The Indigenous World 2001/2002

Book excerpt: This document contains the English and Spanish texts of an annual publication which examines political, social, environmental, and educational issues concerning indigenous peoples around the world in 2001-02. Part 1 describes current situations and events in 11 world regions: the Arctic; North America; Mexico and Central America; South America; Australia and the Pacific; east and southeast Asia; south Asia; and four sections of Africa. In general, indigenous peoples worldwide were dealing with issues related to land rights, self-determination, relations between central government and indigenous communities, outright oppression and violence, environmental destruction by economic development projects, communal rights, women's rights, access to appropriate education and to health care, and preservation of indigenous cultures and languages. The events of September 11 raised fears that indigenous peoples struggling for self-determination and fundamental rights would be unjustly accused of being terrorists. Items of educational interest in the Arctic and the Americas include ongoing debates in Greenland over the relative status of Danish and Greenlandic in the schools; efforts to protect Saami language and culture in Sweden; inadequate U.S. federal funding for tribal administration of schools and for necessary construction and repair of Bureau of Indian Affairs schools; reforms in indigenous education in Guatemala; the situation of the bilingual intercultural education system in Venezuela; efforts to protect collective intellectual property of indigenous peoples of the Amazon region; and training of indigenous teachers in Brazil. Articles on other regions discuss education as a tool of Chinese repression in Tibet; language issues in East Timor, Nepal, Morocco, Ethiopia, and South Africa; nonformal education initiatives and native language instruction for indigenous Cambodians; and language and cultural maintenance through cultural festivals in Kenya. Part 2 reports on United Nations work on indigenous rights. (SV).