STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

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EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionThey listened to Elsie’s tape. They were amazed and delighted and recorded a message in reply. Yes, theysaid, they too spoke “Boesmantal”. And yes, they said, the time had come to fight to get back their landsand to save their language.The search for the ‡Khomani diaspora continued and 15 speakers of the language were eventually found.They met, they talked, they shared hopes. And they became the centre of the land claim. In early 1999,then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki met with them and, at a formal ceremony, an agreement was signed,giving the ‡Khomani rights to some 50,000 hectares of land within the Kalahari Gemsbok Park and 40,000hectares outside the park.Source: Brody (2000), 8-9.* The term “Bushman” has today been replaced by the term San. Both are generic terms and each San group has its owndistinct name.In the face of language extinction, some efforts are being made by governments, the international community,civil society organizations, academics and, of course, indigenous peoples themselves, to protect, revitalize andrecord dying languages. UNESCO, for instance, has a programme on safeguarding endangered languages and,following a recommendation from the Permanent Forum, an expert group met in 2008—the International Yearof Languages—to look inter alia at how to eliminate the discrimination against the current use of indigenouslanguages and develop and support the revitalization and recovery of threatened languages. A Convention forthe Protection of Indigenous and Endangered Languages is currently being drafted. 21While some indigenous peoples are successfully revitalising languages, many others are fighting a losing battle,where languages are simply no longer passed from one generation to the next. Most governments are awareof this language crisis but funding is often provided only for the recording of languages, while limited funds arediverted to language revitalization programmes.Although the recording of a language is a valuable effort, it is no substitute for revitalization programmes thatproduce new speakers and keep a language alive. This is an important distinction to make, given that funds areoften diverted from indigenous peoples’ efforts at revitalization to academic recording projects. While there arehundreds of languages that face impending extinction, there are thousands of other languages that are not inimmediate danger of being lost but may well be in danger of extinction within a generation or two if policies andactions that facilitate the use of minority languages within states are not put into place. 22Spirituality and belief systemsSpirituality is the relationship human beings create with the spirit world in order to manage forces that seemoverpowering. Indigenous spirituality is intimately linked to the environment in which the people live. Forindigenous peoples, the land is the core of all spirituality and this relationship to the spirit of the earth is centralto all the issues that are important to indigenous peoples today.21See UNESCO (2008), 6 and UNPFII (2008), 12.22For further information, see for example the Report of the International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Languages organizedby UNPFII (2008).CULTURE | 59
EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionSpirituality is a term that requires special care in its definition. It is importantto recognize the difference between spirituality and religion. Spirituality canbe seen as an internal connection to the universe, which includes a sense ofmeaning or purpose in life, a cosmology or way of explaining one’s personaluniverse and personal moral code. Religion, on the other hand, could bedefined as a specific practice and ritual that are the external expression ofsome people’s spirituality.spirituality definesthe relationships ofindigenous peoples withtheir environment ascustodians of the land;it helps construct socialrelationships, givesmeaning, purpose andhope to lifeWhat is important here is that spirituality is the relationship to the universe.Indigenous spirituality could thus be defined as indigenous peoples’ uniquerelationship with the universe around them. 23 Put another way, spirituality definesthe relationships of indigenous peoples with their environment as custodiansof the land; it helps construct social relationships, gives meaning, purpose andhope to life. It is not separated but is an integral, infused part of the whole in theindigenous worldview. 24Religion, from the Latin religare, meaning “to bind fast”, has been defined asan institution with a recognized body of communicants who gather togetherregularly for worship and accept a set of doctrines offering some means ofrelating the individual to what is taken to be the ultimate nature of reality. 25Religion or belief systems have been a feature of cultures throughout humanhistory. Belief systems are also integral to indigenous cultures. They often codifybehavior; they also inspire and stimulate the development of artistic expressions,including different kinds of artifacts, paintings, songs, attires, music, dances,etc., used in rituals and sacred ceremonies. But foremost, they respond tohuman needs for reassurance in times of trouble and for averting misfortune;they also provide rituals that bring spiritual healing and address the majorpassages and transitions in human life. Hence, the preservation of indigenouscommunities and their cultures is tightly related to their spirituality and beliefsystems, which require that the earth, land and natural resources be preserved,and that harmonious relationships with other humans and other beings of theuniverse be maintained.Indigenous spirituality and belief systems have often been dismissed as beingmere expressions of superstitious and irrational thinking. They have in manycases been violently repressed or forbidden and are under constant assaultfrom the large, dominant religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc. In the faceof strong pressures for social, cultural and religious assimilation, indigenouspeoples have struggled hard to retain not only their lands and natural resourcesand their institutions and ways of life, but also their spirituality and beliefsystems. This struggle is on-going, although some advances have been made.These efforts are not necessarily a rejection of Western or world cultures,but rather an affirmation of their own cultures. Indigenous peoples continue23Wilson (1999).24Wilson (1999).25See Reese (1980).60 | CHAPTER II
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STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

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