"We did not come here to cry or beg," insisted Octavio Pereira, a Kuna from Panama. "Just as countries try to form large economic commercial blocks, the indigenous communities must unite to save the environment."
Pereira was one of the leaders chosen by members of 12 indigenous tribes from throughout the Americas to represent them at a summit held in Costa Rica last August. The six-day conference, called "Indigenous Communities, Mother Earth and Spirituality," was sponsored by the Costa Rica-based Earth Council and the Fetzer Institute of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
According to the Earth Council, the goal of the gathering was to allow the representatives of the Bri-bri, Cree, Garifuna, Keetowah, Ketchua, Kolla, Kuna, Macuna, Mapuche, Maya, Mahuat y Shuar communities, whose territories are within the borders of 12 American countries from Canada to Argentina, to exchange experiences and to address mutual concerns over continuing environmental degradation. The summit was a follow-up to an initial assembly held last May.
Participants agreed that throughout the Americas, indigenous people face similar problems, including the loss of territory, governments' and non-indigenous people's disregard of indigenous rights and the erosion of customs, language, and traditions. Maya-quiche priest Rigoberto Itzep of Momostenango, Guatemala, added that "these problems are aggravated in some places where the indigenous do not even have their own territory."
But accelerating environmental deterioration was the principle fear voiced at the gathering. As Victor Yellow Hawk of the Keetowah tribe in the United States phrased it, "Our Mother Earth is crying. Our relatives, the animals, are losing their homes. Everywhere there are signs of destruction and illness."
Arthur Zajonc, program director of the Fetzer Institute, acknowledged that the ancestral customs, rituals and teachings of indigenous tribes "carry a profound love and knowledge of nature." One goal of the congress, he said, is to "cure the suffering of the indigenous communities and of Mother Earth and to promote sustainable development for our children and grandchildren."
At the conclusion of the conference, the tribal leaders released a declaration calling for legal recognition of their rights to their territories and worldwide protection and respect for their sacred sites, their forms of worship, their spiritual values and the rights of their children to have a safe and sustainable future. They also demanded compliance with the international agreements made at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro regarding indigenous communities and the protection of their intellectual and cultural property rights.
Dario Espinoza, of the Ketchua people in Peru, emphasized that responsibility to care for the environment "is not just for the indigenous communities. We all share the same house and are warmed by the same sun."
Contacts: Earth Council, Apdo: 2323-1002, San Jose, Costa Rica, 506/256-1611 (tel), 233-1822 (fax); Fetzer Institute, 9292 W. KL Ave., Kalamazoo, MI 49009-9398 USA, 616/375-2000; 372-2163 (fax).
This article is provided from the Rainforest Alliance's Tropical Conservation Newsbureau, based in San Jose,Costa Rica. For more information, contact Diane Jukofsky or Chris Wille, Rainforest Alliance, Apdo. 138-2150, Moravia, San Jose, Costa Rica; Phone: 506-240-9383; Fax: 506-240-2543; Email: infotrop@sol.racsa.co.cr
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