Indigenous communities, which make up only 5 per cent of the global population but represent a staggering 15 per cent of the world's poor, are still reeling from the results of centuries of decimation and political brutality: violence, unemployment and seemingly inescapable cycles of poverty. New challenges, however, face these communities and with them come innovative opportunities to reverse these insidious cycles.

UN photo/John Isaac

In today's well-networked, globalized world, no rugged mountain steppe or forest nook seems quite as remote as it once did. Pervasive media and technology have reached the far corners of the earth, offering indigenous people a direct and undiluted connection to the dominant majority. No longer will the world's image of native groups be fixed only in the pages of anthropological texts, confined by the perception of outside eyes.

With new connections far and wide to places and people, indigenous groups have a chance at real representation within the global community, and they are ready to be seen as the complex, dynamic communities that they are. It's a big change and a big responsibility. The United Nations joined forces with indigenous communities as it hosted the fifth session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, held from 15 to 26 May 2006. Over 1,200 representatives travelled to UN Headquarters in New York to assert their commitment to progress in the international arena.

"There are these four walls that any issues facing indigenous peoples always hit up against. I think that indicates that we're at a time when change is absolutely essential", said Merata Mita, a filmmaker and a Maori native from New Zealand, who attended the Forum with the National Geographic's All Roads film project and photography programme, of which she is an advisory board member. This change, she said, involved new ways of looking at the world. "A critical aspect to the future of indigenous peoples is that we must think more laterally and try to impress upon those walls."

Projects like All Roads, which gives grants to indigenous photographers and filmmakers to pursue their creative skills and imagination and have their arts viewed in international venues like the UN Permanent Forum, are major sources of support for indigenous artists worldwide. All Roads has had some mainstream success. Its 2004 animated series, "Raven Tales", which is based on North American aboriginal mythology, has recently joined Porchlight Entertainment and will be broadcast on PBS affiliates across the United States. Indigenous arts groups hope that more contact with the realities of native life will have lasting effects on the global consciousness, dispelling misconceptions and replacing them with human faces.

"Art and life are not static", said Ms. Mita's colleague, Chris Rainier, who heads the photography project. Some of the main themes in All Roads projects, he said, were modern changes in indigenous communities and the identity struggles that often follow. "We have to be aware that putting a fence around indigenous cultures and saying that 'we don't want you to change' is simply not fair and not appropriate", he added, addressing the preservationist attitudes of anthropologists and historians past.

This sentiment reverberated throughout the Forum's two-week session and at many more events. Even as tradition was joyfully celebrated, with songs echoing through the UN Headquarters hallways and colourful exhibits across the lobby, twenty-first-century issues were a strong presence in every venue. With its theme for the 2006 session, "Millennium Development Goals and Indigenous Peoples: Redefining the Goals", the Forum asserted the determination of the United Nations to have indigenous voices included in the development of the new millennium and that special provisions address the needs of the indigenous community.

At a panel discussion entitled "Native American Writers on Writing", which featured two renowned North American poets and welcomed an audience of scholars and artists, the bicultural reality of modern indigenous life was the poignant theme. "What makes us Indian, if we move away from the buffalo and the teepee?" asked James Thomas Stevens, an award-winning Mohawk poet and professor (see photo below), as he read from his collection of poems. "The idea of the 'pure' Indian … is a near impossibility." This flat image, he said, did not represent the trials of the past and the hybridization that had resulted in Indian life across North America.

Members of the Indigenous Caucus also made bold statements about their own progress. Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca Cepedes said at the Forum's opening ceremony that Bolivia, after five centuries of exploitation, has elected an indigenous person as its President and that this new government would show that a new era was dawning for indigenous people worldwide. Other indigenous attendees were quick to add that it was the use of their traditional knowledge in the modern world that would further their progress today.

