UN Indigenous Forum Opens in New York

Damon Corrie, Mildred Karaira Gandia and Pamela Kraft of the Tribal Link Foundation at the United Nations in New York (Tribal Link Photo)

United Nations, NY (UCTP Taino News) - The 9th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues began yesterday with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling on Member States to promote development while respecting the values and traditions of Indigenous Peoples.

"The loss of irreplaceable cultural practices and means of artistic expression makes us all poorer, wherever our roots may lie," Mr. Ban told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. This year's theme at the forum is "Development with Culture and Identity."

In a surprise proclamation, the government of New Zealand announced that it has decided to reverse its 2007 decision and support the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples. New Zealand was one of four countries - the others being Australia, Canada and the United States - that voted against the Declaration. Australia reversed its decision last year.

The Declaration outlines the rights of the world's estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlaws discrimination against them.

Approximately 2000 participants are expected to take part in the Forum over the next two-weeks, including indigenous representatives, Member States, UN agencies, academic institutions, and civil society groups. Among the many indigenous delegates are Mildred Karaira Gandia a representative for the United Confederation of Taino People and Damon Gerard Corrie of the Eagle Clan Arawaks of Barbados and Guyana.

"We are here to advocate for Caribbean Indigenous Peoples" stated Gandia. "Our communities are often ignored in the larger discussions".

Both Gandia and Corrie are taking part in a special training program organized by the Tribal Link Foundation and the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Indigenous peoples are estimated to make up five per cent of the world's population, but some 33 per cent of the world's poor, according to State of the World's Indigenous Peoples, released in January and the first UN report of its kind.

UCTPTN 04.20.2010

Taino Prepare for Sacred Run

The Consejo General de Tainos Borincanos host a meet for community leaders and youth in Trujillo Alto, Boriken to discuss plans for the Boriken 2010 Peace and Dignity Run.
(Photo: Courtesy of Bohio Attabei)

Boriken (UCTP Taino News) - For many ancient Indigenous cultures runners were an important way to send messages between communities. Taino People soon plan to highlight this tradition by organizing a “four directions” run this July on the island of Boriken (Puerto Rico). The Boriken 2010 Peace and Dignity Run is linked to the “Peace and Dignity Journeys”, spiritual runs that embody the indigenous prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor. This prophecy mandates the reunification of Indigenous Peoples throughout the Americas.

Vanessa Inarunikia Pastrana, one of the organizers of the Boriken Run sees the inclusion of Caribbean Indigenous Peoples as an essential but often overlooked element of the Eagle and Condor prophecy.

“Our people need to be a part of this healing process” states Pastrana. “The Caribbean is a part of the sacred hoop of Indigenous Nations.”

Since 1992, Peace and Dignity Journeys are undertaken every four years with runners starting out from Alaska and South America. Carrying sacred staffs, the participants run over six months stopping to visit various Native communities along the way. The runners finally meet in ceremony somewhere in the “center” of the continent. In 2008 the runners met in Panama City.

“The next Peace and Dignity Journey will take place in 2012 and the run in Boriken will connect Taino and other relatives to this important moment in our collective history” continued Pastrana. “This is not about politics but it is rather a spiritual way to raise awareness about our ancestral traditions and to remind ourselves of who we are as Indigenous People.”

Updates and information on the Boriken 2010 run can now be found at the website, http://boriken2010peaceanddignityjourney.blogspot.com/. Volunteers and donations are being requested.

UCTPTN 04.15.2010

National Census Day and the 2010 Census

Photo: Taino community member Naniki Reyes Ocasio discusses the 2010 Census form with Census Bureau representative Jose Rios in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

UCTP Taino News - April 1st, 2010 is National Census Day, a part of the 2010 Census campaign. On this day community groups, national organizations, and Tribal representatives throughout the U.S mainland, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico continue to encourage census participation. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the current national participation percentage of census forms mailed back by households is 52%. Puerto Rico’s census response participation rate is currently 39%.

Members of the Taino community in Boriken (Puerto Rico) and throughout the U.S. have voiced support for participation in the 2010 campaign. The United Confederation of Taino People's Office of International Relations and Regional Coordination for example is participating officially as a 2010 Census partner. On the 2010 census questionnaire the Confederation is urging Taino people to mark American Indian for ‘Race’ at question 9 and write in Taino as their ‘principle tribe’. Individuals can also choose their country of origin (Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban etc.) for ‘Ethnicity’ at question 8.

