STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESCHAPTER Not I for distributionPOVERTY AND WELL-BEINGAs long as we have waters where the fish can swimAs long as we have land where the reindeer can grazeAs long as we have woods where wild animals can hidewe are safe on this earthWhen our homes are gone and our land destroyed– then where are we to be?Our own land, our lives' bread, has shrunkthe mountain lakes have risenrivers have become drythe streams sing in sorrowful voicesthe land grows dark, the grass is dyingthe birds grow silent and leaveThe good gifts we have receivedno longer move our heartsThings meant to make life easierhave made life lessPainful is the walkon rough roads of stoneSilent cry the people of the mountainsWhile time rushes onour blood becomes thinour language no longer resoundsthe water no longer speaks(Paulus Utsi, “As long as…”)- By Joji CarinoIntroductionPaulus Utsi, the Saami poet, 1 echoes the lament of many indigenous peoples about the ravages caused byindustrial development upon nature and traditional cultural values. He describes a longing to maintain traditionallifestyles close to nature and the ensuing loss of meaning when engulfed by modern economic development.Captured in the poem are underlying cultural values and definitions of what constitutes indigenous peoples’ wellbeingand sustainable development and, in its absence, indigenous peoples’ despair.1 Paulus Utsi was born in 1918 and died in 1975. His poem “As long as…” is translated by Roland Thorstensson and reprinted in Inthe Shadow of the Midnight Sun: Contemporary Sami Prose and Poetry (1998), Harald Gaski (ed.).14 | CHAPTER I