 

Allison Adelle Hedge Coke of the Institute for American Indian Arts and James Thomas Stevens, a professor at SUNY Fredonia © UN Chronicle photo/Melissa Gorelick

"One of the good things about the indigenous groups that are left in the world", said Merata Mita, "is that they've held on to knowledge and they've held on to ways of sustaining people, so that there's not just survival on the agenda. There are ways of applying that knowledge to make the whole of society more aware and more progressive." In Hawaii, she said, indigenous understanding of nature had become essential parts of mainstream modern life. When the State faced grave water shortages, for example, the Board of Water Supply turned to native Hawaiians, who taught them the ancient secrets of rock filtration. Natives worldwide, who oppose dependency on oil, could also offer much sought-after alternative energy solutions.

Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, a North American Huron poet and scholar (see photo above), underscored this belief as she shared in the discussion. Even the very cognitive aspects of thinking as a native, she said, had helped her understand the world around her and could benefit society as a whole in much the same way. "It's these voices-the indigenous voices- which may condition the audience to see the world for what it truly is."

 

Mary Simat, an artist and jewellery vendor from Narok, Kenya, displays her work at the Permanent Forum bazaar. © UN Chronicle photo/Melissa Gorelick

Only by humanizing and listening to contemporary indigenous voices will today's conflicts truly find resolution, both in indigenous communities themselves and in the rest of the world as well.

Commitments Need to Be Concrete For Second Indigenous Decade

Representatives of indigenous peoples, senior United Nations officials and members of non-governmental organizations gathered at UN Headquarters in New York on 15 May 2006 for the opening ceremony of the fifth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which also launched the Programme of Action of the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. Building on the achievements of the First Decade (1995-2004), which placed the spotlight on the needs of indigenous peoples, the Second Decade seeks to further strengthen global cooperation for the achievement of the goals of indigenous peoples in the areas of culture, education, health, human rights, the environment and social and economic development. Initiatives include action-oriented programmes and specific projects, increased technical assistance and relevant standard-setting activities. The end of the Second Decade, in 2015, also coincides with the year benchmarked for the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which represent a set of internationally agreed-upon objectives, ranging from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, all by the target date of 2015. Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, artwork by Brazilian artist Octavio Roth In a video message to the Forum, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the Programme of Action "seeks to help indigenous people build better lives through full participation and partnerships. It aims to enable them to win respect for their identities, their languages and their cultures". He added: "I call on all States to work with indigenous peoples to translate the Programme into reality on the ground. Let us aim to make it mean something positive-a change for the better-in the life of every indigenous person, wherever he or she may live." The Action Programme was meant to give practical effect to the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document for the benefit of all indigenous peoples. Member States had reaffirmed their commitment to preserve and maintain the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous communities, and had recognized that their sustainable development was crucial in the fight against hunger and poverty. They also pledged to keep advancing the human rights of indigenous peoples and to present for adoption as soon as possible a United Nations declaration on those rights. UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs José Antonio Ocampo, Coordinator of the Second Decade, said that he would insist on creating synergies of achieving the MDGs and the overarching goals of the Second Decade. The international community was making progress, he added, but to reach all these goals it was necessary to translate international commitments into concrete programmes and projects. He urged stakeholders to implement specific programmes for the Decade and contribute to the trust fund for indigenous issues. He said he was looking forward to building a meaningful partnership to promote the well-being and dignity of indigenous peoples. The Chairperson of the Permanent Forum, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, said that the creation of a set of legal standards at the international level would ensure respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. Noting that the work on the draft declaration had finally wrapped up after 11 years of work, she hoped that it would be part of the agenda of the first session of the newly established Human Rights Council and would be adopted by the General Assembly before the end of 2006. Also featured during the opening ceremony were performances by indigenous dancers, singers and musicians from the United States, the Russian Federation, Norway and Australia, among others. The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was established by the Economic and Social Council in July 2000 to provide expert advice and recommendations on indigenous issues to the United Nations system, raise awareness and promote the integration and coordination of relevant activities within the UN system, as well as disseminate information on indigenous issues. The Forum is comprised of 16 independent experts appointed by the Council, eight of whom are nominated by Governments and eight directly by indigenous organizations in their regions.