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UN Press Release ...

International Day of World's Indigenous People on 9 August to Recognize Contribution to Environmental Protection, Combating Climate Change

7 August 2007
HR/4930  - OBV/642

As the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is celebrated around the world on 9 August, indigenous peoples’ contribution to environmental protection is being recognized.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message to mark the Day, said: “Recently, the international community has grown increasingly aware of the need to support indigenous people -- by establishing and promoting international standards; vigilantly upholding respect for their human rights; integrating the international development agenda, including the Millennium Development Goals, in policies, programmes and country-level projects; and reinforcing indigenous peoples’ special stewardship on issues related to the environment and climate change.” (See Press Release SG/SM/11115.)

In addressing these issues and recalling the theme of the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (2005-2015), “Partnership for action and dignity”, the Secretary-General said, “let us be guided by the fundamental principle of indigenous peoples’ full and effective participation”.

Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Sha Zukang, in his official message for the International Day, noted that indigenous people live in many of the world’s most biologically diverse areas and have accumulated a great deal of knowledge about these environments.

“With their wealth of knowledge about their environment, indigenous people can and should play a crucial role in the global effort to respond to climate change. We should listen to them,” said Mr. Zukang.

For example, indigenous peoples use their traditional knowledge to lessen the impact of natural disasters. An Oxford University symposium in April this year heard how indigenous people “use strips of mangrove forest to absorb the force of tidal surges and tsunamis, others apply genetic diversity in crops to avoid total crop failure and some communities migrate among habitats as disaster strikes”.

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the Human Rights Council in June 2006 and currently being considered for adoption by the General Assembly, also recognizes that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contributes to sustainable development, including proper management of the environment.

“The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples represents the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of indigenous peoples. Many still live under the most oppressive and marginalized conditions and yet they are also the ones who are providing solutions to serious world problems such as climate change and the erosion of bio-cultural diversity,” stated Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

In recognition of indigenous peoples’ particular vulnerability to climate change and their important role in responding to it, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in its 2008 session will focus on “Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges”.

Vulnerability in the Face of Climate Change

Many indigenous communities are already needing to adapt their way of life due to the changing environment -- from Sami reindeer-herding communities in Sweden whose reindeer are unable to find food beneath the thick ice due to heavier than normal snowfalls, to indigenous communities in the Andes where extreme weather events are creating serious food security problems.

In the words of Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuit activist who was recently awarded the Mahbub ul Haq Award for Excellence in Human Development by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,: “We are all connected. The Arctic is geographically isolated from the rest of the world, yet the Inuk hunter who falls through the thinning sea ice is connected to melting glaciers in the Andes and the Himalayas, and to the flooding of low-lying and small island States.”

According to a recent report from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, several indigenous communities in Alaska are actively looking into relocation options for entire communities due to land and coastal erosion caused by the thawing of the permafrost and large storm-driven waves.

“More than 80 per cent of Alaskan communities, comprised mostly of indigenous peoples, are identified as vulnerable to either coastal or river erosion,” says the report.

Relocation is also an issue in small island States, such as Vanuatu and Samoa, where rising sea levels and flooding from extreme weather events are a problem. According to the same report, one community in Vanuatu has been forced to abandon their homes and move half a kilometre inland, as their original settlement is now being flooded up to five times a year.

High-altitude areas are not only seeing melting glaciers and ice peaks, but according to the report, some are also seeing negative impacts on their agriculture as a result of climate change and drought. In the Cordillera in the Philippines, 2000-year-old rice terraces are under attack from giant two-foot earthworms that have been thriving due to dwindling water supplies, causing soil and terrace walls to dry up even further.

About the Day

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is commemorated each year on 9 August in recognition of the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva in 1982. This year’s observance at the United Nations is being organized by the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; and the NGO Committee on the Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.

For more information of the Day and events at United Nations Headquarters, please visit http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii

For media enquiries, please contact Renata Sivacolundhu, Department of Public Information, tel: 212 963 2932, e-mail: sivacolundhu@un.org

For Secretariat of the Permanent Forum, please contact Mirian Masaquiza, Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, tel: 917 367 6006, e-mail: IndigenousPermanentForum@un.org

From the Globe and Mail ...

A judicial magic key opens land use talks - Judge plays referee to a junior miner and first nations group at loggerheads over mineral exploration
JACQUIE MCNISH - August 8, 2007

When a crew of mining drillers drove down an icy stretch of road in a northern corner of Ontario last February, hopes were running high that they might prove a major platinum discovery for their employer, Platinex Inc.

