1.4

For thousands of years, the Efe, commonly known as "pygmies," have lived and foraged in the Ituri Forest in the isolated northeast corner of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The idea of conservation is as old as mankind. It arises from the observation that certain useful plants and animals are disappearing from a given environment. Over the years conservation has acquired other connotations: to some it has meant the protection of wild nature, to others the sustainable use of natural resources. The concept of preserving wild nature for its own value became famous at the UN Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

"Native Americans have self-government rights. They manage their life by themselves. We still cannot do it. Elections for local administrations were canceled because the government wished to save money," said Tatiana Khetani, a member of the Magadan Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, who represented the Evenk people during a visit to the United States in June, 2002.

Together with five others guests, Tatiana toured the Pacific Northwest and met with Native Americans and members of Canadian First Nations.

Cultural Survival is an indigenous rights organization located in Cambridge, MA. It is a place where I can express myself as a member of an indigenous group, the Ainu of Japan, and accumulate more experience working for the rights of indigenous peoples. I was interested in working for an indigenous rights organization in order to discover what I can contribute to other indigenous peoples with my experience and work. CS also helps me understand how an international indigenous rights organization can be connected to indigenous communities, and what such an organization can offer them.