STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionpeoples with tremendous possibilities for their daily life and sustainable andcollective development as peoples, it also reflects indigenous peoples’ holisticworldviews, which are considered as a most important source of the world’scultural and biological diversity. 37Indigenous knowledge is embedded in community practices, institutions,relationships and rituals and is inextricably linked to indigenous peoples’identity, their experiences with the natural environment and hence theirterritorial and cultural rights. Indigenous peoples therefore place a great dealof importance on passing this knowledge on to future generations—not onlyfor the sake of preserving the knowledge, but also for preserving their owncultures and identities.The transmission of traditional knowledgeTom Mexsis Happynook belongs to what he calls a hereditary whalingfamily that comes from Cha-cha-tsi-us, which is part of the Huu-ay-ahtFirst Nation on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia,Canada. He recalls the following:As a child, I was fortunate to be raised and taught by mygrandfather, two great-grandmothers and two great-aunts. I amstill being taught by my grandmother, who has turned 85. Shewas taught by her grandmother, who died in 1958 at the age of108. I am still receiving the teachings from the mid-1800s.What did they teach me? I was taught that there is a natural lawof nature which we must live by; that we are only one componentin the web of life; that we are not dominant over the environmentbut, in fact, related; that we take only what we need and utilize allthat we take; that everything is inter-connected, and when onecomponent in the environment or ecosystem is over-exploitedand not protected, the balance is lost.traditional knowledgetends to be collectivelyownedSource: Happynook (2000), 64.Traditional knowledge is also directly linked to the concept of self-determinationin the sense that indigenous peoples have the right to manage their own heritage,knowledge and biodiversity and, in order to do so, their rights to their territoriesand resources must be fully recognized and protected. In other words, “the rightto self-determination requires that [indigenous peoples] must be able to freelydispose of their wealth and resources, and they must not be deprived of theirmeans of subsistence”. 3837SPFII (2005), 4.38See, e.g., the UN Human Rights Committee Observations on Norway and Canada (1999).CULTURE | 65