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32.1 (Spring 2008) Burma Burning

The Price of Profits

The Initiative for the Regional Integration of Infrastructure in South America is the latest and largest in a series of bank-financed schemes to bring "development" to the Amazon Basin—and more trouble to the region's indigenous communities.

Standing Up for Burma

A photo essay in this issue of the Cultural Survival Quarterly exposes in graphic detail the horrors that have been imposed on Burma’s indigenous peoples by that country’s military junta and armed forces.

Panama Dam Construction Steps Up the Pace

As we reported in the last issue of Cultural Survival Quarterly, the Ngöbe people of Panama are facing imminent destruction of their homeland as a result of a hydroelectric dam. Since then, things in Panama have become significantly more desperate. AES, the American company that is building the dam, began dynamiting Isabel Becker’s land after pressuring her to sign it over to them on a document she couldn’t read.

Mongolia Establishes Support Program for Reindeer Herders

After four years of lobbying the Mongolian government to recognize the threats facing the indigenous nomadic Dukha reindeer herders, Cultural Survival’s Totem Project has achieved a significant victory. Project director Dan Plumley reports that in November the government established a Program to Improve the Life Standards of the Reindeer Herding Citizens and Reindeer Farming, a three-year, $300,000 commitment that will address most of the Dukha’s essential demands for support and services.

Javatrekker

By Dean Cycon
Chealsea Green Publishing, 2007
ISBN 1933392703
Reviewed by Cheri Kramer

Isolation

In South America's Gran Chaco, voluntarily isolated indigenous groups are still dodging the rampant development of the region, and with good reason: those that have already come out have found that even greater isolation awaits them.

Guatemala Radio Project Update

The past year has been exceptionally productive for the Guatemala Radio Project, a partnership between Cultural Survival and 168 indigenous community radio stations operating throughout Guatemala. The project educates indigenous Maya about their rights and reinforces local languages, music, and customs, all in their own local languages.

For Indigenous Eyes Only: A Decolonization Handbook

Edited by Waziyatawin Angela Wilson, Michael Yellow Bird, and Angela Cavender Wilson
School of American Research Press, 2007
ISBN 1930618638
Reviewed by Ramona Peters

Flights of Fancy: The giant Mayan kites of Guatemala

A dazzling display of color and ingenuity, the giant kite looms above me, a circular construction 57 feet across, secured by tall bamboo stalks and plastic string. To both sides stand other kites, enormous demonstrations of the creativity and skill of their creators, as well as messengers of culture and social protest. Smaller kites—still reaching far above the heads of the milling crowd—rest contentedly in front of the largest kites. Behind the crowd, young children fly their own much smaller versions of the giant kites, spotting the sky with bright bursts of red, orange, blue, and green.

Feasting in Fiji

In Fiji it is customary to welcome anyone, even a foreign stranger, into the home to share a meal. A mat or cloth is placed on the floor of the home and several dishes along with staple foods are placed in the center. Families are usually large, and there are often several guests at a meal. Sitting cross-legged in a circle you traditionally eat with your hands and, save for a quick prayer of thanks, most meals lack formality and are filled with discussion and laughter.

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