Instead, the crew never made it to their small base camp.

Blocking their way was an angry group of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation who ordered the workers off land near their reservation at Big Trout Lake. Outnumbered, the crew retreated. Their base camp and airstrip were destroyed and a volley of lawsuits was unleashed, including a $10-billion claim for damages from Platinex.

At first it looked as if Platinex was destined for the kind of legal purgatory that has paralyzed for years the progress of pipelines, mining and oil and gas explorations that venture into regions protected by first nation treaties. Even though junior companies such as Platinex carry government-issued mineral claims entitling them to explore treaty lands, they typically face years of legal skirmishes and negotiations to settle on terms for exploring, developing and sharing any profits with first nations groups.

Adding to the tensions are frayed relations between governments and first nations groups who argue that their rights and claims are often ignored and overlooked by provinces and the federal government when they grant businesses rights to their lands.

Platinex and the KI, however, were able to fast-track their complaints thanks to what can only be called a legal miracle. Waving the magic wand was Mr. Justice George Smith of the northwest region of the Superior Court of Ontario.

In May, Judge Smith handed down an order that essentially gave the court a unique role as a kind of referee overseeing a consultation protocol that set conditions for Platinex, the KI and even the Ontario government to allow limited exploration to proceed almost immediately.

"This is a unique and creative order," said Neal Smitheman, an aboriginal law specialist at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, which represents Platinex. "The court magically found a way to deal with what could have been a lengthy standoff."

Sandra Gogal, an aboriginal law expert with Miller Thomson LLP, said the Platinex order helps clarify the rights of companies and first nations in land use disputes. Land use clashes are on the rise, she said, because demand for resources is pushing companies into more remote regions at a time when recent Supreme Court decisions are reinforcing the rights of first nations to be consulted about the terms and scope of exploration.

"Businesses have to change their attitudes. The courts are telling us that first nations have a right to be consulted and businesses and governments have to recognize that these rights have to be resolved up front," Ms. Gogol said.

As Platinex executives tell it, the company struggled in vain to negotiate exploration terms with the estimated 2,000 KI residents that live near Big Trout Lake. According to court documents, Platinex offered to hire an archaeologist to assure no burial or other historic sites were damaged by drills. It also offered to respect trap lines, hire community workers and share the drilling results and a percentage of future revenue from the project.

The offers, however, were rejected by the KI, its lawyer Kate Kempton said, because of an "atmosphere of frustration and mistrust" that overshadowed the talks. "The KI came to the table very wary of Platinex's intentions."

Fuelling KI's frustration was what she described as the Ontario government's unwillingness or indifference to fulfill their treaty obligation to consult with the aboriginals about development on their land.

Arguing that the KI lacks the experience, expertise and financial resources to properly assess the impact of mining exploration, the aboriginals asked the court to order Ontario to give it $600,000 to fund studies and assessments of the drilling impact. The province, however, told the court it would only fund $150,000 of the costs.

Underlining the tensions was the harsh reality that neither the junior mining company nor the small aboriginal group could afford a prolonged legal battle.

Like a parent wading into a sibling fight, Judge Smith ordered the two sides in early May to attempt reconciliation and reserved for the court the right to supervise or direct the talks. The order, Judge Smith said in his decision, "was to encourage the parties to continue a dialogue, with the hope that this would enhance mutual understanding."

His strategy worked. By May 18 the two sides were close enough for the judge to order that Platinex could proceed with the first phase of its drilling. The company could drill, he ordered, provided it honoured the terms of a protocol and memorandum of understanding that called for it to consult with the KI about its activities and commit to such terms as the hiring of an archeologist.

By giving Platinex the green light, Judge Smith eliminated an effective veto right first nations have held over exploration projects until all their demands are met.

In place of a veto, Judge Smith set a timetable to resolve a number of remaining issues such as the amount of money Ontario should be ordered to pay the KI for assessments and who should be on the hook for legal expenses.

While Judge Smith's creative solution found a shortcut around the legal roadblock, it is still unclear whether it was achieved in time for Platinex. The company had plans in February to raise money for drilling in Big Trout Lake through a private placement. The stock sale, however, was shelved after the KI roadblock and its lawyer Mr. Smitheman said the company is actively looking to raise money to pay for drilling that the court has allowed.

