including endangered species such as giant river otters, jaguars, and rare bush dogs as well as endemic species of fish and birds, like the Rio Branco Antbird.
The grassroots proposal comes at a crucial time because the entire Wapichan territory in Guyana, like many other parts of the Amazon basin and Guiana Shield, is threatened by mega road and dam projects as well as external plans for logging, mining and agribusiness development. In common with many indigenous peoples across Guyana and South America, the communities are vulnerable to land grabs and marginalisation because they lack secure legal title over much of their traditional lands.
The Wapichan people have responded to these threats by mapping their customary land use as part of a long-standing campaign to have their rights to their traditional lands legally recognised. The mapping project has been carried out by Wapichan communities under the leadership of their former and existing Toshaos (community leaders) who have been assisted by their own community-based organisations. As Mr Kid James of South Central Peoples Development Association (SCPDA) said,
"Mappers from our own communities have used GPS technology to map the location of key livelihood, spiritual and cultural heritage sites that hold deep importance to our people and sustain our way of life. After ten years of painstaking work, we are very proud of the end result. We are now keen to share our territorial map with government authorities to show how we occupy and use the land according to custom and how we are attached to our territory."
Building on the mapping work and community research to document traditional knowledge and customary resource use, the Wapichan organised more than 80 community consultations, workshops and public meetings between 2008 and 2011 to draw up collective proposals to promote sustainable land use, support local livelihoods and protect Wapichan territory against harmful development. The proposals are contained in a detailed territorial plan titled Thinking Together for Those Coming Behind Us, that elaborates the customary laws for caring for the land and contains more than 40 community agreements to secure community land rights, safeguard and sustainably use valuable livelihood resources and conserve important cultural heritage and wildlife sites under community controlled reserves. Toshao Haibert Wilson, Chairperson of the South-Central District Toshaos Council, said,
"All of our communities have worked together within the frameworks of Guyana’s Amerindian Act and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to document traditional land use and practices and to put forward our own proposals for securing and caring for this beautiful land we call Wapichan wiizi."
Patrick Gomes, Chairperson of the South Rupununi District Tosahos Council, said,
"Our land use agreements in our plan have been validated by the communities and include a proposal to establish a large Wapichan Conserved Forest in the eastern and southern parts of our territory as well as numerous plans to protect our sacred sites and local sites important for fish, game animals and wildlife. Our plan also contains agreements made among our villages on common title boundaries and proposed title extensions. Community rules and principles for dealing with external developments affecting our lands, including rules relating to our collective right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), are also included in our document."
Wapichan leaders emphasise that securing their rights over their forests would bring important co-benefits for the regional and global climate and would facilitate implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and related human rights instruments, as well as environmental treaties signed by Guyana. Anglelbert Johnny, Toshao of Sawari Wa’o Amerindian Village, said, "Recognition of our rights to control and manage our traditional territory would be one of the best ways of helping Guyana to fulfil its commitments to tackle climate change and meet its obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity, which aims to conserve and sustainably use biological resources."
The hope is that the public presentation and sharing of the community map and innovative territorial plan will foster dialogue with the government and international organisations on ways to help the Wapichan realise their vision for their homeland. Patrick Gomes said, "We call on the government and national and international allies to help us take this plan forward: let us work together to have our land title extensions recognised in full and let us put our community agreements to work for the benefit of the Wapichan people, all the citizens of Guyana and the international community."
Source: South Central Peoples Development Association via Forest Peoples Programme
The indigenous Wapichan people of Guyana, South America, will make public today a locally-made digital map of their traditional territory alongside a ground-breaking community proposal to care for 1.4 million ha of pristine rainforest for the benefit of their communities and the world. The territory’s rich variety of rainforests, mountains, wetlands, savannah grasslands and tropical woodlands are the homeland of 20 communities, who make a living from small-scale farming, hunting, fishing and gathering, which they have practised over the whole area for generations. The same area, located in the South Rupununi District, south-west Guyana, has an outstanding abundance of wildlife, including endangered species such as giant river otters, jaguars, and rare bush dogs as well as endemic species of fish and birds, like the Rio Branco Antbird.
The grassroots proposal comes at a crucial time because the entire Wapichan territory in Guyana, like many other parts of the Amazon basin and Guiana Shield, is threatened by mega road and dam projects as well as external plans for logging, mining and agribusiness development. In common with many indigenous peoples across Guyana and South America, the communities are vulnerable to land grabs and marginalisation because they lack secure legal title over much of their traditional lands.