“Over 13,000 individuals identified themselves as American Indian in Boriken during the 2000 Census” stated Roberto Borrero, a Confederation representative. “The problem for our community however was accessing this data. The Census Bureau categorized Taino people as part of the Canadian and Latin American Indian data base with no way to extract Taino specific information.”

The U.S. Census Bureau defines American Indian as individuals of indigenous origin from throughout the Americas. Census officials have informed the Confederation that Taino data will now be registered separately for the 2010 campaign.

“Being able to access this data is important especially for those advocating for the recognition of human rights in our diverse communities." noted Borrero.

Participation response rates will assist planning for the door-to-door follow-up to the census questionnaire mailing. In May 2010 census representatives will begin to visit households that have not returned a census form by mail.

UCTPTN 04.01.2010

Undocumented Puerto Ricans

The government of Puerto Rico has introduced a policy that stands to leave millions of island and stateside Puerto Ricans without a valid identity document. This appears to be a poorly developed policy that Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño must revise.

The policy, scheduled to take effect July 1 of this year, invalidates all birth certificates issued in Puerto Rico. It also bans the submission of original birth certificates to public or private entities within the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico. The new birth certificate is $5, a cost that would be waived for veterans and people 60 and older.

The new policy, as Puerto Rico’s Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock told El Diario-La Prensa recently, is aimed at curbing an underground market for Puerto Rican birth certificates among undocumented immigrants. McClintock said the policy was prompted by a federal government report highlighting an alarming rate of fraud using Puerto Rican birth certificates--supposedly 40 percent of identity theft cases.

This, it turns, is not the case. Long Island University Professor Jose Ramon Sanchez cites the Federal Trade Commission in highlighting that in the United States, the total number of identity fraud cases in any year is 10 million. The Puerto Rico-originated cases of fraud initially cited by McClintock were specifically passport fraud cases, out of a small pool of 8,000 cases. So the Puerto Rican cases represent only 0.00032 percent of identity theft, according to Sanchez’s analysis.

Both the Puerto Rican government and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have said the problem is that different island institutions have requested the submission of original certificates and that poor storage puts and theft put these documents at risk.

This makes the ban on submitting multiple couples of an original birth certificate sensible. But voiding all certificates, even for Puerto Ricans born on the island but raised their entire lives in states, seems to be an exaggerated reaction. We are still waiting for numbers from DHS on the question of how many times a Puerto Rican certificate has been used to illegally cross a U.S. border.

Puerto Rican officials have not explained how a new “enhanced” birth certificate would work and whether it is proven to prevent fraud, nor have they offered the name of the company that would handle this work and what the selection process entailed.

Yet another issue is how an administration that barely has a stateside infrastructure to reach millions of Puerto Ricans and that has severely cut its own governmental workforce would handle information dissemination and the processing of requests. Puerto Ricans could be affected by a voided certificate or a delay, if they rely on benefits that require it, for example.

McClintock has said the Puerto Rico should not get a deluge of requests because most people use a passport or driver’s license for identification.

This is an assumption. And it is a denial of reality as well: most people would want to have an original birth certificate when the document they currently possess is invalidated. McClintock’s response also reflects the government’s out-of-touch attitude. When people in both Puerto Rico and the continental United States are counting their pennies at supermarkets, $5 is an unfair burden. Congressman José Serrano and Latino Justice PRLDEF are among the leaders and organizations that have raised concerns about this policy.

All of this brings us to two fundamental questions: who really benefits from this policy and how well was it thought out?

The prevention of identity theft is most certainly important. But the government of Puerto Rico has a responsibility to retract its messy policy until further independent study is conducted and until there is transparency around the conversations and numbers used to justify its decision.

Source: El Diario la Prensa NY

Spring Equinox Areito Gathering 2010

Bronx, NY (UCTP Taino News) - Taino People prepare for their Spring Equinox Areito Gathering in the South Bronx, NY on Saturday, March 20, 2010. The gathering was hosted by Taino Iukaieke Guainia.

UCTPTN 03.21.2010