"It's a vicious circle," Mr. Smitheman said. "Platinex couldn't raise funds to drill until it resolved the aboriginal dispute and now that it is resolved it's looking for money to start the drilling."

jmcnish@globeandmail.com

From News1130 ...

First-time filmmaker searches for family history in residential schools doc
LISA ABEL - August 5, 2007

TORONTO (CP) - Growing up in Sioux Lookout, Ont., Nadia McLaren sensed there was something missing from her family history, a feeling she calls "a restlessness of an ancient sadness."

As a child, her grandmother Theresa McCraw, originally from the Ojibwa community of Heron Bay Pic River, Ont., attended St. Joseph's, an Indian residential school in Thunder Bay, yet rarely spoke about her experiences there.

"I just got bits and pieces of her story," McLaren says. "I took this knowledge and her bits and pieces that she did tell me for granted, because I thought that I could ask my aunts and uncles about Granny's experiences - which I did - and none of them knew."

The native residential schools began operating in the late 1800s and it wasn't until the late 1970s that all the schools were shut down.

While some had positive experiences in the government-run institutions, many of the 150,000 students, removed from their families and their traditional lands, and forced to abandon their native languages and spiritual practices, were physically and sexually abused in the process.

McLaren sensed that McCraw's time at St. Joseph's hadn't been positive. After her grandmother's passing in 2003, McLaren knew that a vital piece of their family history had been taken to the grave.

The graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design began to create a commemorative art exhibit where she would videotape native elders telling their stories, and show them alongside her paintings.

But by the third interview, McLaren realized that a full-length feature film would be the most effective way to get the elder's stories "out into the world."

"I figured the elders stories deserved that kind of attention."

The result is Muffins For Granny, an 88-minute documentary that weaves together home movie footage of her grandmother, interviews with six elders, including animated recreations of their stories, archival photos from residential schools, traditional songs, and scenes of the natural beauty of Ontario's north.

"For a lot of the elders it was the first time they actually spoke about it, so it was really powerful. It was pretty hard on the crew and myself, but definitely felt honoured that they were sharing these stories with us," McLaren says.

Earlier this year, the federal government approved an agreement that would give roughly 80,000 aboriginal students who were abused in residential schools $10,000 for the first year of attendance and $3,000 for every subsequent year.

The deadline for former students and their families to decide whether to stay in the settlement or remove themselves is August 20.

Harvey Trudeau, the eastern Canada liaison for the National Residential Schools Survivors' Society, says that since he has been involved with the society, he has "yet to help anybody fill out an opt-out form."

"As far as we know, the opt-out numbers are not very high," Trudeau says.

Trudeau, who attended a residential school in Spanish, Ont., says the payments might "make the experience easier to bear" for the survivors, though the money will "never help them forget what they've been through."

Karen Isaacs, a peer support worker with a residential schools program for survivors and their families at the Council Fire Native Cultural Centre in Toronto, doesn't know of anyone who has opted out, either.

"I think the compensation package is forcing them to open up their pasts, which will open the door to their healing, but they want to get it done with as little said as possible," Isaacs says.

"I find a lot of people don't want to talk about it. There's the pain; they don't want to feel that pain again. Some of them had such harsh treatment in residential school and they don't want to repeat it," she says.

Wayne Spear, director of communications Aboriginal Healing Foundation, one of the funders of the film, says supporting the making of Muffins for Granny fit well with the healing and public awareness components of the foundation's mandate.

"When people who have suffered trauma, particularly residential schools, realize there are other people who have actually overcome the fear and isolation of having been physically or sexually abused and kept it sort of a shameful secret, it has a healing effect," Spears says, "because people realize they're not alone and other people have gone through this as well and they've been able to cope with it."

Spears says the film "could be an enormous resource for education of the general public," since residential schools are often "softened or dealt with euphemistically" in the Canadian schools.

McLaren is looking for a distributor, applying to screen at more film festivals and trying to get the film into movie theatres. She's also had interest from organizations looking to use it as a tool for cultural sensitivity training.

Muffins for Granny recently ended an engagement in July at Camera, an independent screening room and art gallery in Toronto. Earlier versions of the film were shown at several native film festivals last year in Toronto and Winnipeg, where it won best documentary.

Perhaps what happened at a showing at a film festival in Moose Factory, Ont., was more meaningful to McLaren than the award.

"That was a really powerful screening, because afterwards one of the elders stood up, turned to his people and he said, 'It's time we started talking about this."'

"After I saw that happening, I realized this documentary would find its way," McLaren says. "It was a really powerful experience."