The Wapichan people have responded to these threats by mapping their customary land use as part of a long-standing campaign to have their rights to their traditional lands legally recognised. The mapping project has been carried out by Wapichan communities under the leadership of their former and existing Toshaos (community leaders) who have been assisted by their own community-based organisations. As Mr Kid James of South Central Peoples Development Association (SCPDA) said,
"Mappers from our own communities have used GPS technology to map the location of key livelihood, spiritual and cultural heritage sites that hold deep importance to our people and sustain our way of life. After ten years of painstaking work, we are very proud of the end result. We are now keen to share our territorial map with government authorities to show how we occupy and use the land according to custom and how we are attached to our territory."
Building on the mapping work and community research to document traditional knowledge and customary resource use, the Wapichan organised more than 80 community consultations, workshops and public meetings between 2008 and 2011 to draw up collective proposals to promote sustainable land use, support local livelihoods and protect Wapichan territory against harmful development. The proposals are contained in a detailed territorial plan titled Thinking Together for Those Coming Behind Us, that elaborates the customary laws for caring for the land and contains more than 40 community agreements to secure community land rights, safeguard and sustainably use valuable livelihood resources and conserve important cultural heritage and wildlife sites under community controlled reserves. Toshao Haibert Wilson, Chairperson of the South-Central District Toshaos Council, said,
"All of our communities have worked together within the frameworks of Guyana’s Amerindian Act and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to document traditional land use and practices and to put forward our own proposals for securing and caring for this beautiful land we call Wapichan wiizi."
Patrick Gomes, Chairperson of the South Rupununi District Tosahos Council, said,
"Our land use agreements in our plan have been validated by the communities and include a proposal to establish a large Wapichan Conserved Forest in the eastern and southern parts of our territory as well as numerous plans to protect our sacred sites and local sites important for fish, game animals and wildlife. Our plan also contains agreements made among our villages on common title boundaries and proposed title extensions. Community rules and principles for dealing with external developments affecting our lands, including rules relating to our collective right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), are also included in our document."
Wapichan leaders emphasise that securing their rights over their forests would bring important co-benefits for the regional and global climate and would facilitate implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and related human rights instruments, as well as environmental treaties signed by Guyana. Anglelbert Johnny, Toshao of Sawari Wa’o Amerindian Village, said, "Recognition of our rights to control and manage our traditional territory would be one of the best ways of helping Guyana to fulfil its commitments to tackle climate change and meet its obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity, which aims to conserve and sustainably use biological resources."
The hope is that the public presentation and sharing of the community map and innovative territorial plan will foster dialogue with the government and international organisations on ways to help the Wapichan realise their vision for their homeland. Patrick Gomes said, "We call on the government and national and international allies to help us take this plan forward: let us work together to have our land title extensions recognised in full and let us put our community agreements to work for the benefit of the Wapichan people, all the citizens of Guyana and the international community."
Source: South Central Peoples Development Association via Forest Peoples Programme
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Chevron Blames Victims Of Its Deliberate Contamination Of Ecuadorian Rainforest Kerry Kennedy
Published on Huffpost Politics, Jan 16, 2012 8:25 PM EST
In Christmas 2010, I took my three daughters -- Cara, Mariah and Michaela -- to Ecuador's Amazon to take part in a "Toxi-tour" and stand witness to what could be the worst environmental disaster on the planet. This is the awful mess that Chevron left behind at the headwaters of the Amazon after drilling for oil for almost three decades on the ancestral lands of five indigenous groups. Chevron, via the Texaco brand, dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste into the Amazon waterways that local inhabitants used for drinking water. Several independent health evaluations show that cancer rates in the area have skyrocketed. The magnitude of the damage -- recently confirmed by a three-judge appellate panel in Ecuador that relied on extensive scientific evidence -- makes the impact of BP's recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico seem small by comparison.
We looked at pools of oily muck abandoned in the early 1970s that still drain toxic soup into nearby streams used for drinking water, fishing, and washing. We visited the home of an elderly woman who told us about the skin lesions that covered the bodies of her son, daughter, and grandson. She had built the family home on a field Texaco claimed to have cleaned. In fact, the oil giant had merely covered up the poisonous pond with four feet of dirt and a thin layer of grass. We smelled the fumes emanating from water Chevron claims is now clean. All this is part of the massive environmental damage and accompanying cancer clusters, lung disease, skin lesions and other injuries left behind by a U.S. multinational corporation.
