Editor's Choice: February 15, 1999
The Fate of Indigenous Peoples in the Modern World
In your exploration of cultural anthropology this semester you've no
doubt discussed or read about the Ju/wasi (or !Kung), Balinese, Yanomamo, Navaho, Semai,
Trobriand Islanders or Azande. The study of traditional peoples such as these has
been the major focus of cultural anthropology since it emerged as a scientific discipline
in the nineteenth century. But you should not forget that while it is important to
study the diverse ways of living that have been characteristic of our species, this
diversity is fast disappearing. In the United States, for example, Indigenous
peoples were killed off by disease, slavery, forced labor, or war, the remnants confined
to reservations whose boundaries shrank as more and more people desired their land;
indigenous peoples in South and central America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia faced
much the same fate. Few, if any, remaining indigenous peoples are able to maintain
fully the culture of their ancestors.
The reasons for the destruction of cultures is complex, but
essential to understand if we are to appreciate what we have lost and what we are losing
with their disappearance. In Perspectives Anthropology you'll be able to
read about the issue in Section 6, Change in a Modern World. But let's outline
some of the issues here and examine some of the resources on the Internet that can
help us.
The first question we need to address is who are "indigenous
peoples"? The question is of more than academic interest. With a new
political awareness, indigenous peoples are asserting their political rights as well as
their rights over their traditional physical and economic resources that have, for the
most part, been denied them. Consequently it is important to define to whom such
rights should extend. One accepted
definition of indigenous peoples is that adopted by the UN Working Group on Indigenous
Populations proposed by Jose Martinez Cobo, and posted here at the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)
Web site. You can find the identity of indigenous nations that
exist near you at Nations of the Indigenous One World or, if you are in Canada, at Windows on Native
Lands.
Another question we need to address involves what we all
lose as alternative ways of living are lost? In our largely ethnocentric daily
lives, we so take-for-granted our way of living, that we often lose sight of the fact that
there are others; in so doing, we forget that there is much we can learn from other
cultures, both about them, and about ourselves. For example, most of us exist in a
culture that is dominated by a concern for material things, in which measures of
well-being consist largely of monetary income and commodity production and consumption.
We lose sight of the fact that there are ways of assessing well-being that are not
material. In her article, The
Circle of Development and Indigenous Peoples, Sherry Salway Black discusses some of the spiritual values important in
indigenous cultures and suggests that indigenous peoples need to use these values to
evaluate their lives and not depend solely on the largely material and economic criteria
used in the culture of capitalism.
The next question we need to ask is why are other cultures
disappearing? Reasons include the flagrant use of violence
to destroy indigenous resistance, but just as often they include measures that are
proposed to "help" indigenous peoples, such as offering educational
opportunities, or so-called economic development programs.
The use of violence to destroy indigenous cultures is not restricted
to the past; it is still being done. One example involves what has happened to the Yanomamo or Yanomami in the past
twenty years. Your anthropology readings probably include materials on the Yanomamo;
the research and films of Napoleon Chagnon have made them a favorite for anthropology
instructors. But the Yanomamo described by Chagnon and others are being slowly
exterminated, victims of disease and death spread by gold prospectors and other invaders
into their territory. You can find out more about it from Daví Kopenawa Yanomami in an interview conducted by Multinational Monitor at the
Rio Earth Summit.
Nation-states, such as the United States, have never been quite sure
what to do about indigenous peoples. After taking their lands and restricting them
to reservations, governments have, in the name of progress, initiated programs designed to
assimilate them into the dominant culture. These programs often involved removing
indigenous children from their families and placing them in boarding schools where they
could be remade in
the white man's image. One of the most famous was the Carlyle Indian School in Carlyle,
Pennsylvania. At the site Barbara Landis provides a history of Indian schools
along with a history and description of Carlyle. In most instances these programs
were disasters, creating people who no longer fit into their ancestral culture, but who,
because of their indigenous heritage, were not accepted into the dominant culture.
You can also trace the history of similar attempts of the Australian government to
wipe out indigenous culture through forced education, or read a report, Bringing
Them Home, that formed the backdrop for a national campaign to acknowledge the harm
done, and to offer an apology in the form of a national "sorry
day."
A major reason for the destruction of indigenous cultures is that
they hold resources that are desired by the larger culture. One of the more flagrant
examples involves the actions of multinational oil companies, such as Shell and Mobil, to
extract oil resources on tribal lands in Nigeria. Their actions have devastated
environments, initiated protests by affected groups, and led to government repression and
killings. You can find out some of the details at Factsheet on the Ogoni
Struggle.
Finally, we are faced with the question of whether or not there is
anything that can be done about the destruction of indigenous cultures. Since most
attacks on indigenous peoples and ethnic groups are committed by the nation-states whose
territory they inhabit, the question is to whom or what can they appeal to protect
themselves? Nation-States are quick to claim that disputes with indigenous groups or
ethnic minorities (or majorities) are "internal matters," and not subject to
anyone else's authority. Others claim that there are "human rights," that
extend beyond the rights conferred or mediated by nation-states.
At their Web site Human
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Stephen Renard, Jaime
Simmermaker, and Amy Stein provide an excellent discussion of the issues involved in the
human and political rights of indigenous peoples. They also provide you with an
excellent outline of what different organizations are doing about the abuse of these
rights, and supply links to those organizations. One of the most
prominent is Cultural Survival; founded in
1972 by anthropologist David Maybury-Lewis, Cultural Survival has sponsored research,
forums, and publications dedicated to helping indigenous peoples protect themselves and
their resources.
Indigenous peoples have also learned how to use the
political processes of nation-states to protect their interests. The First Nations
of Quebec, for example, face an interesting issue: they are residents of a Canadian
province that claims it can secede from Canada based on its claim of being
"culturally distinct," yet it denies that same right to indigenous peoples.
You can read more about the issue at the
Grand Council of the Cree site Sovereign
Injustice. In their view, the Quebec government's "current political and
legislative strategy towards secession of Québec from Canada has no legal validity. It
also lacks legitimacy from either a Canadian or international perspective. Moreover,
should Québec secession proceed, it would seriously impinge upon other peoples'
fundamental status, rights and interests – including those of the James Bay
Crees."
In sum, as you learn about other culture, remember that their ways
of living are being constantly threatened, and that their loss is one we all share.
You can click
here to find additional resources on indigenous peoples at the editor's Web site.
