30.4 (Winter 2006) Land & Resources in the Americas

Australian Apocalypse. The Story of Australia's Greatest Cultural Monument by Robert Bednarik

Australian Apocalypse. The Story of Australia’s Greatest Cultural Monument

By Robert Bednarik

Melbourne: Occasional AURA Publication No. 14. Australian Rock Art Research Association Inc., 2006.

ISBN 0-9586802-2-1

Reviewed by Ian S. McIntosh

Cultural Survival Lobbies Guatemalan Congress for Indigenous Radio Rights

In November, Cultural Survival executive director Ellen Lutz traveled to Guatemala to lobby congressional representatives there, hoping to convince them to pass a new law that would finally give full legal rights to community radio stations in indigenous areas.

Human Rights Delegation Finds Colombia Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity

In September a delegation of human rights experts from Europe, Latin America, the United States, and Canada, including representatives from the United Nations and the European Union, investigated the state of indigenous peoples in Colombia and issued a statement charging the government with crimes against humanity and other, lesser charges. The group, called the International Verification Mission on the Humanitarian and Human Rights Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Colombia, was organized by the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia.

Aborigines Win Ownership of Perth

In a ground-breaking decision, an Australian federal judge has found in favor of an Aboriginal land claim that would give the Noongar people native title to an area of 2,300 square miles, including offshore islands and the city of Perth, which has a population of 1.7 million. The ruling, which was handed down on September 19, drew cheers from the 100 Noongar who were present and cries of outrage from the state government.

The People of the Corn

For Mexicans, maize is not a crop but a deep cultural symbol intrinsic to daily life. Corn was domesticated from a grass called teocintle by the peoples of Meso-America approximately 10,000 years ago. Often referred to as humanity’s greatest agronomic achievement, maize is now grown all over the world. The yellow corn commonly found in the United States pales in comparison to the shapes, sizes, and colors of the traditional maize varieties cultivated by the indigenous peoples of Mexico.

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