Chevron's irresponsible operational practices are now responsible for a catastrophe that has cost untold lives and destroyed an area of pristine rainforest the size of Rhode Island. Chevron lost the legal case in Ecuador, and a U.S. appellate court recently blocked efforts by the company to prevent enforcement of the judgment. The company is on its last legs after battling to deny the claims of indigenous groups for almost two decades since the was filed in 1993.
This helps explain why Chevron is now turning to personal attacks. In the company's latest salvo, it seeks to intimidate anybody who wants to help the rainforest communities or advocate on their behalf. This is the classic Chevron template: blame the victim, change the subject, and distract from the evidence. Chevron attacks those working to hold the company accountable for the damage it caused. It feigns moral outrage that I, an advocate for human rights, should actually be compensated. While I was paid a modest fee for the time I spent on the case, I have never and will never have a financial interest in the outcome of the litigation. Chevron's notion that I was to receive a huge success fee if the rainforest communities recover the funds to which they are entitled is utter fiction. What is true is that Chevron's management is using this lie in a desperate attempt to try to change the subject from its awful environmental disaster and devastating legal setbacks.
Over the years, Chevron has behaved in a way that reinforces the worst stereotypes about large corporations: it has cynically avoided responsibility for its past and watched in indifference as more people become sick and die because of its failure to deal with its legacy environmental issues. Today's public distrust of large corporations obviously can go too far, but it is often rooted in real abuses of the type Chevron engages in to cover up its obvious misconduct in Ecuador. Chevron's failure to adhere to basic standards of decency undermines the credibility of our capitalist model and diminishes confidence that our judicial system can serve the poor as well as the rich. Chevron's conduct in Ecuador has been so reprehensible and profoundly cynical that it reflects poorly on our country and its values. I would call that kind of behavior unpatriotic. Chevron must mend its ways in Ecuador or risk being viewed by peoples worldwide as a rogue oil company unworthy of a license to operate in oil-producing nations.
In Christmas 2010, I took my three daughters -- Cara, Mariah and Michaela -- to Ecuador's Amazon to take part in a "Toxi-tour" and stand witness to what could be the worst environmental disaster on the planet. This is the awful mess that Chevron left behind at the headwaters of the Amazon after drilling for oil for almost three decades on the ancestral lands of five indigenous groups. Chevron, via the Texaco brand, dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste into the Amazon waterways that local inhabitants used for drinking water. Several independent health evaluations show that cancer rates in the area have skyrocketed. The magnitude of the damage -- recently confirmed by a three-judge appellate panel in Ecuador that relied on extensive scientific evidence -- makes the impact of BP's recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico seem small by comparison.
We looked at pools of oily muck abandoned in the early 1970s that still drain toxic soup into nearby streams used for drinking water, fishing, and washing. We visited the home of an elderly woman who told us about the skin lesions that covered the bodies of her son, daughter, and grandson. She had built the family home on a field Texaco claimed to have cleaned. In fact, the oil giant had merely covered up the poisonous pond with four feet of dirt and a thin layer of grass. We smelled the fumes emanating from water Chevron claims is now clean. All this is part of the massive environmental damage and accompanying cancer clusters, lung disease, skin lesions and other injuries left behind by a U.S. multinational corporation.
Chevron's irresponsible operational practices are now responsible for a catastrophe that has cost untold lives and destroyed an area of pristine rainforest the size of Rhode Island. Chevron lost the legal case in Ecuador, and a U.S. appellate court recently blocked efforts by the company to prevent enforcement of the judgment. The company is on its last legs after battling to deny the claims of indigenous groups for almost two decades since the was filed in 1993.
This helps explain why Chevron is now turning to personal attacks. In the company's latest salvo, it seeks to intimidate anybody who wants to help the rainforest communities or advocate on their behalf. This is the classic Chevron template: blame the victim, change the subject, and distract from the evidence. Chevron attacks those working to hold the company accountable for the damage it caused. It feigns moral outrage that I, an advocate for human rights, should actually be compensated. While I was paid a modest fee for the time I spent on the case, I have never and will never have a financial interest in the outcome of the litigation. Chevron's notion that I was to receive a huge success fee if the rainforest communities recover the funds to which they are entitled is utter fiction. What is true is that Chevron's management is using this lie in a desperate attempt to try to change the subject from its awful environmental disaster and devastating legal setbacks.
