OAS draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Position the Indigenous Caucus of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

Distinguished Chairman of the Permanent Council, we the representatives of Indigenous Peoples want to express our position in regards to the last session of negotiations of the working group responsible for drafting the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We regret that some States insist to hinder negotiations which have been held for more than 17 years, by introducing at the last minute, new text to make the provisions in the American Declaration ambiguous, below the standards of the Declaration of the United Nations and not recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples, which is contrary to international human rights law. 

The Caucus considers this a vile disrespect and bad faith and will not accept any disposition that limits the human rights of Indigenous Peoples to the constitutions, domestic laws and public interest and allow the continued violation of indigenous rights and destroy all progress we have achieved in the American Declaration.

The Indigenous Caucus denounces before the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs, the Permanent Council and the General Assembly that the conditions for the adoption of an American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas do not exist, because there is no respect for the principles of the negotiation process that led Indigenous Peoples to the negotiation of an American Declaration without weakening it and without taking it below the standards of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We ask the Committee on Legal Affairs, the Permanent Council and the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), to take the necessary measures to enable the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in the discussion and adoption of the American Declaration in an environment of respect and equality.

We the Indigenous Peoples will not accept any language that is contrary to the UN Declaration. We Indigenous Peoples reject and denounce the text of the American Declaration submitted for discussion and consider it illegitimate.

Having said that and in view of the fact that there are no conditions for negotiations at this eighteenth session, we the indigenous peoples remove ourselves from the negotiating table and will not recognize any text.

Washington D.C. 15^th May, 2015.

Contact: Anita Tzec anitatzec@yahoo.com

Bolivia Proposing UN Day of Mother Earth

New York (UCTP Taino News) - Bolivia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations has announced plans to introduce a draft resolution to the UN to create “International Mother Earth Day." If approved by UN Member Countries, Mother Earth Day would be celebrated each April 22nd. The concept for the day is based on the broad notion that that all people must strive to live in harmony with nature and one another in order to avoid crises such as global warming.

With this proposal, Bolivia hopes to pay homage to the intimate relationship that many cultures see as existing between humans and the environment. Although April 22nd is currently known as “Earth Day” it is not officially recognized at the United Nations. Bolivia asserts that International Mother Day would not conflict with Earth Day as it is celebrated in approximately 170 nations.

In solidarity with the proposal, the Chairman of the NGO Committee on the UN International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Roberto Borrero (Taino) stated “promoting a sustainable relationship with the environment is a positive initiative that all people can embrace.”

According to the Bolivian Mission, the celebration of the “International Mother Earth Day” would focus on raising public consciousness about climate change, biodiversity, and other environmental issues in order to benefit the future generations of all regions and countries.

Photo: Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma

UCTPTN 03.09.2009

Arawak Master Woodcarver Names Son After Bolivian President

Pakuri Territory, Guyana (UCTP Taino News) – Internationally renowned master woodsculptor, Foster Simon of Pakuri Lokono Arawak Territory (St. Cuthberts Mission) celebrated the September birth of his newborn son by naming the child “Evo” Simon after President Evo Morales Ayma of Bolivia.

President Morales is hailed as the hemisphere’s first “full-blooded” indigenous Head of State in over 450 years of the European and neo-colonial occupation of the Americas. Many Indigenous Peoples throughout the Caribbean and the Americas consider President Evo Morales to be “their President”; he is a well-respected and revered personage among First Nations of the Hemisphere.

Foster Simon’s wooden sculptures form part of the Presidential collections of Guyana, Venezuela, and Bolivia. One of Simon’s most recent art works was presented to Bolivian Ambassador Reynaldo Cuadros who received the unique piece on behalf of President Morales. The work was gifted to the Ambassador by Simon’s brother-in-law, Damon Corrie (Arawak), who was invited to make the special presentation at the Presidential Palace in La Paz during a session of the Organization of American States held there in April 2007.

Photo: Proud Arawak parents, Margaret and Foster Simon with new

baby "Evo Simon" in Pakuri Territory, Guyana

===============

See related stories at:

Caribbean and North American Indigenous Peoples present sacred gifts for

President Evo Morales Ayma of Bolivia.
http://uctp.blogspot.com/2007/04/caribbean-and-north-american-indigenous.html

Bolivians mark Columbus Day and Indians' return to power
http://uctp.blogspot.com/2006/10/bolivians-mark-columbus-day-and.html

President of Bolivia Meets with Indigenous Leaders in New York
http://uctp.blogspot.com/2006/09/president-of-bolivia-meets-with.html

Caribbean and North American Indigenous Peoples present sacred gifts for President Evo Morales Ayma of Bolivia.

