STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distribution1. Landlessness (expropriation of land assets and loss of access to land)2. Joblessness (even when the resettlement creates some temporary jobs)3. Homelessness (loss of physical houses, family homes and cultural space)4. Marginalization (social, psychological and economic downward mobility)5. Food insecurity (malnourishment, etc.)6. Increased morbidity and mortality7. Loss of access to common property (forests, water, wasteland, cultural sites)8. Social disarticulation (disempowerment, disruption to social institutions) 31It should be added that forced evictions and the dispossession of lands have particularly severe impacts onindigenous women, who, as a result, often have an increased workload as they must walk long distances to findalternative sources of water or fuel wood, or are driven out of income-earning productive activities and into asituation of economic dependence on men. 32When indigenous peoples have reacted and tried to assert their rights, they have suffered physical abuse,imprisonment, torture and even death.Indigenous protests result in human rights abusesIndigenous peoples in Penan (Malaysia) have reportedly been arrested because they were blockadingroads, trying to stop loggers destroying their traditional forests. Philippine indigenous peoples haveallegedly been physically abused and detained by mining companies and the police in the process ofpeaceful picketing against mining activities on their traditional lands. Sometimes, the strict enforcementof environmental conservation laws prevents indigenous farmers, hunters, fishermen or gatherers fromusing their traditional land or resources, thus turning them into offenders who may be jailed for attemptingto subsist. According to a recent report, oil workers in the Upper Pakiria River region of South-easternPeru forced the Kugapakori to move deep into the Amazon and threatened to arrest and decimate thecommunity with diseases if they refused to leave their home.Source: Stavenhagen (2004), 9.Being deprived of their traditional lands and natural resources has, however, also had other consequences. Onehas been a loss of traditional knowledge and cultural diversity; another, the impoverishment of thousands ofindigenous peoples and their migration to urban areas.Indigenous traditional knowledge – erosion, loss and threatsThe bond between nature and the culture of indigenous peoples is manifested in traditional knowledge, which formsthe basis of their spiritual growth and reflects their intimate connection with the land. Until recently, conservationpolicies and practices failed to fully understand and appreciate the rights and roles of indigenous peoples in themanagement, use and conservation of biodiversity. 33 Today, however, indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge31Cernea (2005).32UN-Habitat and OHCHR (2005), xix.33IUCN (2008).THE ENVIRONMENT | 93