Cultural Survival, Inc.

27.12.2004 "This decade has enabled us to bring about a commonality of perspective among indigenous peoples as we stand together unified against the positions of oppressive governments," said the Quiche Maya representative of Guatemala at the Organization of American States Working Group, one of the many gatherings that marked the close of the UN’s World Decade of Indigenous Peoples, 1994 to 2004. Other gatherings include the educational conference organized by the Tulsa Committee on the International Decade of Indigenous Peoples in Oklahoma.

23.12.2004 A negotiating table with only men around it will debate about weapons, territorial integrity, political power—the so-called hard issues. Women will describe their lives in the evacuation centers, food blockades, sick children, and broken relationships. "If we put women at the negotiating table, they will change the equation of the negotiation," says the Chair of the UN's Indigenous Women's Caucus, Stella Tamang. "They will introduce practical workable solutions to the conflict."

23.12.2004 Women should have a more active role to play in conflict negotiations. There are many examples in which women in indigenous groups have demonstrated their skills.

16.12.2004 Nearly 15,000 indigenous residents of the western half of the island of New Guinea have been forced into the mountains 15,000 feet above their villages at the coldest time of the year. Many of the refugees are reportedly starving and hiding in caves since Indonesian security forces, concerned with rising seperatist activity, began to attack villages with helicopter gunships.

07.12.2004 After ten years of negotiations, the UN group working on a declaration on the rights of indigenous people has come to agreement on only two of the document's 45 articles, largely because of U.S.- and UK-imposed roadblocks, say a group of hunger strikers protesting the world's inaction last week.