La Paz, Bolovia - Three delegates from the Indigenous Peoples Caucus of the Organisation of American States (OAS) Working Group to prepare a draft Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, were honored to present sacred gifts for President Evo Morales Ayma on Friday April 27th 2007.

In a special meeting that took place at the Presidential Palace, hereditary Chief Damon Gerard Corrie of Barbados, presented a wood sculpture of a Paramount Chief created by master carver Foster Owen Simon of Pakuri Arawak Territory in Guyana - on behalf of the Taino-Arawak and Kalinago-Carib People of the Caribbean and the Lokono-Arawak People of South America. Ronald Lameman of Canada, presented a soap-stone carving of a Thunderbird created by a master sculptor of the Cree Nation of Canada on behalf of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations of Canada. Elder Stuart Jamieson of the powerful Six Nations Iroqouis Confederacy of North America offered a sacred prayer blessing for the historic occasion.

For the delegates the gifts represented the status of President Morales Ayma - who is the first Native American in the Western Hemisphere to have democratically attained this high office in the entire post-contact history of the Americas – and his strength and fortitude in creating the first internationally recognised and truly Native Government in over five centuries of European Colonial and subsequent Neo-Colonial occupation of the 'New World'. The gifts also represented the spiritual blessings directed from the hearts of all those who are truly loyal to their Indigenous identities - to the new, free and just Bolivia President Morales and the Native Ministers of this peaceful revolution have created; which is a light of hope to all Indigenous Peoples the world over.

Bolivia's Ambassador to the OAS, His Excellency Reynaldo Cuadros, received the gifts on behalf of the President who was in an emergency meeting due to a natural disaster, which had occurred that day. Ambassador Cuadros was recognized by the delegates as having worked tirelessly on behalf of the Indigenous Caucus during their stay in Bolivia.

An Arawak Witnesses History in Bolivia

La Paz, Bolivia - At the Presidential Palace on April 23rd, President Evo Morales Ayma signed into law the Nationalisation of the Natural Gas Industry of Bolivia; one of the largest reserves in the world. Witnesses to the historic event included Bolivian Government Ministers, top brass of the Bolivian Armed Forces, members of the Indigenous Caucus of the Organisation of American States, and hundreds of Bolivian citizens.

President Morales is the first Indigenous Amerindian Head of State in the Americas in almost five centuries of European colonisation and domination of the Western Hemisphere, and he gave a spontaneous & moving speech in Spanish - interrupted regularly by wild applause - explaining the reasons for his move and the truly criminal discrepancy that previously existed between what the powerful multinational leeches were extracting out of the country as compared to the pittance they were paying the Bolivian people - 85% of whom still live in poverty due to such unbridled capitalism´.

Afterwards the President personally greeted all the members of the Caucus and we were availed the opportunity to have our photos taken with him. Every country in Latin America was represented in the audience and the Indigenous Caucus, I was the only Caribbean person present at this historic event - and as a Arawak it was a great honour to be in the ancient ancestral birthplace of my people, to stand in solidarity with my Bolivian bothers and sisters, and witness MY president in action.

UCTP Taino News Moderator's Note: Damon Gerard Corrie is the Hereditary Chief ofthe Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawaks, founder & president of the Pan-Tribal Confederacy of Indigenous Tribal Nations, and a member of the Indigenous Caucus of the Organisation of American States working group to draft a declaration of Rightsof the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas - for which he is the official representative of the United Confederation of Taino People.

SHOCKING REVELATIONS IN BOLIVIA : A letter from Damon Gerard Corrie

Every Caribbean person who has benefitted from a Secondary Education will be familiar with the vile Éncomienda system´that was instituted in Spanish occupied Caribbean islands shortly after Colombus´s arrival in the Western Hemisphere. This heinous system allowed the Spanish plantocracy to ´own´ Arawak families, clans and even entire villages - if they had enough money, they then made their Arawak slaves work on their own lands for the financial benefit of the Spaniards until death freed them from this wretched state.

All in the past I hear you say, but you are wrong. According to a documentary produced in Bolivia - there are Arawakan Guarani Amerindians in Eastern Bolivia who are still living under a virtual encomienda system administered by the wealthy descendants of European Spanish descent.

This was allowed to continue un-opposed by all the Colonial and Neo-Colonial governments of Bolivia since the evil days of the Spanish conquest (because all of these prior & illigitimate governments were led by Spaniards and their descendants) .

