John

Mapping the Sacred

Dinah Norman Marrngawi is a senior Yanyuwa woman who lives at Borroloola in the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. She spoke to me as we sat quietly on her verandah looking through draft maps associated with the development of an indigenous atlas of the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria.

Defense of the Sacred "Ancient Code"

The Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA) rose to prominence fighting for the rights of Aboriginal people in the early 1920s. They are today recognized as the first united, organized pan-Aboriginal political group. The AAPA realized early on that the survival of Aboriginal people and culture was savagely threatened by insidious government policy.

Siberians Visit The Six Nations Indian Museum

On Friday, October 8, 1999, the Six Nations Museum in upstate New York had the unique pleasure of being visited by fourteen Mongolian people from the Republic of Buryatia in Russian Siberia.

Buryatia is located in central Asia and is about the size of Germany. On the north west edge of the republic is Lake Baikal, the largest lake in the world, holding about one-fifth of the world's fresh water supply.

Why Subsistence is a Matter of Cultural Survival: A Yup'ik Point of View

Once there was a little blackfish swimming up a stream. Every so often he would swim up to the surface and look around. The first time he had surfaced he saw a camp where people were living. The people there were very careless. Their camp was unkempt and their belongings were strewn around. He noticed that when the people ate, they ate very carelessly. Bits of whatever they were eating would drop from their hands or out of their mouths onto the ground as they talked.

"Women Work Harder Than Men"

In the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, women must cope with two types of male domination: an indigenous form based on men's traditional role as warrior and defender of the village and an externally imposed one that makes paid employment a male privilege. Yet despite this double burden, Highlands women are strong and assertive - and aware of their shared interests as women. They actively and aggressively exploit the opportunities that are available to them.

Traditional Eastern Highland societies relegated women to a distinctly second-class status.

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