Over the years, Chevron has behaved in a way that reinforces the worst stereotypes about large corporations: it has cynically avoided responsibility for its past and watched in indifference as more people become sick and die because of its failure to deal with its legacy environmental issues. Today's public distrust of large corporations obviously can go too far, but it is often rooted in real abuses of the type Chevron engages in to cover up its obvious misconduct in Ecuador. Chevron's failure to adhere to basic standards of decency undermines the credibility of our capitalist model and diminishes confidence that our judicial system can serve the poor as well as the rich. Chevron's conduct in Ecuador has been so reprehensible and profoundly cynical that it reflects poorly on our country and its values. I would call that kind of behavior unpatriotic. Chevron must mend its ways in Ecuador or risk being viewed by peoples worldwide as a rogue oil company unworthy of a license to operate in oil-producing nations.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
CBC Books - 8th Fire: Discovering Aboriginal literature
CBC Books - 8th Fire: Discovering Aboriginal literature
For more visit http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire/
For more visit http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire/
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
A profile of the Huaorani tribe
A sincere and interesting profile of the Huaorani tribe of Oriente in Ecuador, by Joe Kane.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Inspiration: Mute Law by Rodolfo Sacco.
When I first read the article Mute Law by R. Sacco, I realized that my mission in life is to discover more for Comparative Law.
If you wish to learn more about the great comparativist R. Sacco, visit http://books.google.gr/books?id=Ks5It0NEVHUC&pg=PA247&dq=Rodolfo+Sacco&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IwQIT-WaJImSOuze4NIG&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Rodolfo%20Sacco&f=false and read Mute Law! (R. Sacco, Mute Law, 43 Am. J. Comp. L. 455)
If you wish to learn more about the great comparativist R. Sacco, visit http://books.google.gr/books?id=Ks5It0NEVHUC&pg=PA247&dq=Rodolfo+Sacco&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IwQIT-WaJImSOuze4NIG&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Rodolfo%20Sacco&f=false and read Mute Law! (R. Sacco, Mute Law, 43 Am. J. Comp. L. 455)
The Cheyenne Way! Inspiration for the future comes from the past
Because some people are just ahead of their time... The Cheyenne Way: Conflict and Case Law in Primitive Jurisprudence (Civilization of the American Indian Series) by Karl N. Llewellyn (Author)
Friday, January 6, 2012
Good news! Ecuador appeals court rules against Chevron in oil case
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16404268
An Ecuadorean appeals court has upheld a ruling that Chevron should pay damages totalling $18.2bn (£11.5bn) over Amazon oil pollution.
Chevron said the judgement was "illegitimate" and "a fraud".
Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was accused of dumping toxic materials in the Ecuadorean Amazon.
The original ruling ordered Chevron to pay $8.6bn in damages, which was more than doubled after the company failed to make a public apology.
"We ratify the ruling of February 14 2011 in all its parts, including the sentence for moral reparation," the court in the Amazonian city of Lago Agrio said in its ruling, according to Reuters.
Long-running battle
In a statement released in response, Chevron said the decision was a "glaring example of the politicization and corruption of Ecuador's judiciary". It said it would continue to seek recourse through proceedings outside Ecuador.
The decision is the latest twist in a long-running legal battle between Chevron and the Ecuadorean plaintiffs.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadoreans, in a case which has dragged on for years.
Ecuadorean indigenous groups said Texaco dumped more than 18bn gallons (68bn litres) of toxic materials into unlined pits and rivers between 1972 and 1992.
But Chevron says Texaco spent $40m cleaning up the area during the 1990s, and signed an agreement with Ecuador in 1998 absolving it of any further responsibility.
An Ecuadorean appeals court has upheld a ruling that Chevron should pay damages totalling $18.2bn (£11.5bn) over Amazon oil pollution.
Chevron said the judgement was "illegitimate" and "a fraud".
Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was accused of dumping toxic materials in the Ecuadorean Amazon.
The original ruling ordered Chevron to pay $8.6bn in damages, which was more than doubled after the company failed to make a public apology.
"We ratify the ruling of February 14 2011 in all its parts, including the sentence for moral reparation," the court in the Amazonian city of Lago Agrio said in its ruling, according to Reuters.
