MetaFilter posts tagged with Indigenous

The Linguists

idiomatika — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:22:21 -0800

A film (1 hour) about disappearing languages: The Linguists "Like modern-day explorers, the two academics featured in The Linguists travel to forgotten places around the globe to unearth rare treasures—in this case, endangered languages. On a shoestring budget, professors David Harrison and Gregory Anderson navigate difficult terrain, searching for speakers of these forgotten and mostly hidden languages. While more than 7,000 different languages are currently spoken around the world, many are rapidly disappearing. Language diversity is shrinking as colonialism and economic unrest destroy traditional tribal tongues. When young people abandon their ancestral language, the passive suppression of their culture begins, and soon those languages will cease to exist. Joining a traditional ceremony in a remote village in India, observing a Kallawaya healing ritual in Bolivia, and completing an arduous journey into Siberia are all part and parcel of heeding the urgent call. The word connoisseurs are well suited for the monumental task of researching and documenting native tongues; they speak 25 languages between them. These humble ethnographers are in a race against time to preserve the increasingly rare words, which are intricately linked to the vanishing traditions and heritage of Indigenous populations. Well-paced and laced with humor, The Linguists serves as an insightful, contemporary adventure film with a strong emphasis on cultural history." Note: Link doesn't seem to work in Opera.

Political violence in Peru

nomis — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:08:25 -0800

On the morning of 5 June, Peruvian police forces opened fire on indigenous protesters near Bagua, Amazonas. Amazonwatch has an excellent audio report (about 8 mins) from Gregor Maclennan. The majority of the protesters were from the Awajún/Aguaruna and Wampís/Huambisa tribes of the northwestern Peruvian Amazon, and were armed only with traditional wooden spears. Indigenous leaders say that dozens of protesters were killed and their bodies secretly disposed of; the official toll is nine indigenous deaths and over 20 police deaths (In Spanish). A blog providing political information relevant to the Wampís (in Spanish) gives details of indigenous arrests, injuries and deaths. The ultimate source of the conflict is a Free Trade Agreement that President García signed with the USA, which included new laws making oil and lumber extraction from tribal lands by foreign companies much easier. Peru's main indigenous organisation AIDESEP claims that these laws are unconstitutional as they were passed by presidential decree with no consultation. The president of AIDESEP, Alberto Pizango, is facing 35 years prison for inciting the violence, and has taken refuge in the Embassy of Nicaragua (in Spanish). Meanwhile García makes it clear that he considers natives to be a separate class of citizens from "Peruvians". Indigenous people have been protesting these laws for nearly two months now throughout the Peruvian Amazon, although the main focus has been in the area around Bagua. Here is a youtube link to video of the removal of Awajún and Wampís protesters from the bridge at Corral Quemado on 10 May 2009.

Healthy Country, Healthy People

ginky — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:54:22 -0800

An opinion piece in the Age states that the Northern Territory Government "plans to, in effect, close down indigenous outstations". Northern Territory government just announced the Working Future initiative. But this proposal to create 20 towns across the Territory may not be the healthiest option for indigenous Australians. The Healthy Country, Healthy People report concludes: "Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and health behaviours, multivariate regression revealed significant and substantial associations between caring for country and health outcomes...Conclusions: Greater Indigenous participation in caring for country activities is associated with significantly better health. Although the causal direction of these associations requires clarification, our findings suggest that investment in caring for country may be a means to foster sustainable economic development and gains for both ecological and Indigenous peoples’ health." Last year the AMJ published research about the Utopia community in the Territory that showed lower than expected morbidity and mortality for an Australian Aboriginal population. Jenny Macklin, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs states that "All Australians have the right to choose to live in extremely isolated regions but this inevitably involves a trade-off in access to both market and government provided services. Choosing to live in very remote areas must not be allowed to compromise the health, wellbeing and education of children." Some people suggest that certain aspects of government policy might be more about Uranium than the wellbeing of Indigenous Australians. Previously on the blue

The Ethnosphere

homunculus — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:50:08 -0800

"Cultures at the far edge of the world" (YT) and "The worldwide web of belief and ritual" (YT). Two TED talks by anthropologist and explorer Wade Davis (previously) on the diversity of the world's indigenous cultures and their beliefs, and the richness of the "Ethnosphere," which he describes as "the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness." [Via Mind Hacks]

The "Humans of Hokkaidō" formally recognized.

dawson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:15:58 -0800

Until 400 years ago, the Ainu controlled Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands. Today they are a small minority group of Japan. They are a hunting and fishing people whose origins remain in dispute. Long before the people who would come to be known as "the Japanese" completed their migrations from the Asia mainland, the islands of Japan were already inhabited by a race of people known as the Ainu ("human"). On this northernmost island, (Hokkaido), in the "snow country," there still may be found remnants of this once proud and vigorous people who roamed the Japan islands long before the Japanese themselves arrived.