Naturally, the heirs of the conquistadores can no longer punish by killing the Guarani indentured servants as they would like - but they continue to exploit them in every other way imaginable, rapes, beatings etc, these minority of modern day Spaniards who still parasitize the Amerindian territories of Bolivia sell one another vast areas of Guarani land - with any Guarani who dare to live on their own tribal lands being valued in the sales at $1,800 Bolivianos each ($1 US dollar = 7.50 Bolivianos), they provide the Guarani with second hand clothing (how philantrophic of them!) and see that they get just enough food to survive - so they can provide physical labour to keep their captors wealthy 7 days a week.

A video recorded interview with a lucky few Guarani who escaped their living hell documents this crime against humanity, and in it the wealthy land owners regurgitate familiar racist arguments (similar to a former Canadian Editor in a recent Barbados newspaper) to justify their actions saying and I quote: "The Guarani are hard workers, but if it were not for us forcing them to work they would become lazy since they have no ambition, they need us to civilize them".

It was not until the beginning of 2006 when Amerindian President Evo Morales was democratically elected President of the Republic of Bolivia that the liberation of the Guarani became a high priority on the agenda of the Amerindian Government of this beatiful country - home to the largest population of Amerindians on Earth (approximately 7 million pure-blooded survivors of the Spanish Holocaust).

Of course President Morales can only solve the problem though legal channels - and this has been an uphill struggle to rewrite a racist constitution so that Bolivia's rightful landlords have a body of laws to protect them from such exploitation - whilst the battles are on-going the war is not yet won, and the Guarani´s day of total liberation has not yet arrived.

Long live the Amerindian Government of Bolivia - the light that shines on in the darkness.

Damon Gerard Corrie
Writing from La Paz, Bolivia

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UCTP Taino News Editor's Note: Damon Damon Gerard Corrie is the Hereditary Chief of the Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawaks, founder & president of the Pan-Tribal Confederacy of Indigenous Tribal Nations, and a member of the Indigenous Caucus of the Organisation of American States working group to draft a declaration of Rights of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas - for which he is the official representative of the United Confederation of Taino People.

Bolivian Indigenous President to Meet with North American Native American Leaders

The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales Ama, an Aymara Indian elected to his country's highest office in December 2005, will meet with American Indian Leaders on Monday, September 28, 2006. The President, along with his country's Foreign Minister, David Choquehuanca, (also Aymara), is in New York City for the opening of this year's General Assembly at the United Nations.

The meeting is being hosted by the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues of the United Nations and the American Indian Law Alliance, an Indigenous peoples' non-governmental organization working with offices in New York City. Mr. Thomas Kruse, one of the President Morales's assistants stated that the meeting was set up at the request of Mr. Morales and is meant to be a substantive exchange between Indigenous leaders from the North and the South to discuss the issues shared by Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Kent Lebsock, the Executive Director of the American Indian Law Alliance, added the election of President Morales is an historic event for all Indian peoples. For him to honor us by meeting with our traditional Native American leaders is another step in the undeniable presence of Indigenous peoples in international advocacy, especially human
rights."

President Morales' office had specifically requested a small meeting in order to ensure that substantive, frank discussions could occur.

Participants look forward to this being the first of more meetings designed to improve the dialogue between the Bolivian government and American Indian nations and First Nations of Canada. Issues to be discussed include lands, resources and the revitalization of traditional Indigenous processes in government, conservation and environmental management.

The meeting comes at the beginning of the General Assembly session.

It is expected that the United Nations will take up the issue of the Declaration on the Rights of the World's Indigenous Peoples. For over 20 years, Indigenous peoples from around the world have worked with human rights experts to develop this international human rights instrument. Finally, having made it's way to the General Assembly, it is being supported by many United Nations' member states and Indigenous nations, organizations and communities around the world. However it is also facing strong opposition from the United States, Canada, and Australia. The meeting between Morales and North American Indian leaders will also focus on ensuring the passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Haudenosaunee, Lakota and Cree nations will participate along with urban Native Americans from New York City. The opening ceremony will be by Sid Hill, Tadodaho of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations, Iroquois Confederacy) from Onondaga in upstate New York. Oren Lyons, also from Onondaga; Alex White Plume, tribal chairman and a traditional leader of the Oglala Sioux Nation; along with Willie Littlechild and Rick Lightning (Ermineskin Cree Nation), John Bull (Louis Bull Cree Nation), and Raymond Cutknife (Samson Cree Nation), will also participate.

Local leadership includes Tonya Gonnella Frichner a citizen of the Onondaga Nation and the meeting's moderator, Roberto Borrero, Taino, and Esmeralda Brown, a long time United Nations advocate for Indigenous rights.