Long-running battle
In a statement released in response, Chevron said the decision was a "glaring example of the politicization and corruption of Ecuador's judiciary". It said it would continue to seek recourse through proceedings outside Ecuador.
The decision is the latest twist in a long-running legal battle between Chevron and the Ecuadorean plaintiffs.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadoreans, in a case which has dragged on for years.
Ecuadorean indigenous groups said Texaco dumped more than 18bn gallons (68bn litres) of toxic materials into unlined pits and rivers between 1972 and 1992.
But Chevron says Texaco spent $40m cleaning up the area during the 1990s, and signed an agreement with Ecuador in 1998 absolving it of any further responsibility.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
A few words about Tribalism...
Indigenous Cultures need your help!
What if community was the basis of society once again?
Indigenous peoples like the tribes living in the Amazon Region of Ecuador or in another continent, the Oceania, the Aborigines of Australia share their ancestors’ values and they have their own stuctured society, in which one does not own but one shares. Through sharing ideals, ideas and values society can change and will change, because I believe that the Western idea of individuality is the cause of many wrong-going situations in today’s world.
By giving people the chance to adopt a tribal culture and be part of a group, they have the power to share and fullfil the group’s goals. I think that we can “borrow” ideas from indigenous societies and transform things and above all protect indigenous cultures that are in danger today. Tribes like the Tagaeri of Oriente disappeared due to the oil giant Texaco (today, Chevron). All together we can change things!
Beginning with Internet groups, the idea is to create a platform (named "tribal-myself.com") where people can see and choose the indigenous group they believe that they share the same values with.
In this way, the indigenous cultures could survive and become “trendy” for modern people.
Furthermore, the participants will have the chance to collaborate via the Internet and create their own webpage, on which they could promote their common ideas.
Discover & Vote for Tribalism on http://www.dellchallenge.org/projects/tribalism
What if community was the basis of society once again?
Indigenous peoples like the tribes living in the Amazon Region of Ecuador or in another continent, the Oceania, the Aborigines of Australia share their ancestors’ values and they have their own stuctured society, in which one does not own but one shares. Through sharing ideals, ideas and values society can change and will change, because I believe that the Western idea of individuality is the cause of many wrong-going situations in today’s world.
By giving people the chance to adopt a tribal culture and be part of a group, they have the power to share and fullfil the group’s goals. I think that we can “borrow” ideas from indigenous societies and transform things and above all protect indigenous cultures that are in danger today. Tribes like the Tagaeri of Oriente disappeared due to the oil giant Texaco (today, Chevron). All together we can change things!
Beginning with Internet groups, the idea is to create a platform (named "tribal-myself.com") where people can see and choose the indigenous group they believe that they share the same values with.
In this way, the indigenous cultures could survive and become “trendy” for modern people.
Furthermore, the participants will have the chance to collaborate via the Internet and create their own webpage, on which they could promote their common ideas.
Discover & Vote for Tribalism on http://www.dellchallenge.org/projects/tribalism
A simple idea: share the indigenous culture you believe in!
Everyone can become a member of an indigenous community, no matter where he comes from. In this way, people support indigenous cultures survival by a very simple way: by sharing the tribal beliefs online.
Indigenous cultures. Huaorani, Oriente/Ecuador.
Very impressive history; the Huaorani of the Amazon, Ecuador. For a study on them you can read the article of Judith Kimerling, Transnational Operations, Bi-National Injustice: Chevrontexaco And Indigenous Huaorani And Kichwa In The Amazon Rainforest In
Ecuador, Regional Issues in the International Indigenous Rights Movement, 31 Am. Indian L. Rev., 2006-2007, 445 and of Jennifer E. Brady, The Huaorani Tribe Of Ecuador: A Study In Self-Determination For Indigenous Peoples, Harvard Human Rights Journal Spring, 1997.
Ecuador, Regional Issues in the International Indigenous Rights Movement, 31 Am. Indian L. Rev., 2006-2007, 445 and of Jennifer E. Brady, The Huaorani Tribe Of Ecuador: A Study In Self-Determination For Indigenous Peoples, Harvard Human Rights Journal Spring, 1997.
Dreamtime
If you want to discover the Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories visit http://aboriginalart.com.au/culture/dreamtime.html
Dell Social Innovation Challenge
Welcome to all participants! Good luck to all!
This is the page of the project "Tribalism".
This is the page of the project "Tribalism".
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