First People's Film Making

dogbusonline — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:23:05 -0800

Isuma.tv is an amazing video sharing site for indigenous filmmakers. Isuma is perhaps best known for their incredible work on films set in arctic Canada (Atarnarjuat, Journals of Knud Rasmussen and the upcoming Before Tomorrow). Isuma.tv is a fantastic place to work by all sorts of First Nations film makers and is a much needed voice for the generally ignored indigenous artists.

Isuma was last discussed on Metafilter in 2002.

Indigenous Australian Dance Ceremonies

Effigy2000 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:40:27 -0800

Aboriginal dance (also known as a corroboree) helps indigenous Australians to interact with the Dreamtime through dance, music and costume. Many ceremonies act out events from the Dreamtime. Many of the ceremonies are sacred and people from outside a community are not permitted to participate or watch. However, there are many ceremonies we've been allowed to witness (here's one of my favourites). And there's plenty of related pictures available at the National Museum's website. Naturally, any indigenous Australians reading should note that these links may include images or names of people who may now be deceased.

Umm, sorry about the genocide

fourcheesemac — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:54:57 -0800

A Nation Apologizes. (Sydney Morning Herald.) Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal children. Here the history told from an Aboriginal perspective in Archie Roach's great song "Took The Children Away." (Youtube) (song lyrics).

Terrorism or fearmongering?

Dillonlikescookies — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:25:23 -0800

Tame Iti, Maori activist, is no stranger to controversy - with his full facial moko he has a face you won't soon forget. But is he a terrorist? Recently, the New Zealand Police force carried out a series of "raids" against a "training camp" in the north island, in the first use of the Terrorism Suppression Act, legislated in 2002. The act itself is not without it's critics but the country seems divided about the raids. Deluded extremists? Harmless Activist? or Real Threat? Some have claimed the raids are politically motivated, enacted by a police force with a declining public image. The whole case is racially loaded The "culture of fear" that is so written about seems to have trickled down somewhat, but time will tell whether it stays with the NZ public. By one account the camps are "amateurish" and with the exception of Tame Iti the most significant charge seems to be possession of a firearm without a license. The police, however, are certainly not helping matters - releasing information suggesting the group intended to start a "race war" and aimed to created an independent state through methods borrowed from the IRA, while keeping quiet on other details. Their press release here Troublesome, to me, is that the police also conducted a "non-raid" of the homes of environmental activists simultaneously, most notably in Christchurch, over a thousand kilometres away. I don't mean to start the thread with strong bent on it, but personally I find this worrying. New Zealand has had it's share of radicals, gun-wielding-forest-living cultists and so on, but the hype that this has reached in the media is unsettling. Worth noting, of course, is the Tuhoe tribe, of which Tame Iti is a member, with unresolved/ignored disputes with the government, which are a significant sticking point. Given this, and the harsh treatment of Tame Iti in regards to the flag protest, was further "radicalization" inevitable? Does the government have a responsibility, not so much to prevent radical groups from acting violently, but instead to incorporate them into public discourse rather than disenfranchise, and thus alienate them and antagonize them? Your thoughts?

language endangerment

brooklynexperiment — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 22:54:57 -0800

every two weeks a language becomes extinct. there are ~7,000 human languages on earth, but that number is estimated to halve by the end of the century. swarthmore hosts extensive information about endangered languages, and the mission of the living tongues organization is to preserve and revitalize such languages.

Towards equal citizenship for Aborigines.

Effigy2000 — Sat, 26 May 2007 14:54:15 -0800

Celebrations are being held in Australia's capital city Canberra today, to mark 40 years since the 1967 'YES' referendum which gave Aboriginal people the right to be counted in the census. This is the story of that referendum. [more inside]

Stories of The Dreaming As Told Through Sight, Sound and Art.

