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Indians Win Landmark Human Rights Case in International Court

NICARAGUA, September 26, 2001: The Mayagna (see map page 11) Indian community of Awas Tingni has won a major legal battle against the government of Nicaragua in an international case that underscores the ties between Indian land rights and environmental protection.

This month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights released a landmark ruling that ordered Nicaragua to recognize and protect the Indians' legal rights to their traditional lands.

Cease to Do Evil, Then Learn to Do

NUNAVUT, October 15

In Inuit culture our elders are our source of wisdom. They have a long-term view of things and a deep understanding of the cycles and changes of life ... So it was natural for us to respect the newcomers who seemed to know how to survive and how to make their organizations work. Their power looked like wisdom. . . . We now know that it [was] a mistake. . . .

State Sanctioned Child Abuse in Thailand

Young indigenous Karen girls from the Padang (Kayan) (see map page 11) tribe have rings fastened ar-ound their necks by entrepreneurs to attract tourist dollars. The brass coils elongate a girl's neck by pressing down on the collarbone and ribs while pushing the chin upward. In time the neck muscles weaken so much that if the coils were removed, the head would collapse and the neck break.

A tradition that had nearly died out in Burma 30 years ago has been resuscitated. Money and coercion now keep the coils on children.

Hopi and Dine Unite in Grassroots Campaign to Save their Only Source of Drinking Water

ARIZONA: On June 30, 2001, representing the Black Mesa Weavers for Life and Land project, I attended a meeting convened near Big Mountain on Black Mesa, Arizona. The meeting, hosted by a 94-year-old weaver and her family, was called to present the latest information about the drinking water crisis facing the people of Black Mesa and to draft a plan of action.

The Politics of Negotiating Rights in Canada:The Innu Nation Experience

"Survival” is a word the Innu (see map page 11) know well. Not so long ago—within the last 50 years, in fact—our parents and grandparents lived on the land. Survival was, for them, part of daily life as a hunting people. They depended on the movements of the caribou, the abundance of small game, and the predictability of the weather. A small thing—a simple mistake, a run of bad weather, or a shift in the wind—could mean the difference between starvation and survival. Our parents learned to be attentive to what was happening on the land and among the animals.

1300 and Counting. Cultural Survival Interns

Within a week of arriving at Cultural Survival for a summer internship, I had three jobs for which I alone was responsible. None of these jobs involved running off copies that numbered in the triple-digits, putting my precious summer hours into a behemoth file cabinet, or picking up sandwiches for the full-time staff (although few of the staff would have voiced a protest).

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