Effigy2000 — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 17:25:38 -0800

The Dreaming (arguably better known as 'The Dreamtime') is more than just the story of how the world was created as told by Aboriginal Australians. It is also the basis for their way of life and death, their source of power in life and it tells of the life and influence of their ancestors on their culture. It was so important to Aboriginal Australians in the time before the white invasion of Australia that it was the one commonly held belief amongst a culture that consisted of over 500 different tribes (discussion of Dreamtime beliefs here). Thought to be the oldest continuously maintained cultural history on Earth, it is often presented as a series of inter-related stories explaining Aboriginal Australian origins and culture, such as how the Australian landscape was created or how the Mimi spirits taught them how to paint these stories on the walls of caves more than 40,000 years ago.

And what better way to learn of several of the many different Dreamtime stories than to listen and watch them being told by Aboriginal Australians elders themselves? And if that isn't enough Dreamtime mythology for you, here's some links to various sites which allow you to view Aboriginal rock art to see how these stories were translated into a form of artistic expression which is now five times older than the Egyptian Pyramids themselves.

Chinese Diaspora

plep — Thu, 07 Aug 2003 10:01:05 -0800

Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation. A page full of stories of the Chinese community in Australia around 1900. 'At this time there were almost 35,000 Chinese in the Australian colonies. Each of these individuals to varying degrees has played a role in the development of Australia. This page explores the lives of some of these people - both ordinary and famous. '
Related :- the Ng Shing Gung in San Jose; the Mai Wah Society and the Asian heritage of Butte, Montana (old building and the Tong Wars); the Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle; a Chinese joss house in Darwin; Chinatown Melbourne (history, today, virtual tour); Chinatown Sydney (community and culture); Yema-po, once a Chinese labourers' work camp in California.

Phil Borges: Photographs of People of Indigenous Cultures

plep — Sat, 02 Aug 2003 02:31:22 -0800

Phil Borges: Photographs of People of Indigenous Cultures. A set of online exhibits. Take a look at Enduring Spirit: photography of tribal peoples, from North America, Peru, Kenya, Tibet, Ethiopia and other places. More photographs online : Tibetan Portrait, the Living Link.

The Flight of Ducks

plep — Sun, 20 Apr 2003 01:22:29 -0800

The Flight of Ducks. An 'online documentary' about a 1933 expedition to Central Australia (containing culturally sensitive material).
What are songlines? 'Songlines, or Yiri in the Walpiri language, are tracks across the landscape created by Mythical Aboriginal ancestors when they rose out of the dark Earth and travelled, creating mountains, valleys, waterholes - all the physical features of the land ... '
Songlines art.
New York Songlines. Walking tours of Manhattan streets.

The Ngadjonji

plep — Sat, 22 Mar 2003 11:16:37 -0800

The Ngadjonji. The history and culture of a Queensland rainforest tribe.
"Theirs was a culture with no chiefs or kings. If the senior men and women of each clan had implied status, it was because of their wisdom and the highest attributes a (Ngadjonji) could possess was a keen memory and great skill in hunting, gathering and bushcraft ... "
Of related interest :- the Aboriginal Memorial, in Canberra, created by 43 artists of the Ramingining community in Arnhem Land.

GeoNative.

plep — Sat, 16 Nov 2002 07:13:25 -0800

GeoNative. Placenames in minority and indigenous languages.

rschram — Mon, 09 Apr 2001 10:25:05 -0800

"Uncontacted" tribe contacted in Javari region of Amazon
A team of Brazilian anthropologists has made contact with a group of indigenous people in the Amazon region. They had initially only wanted to learn about uncontacted groups indirectly, but chose to seek out this group to make sure they weren't being exploited by a neighboring group.

rschram — Wed, 28 Mar 2001 12:59:01 -0800

Every* day, lately, I see more news showing a tightening grasp** on the peoples of the world by agents of power and knowledge. Domestic affairs are more about foreignness than ever, it seems.
* Story about an expedition by Brazilian anthropologists to collect information on the size and number of uncontacted indigenous groups in the Amazon (without actually contacting them).
** Story about tensions between indigenes and commercial fisheries in the Torres Straits Islands. Australia gives broad protection of indigenous rights to land, but courts have not yet ruled on rights to the sea.