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October 25, 2002
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UN reaffirms indigenous role in
environmental defense
By
Jeff Armstrong
Despite
concerted opposition from the United States, indigenous delegates to
the recent
environmental summit in South Africa preserved the status they achieved
at the
first such conference in 1992, according to summit participant Tom
Goldtooth.
"We
did get the declaration of indigenous rights included in the Political
Declaration [on Sustainable Development]," said Goldtooth, director of
the
Bemidji, Minnesota-based Indigenous Environmental Network. "There were
commitments made by all countries, including the United States."
Although
the final draft from the Johannesburg summit does not specifically
mention
indigenous peoples, it reaffirms their consultative status recognized
at the original
Earth Summit held 10 years earlier in Rio de Janeiro. Goldtooth said an
exhausted U.S. delegation failed to intervene against language in the
declaration which commits UN member nations to "effective
implementation
of Agenda 21."
The
relevant section of Agenda 21 states: "Indigenous people and their
communties and other local communities have a vital role in
environmental
management and development because of their knowledge and traditional
practices. States should recognize and duly support their identity,
culture and
interests and enable their effective participation in the achievement
of
sustainable development."
But
Goldtooth said the State Department resisted virtually every
substantive
proposal brought to the table, forcing the scaling back by nearly half
of a
modest proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 10% by the year
2010.
"They said they had to reduce the goal to 5.7% to avoid a global
economic
collapse," he said.
Goldtooth
said the U.S. insists that Natives have no collective rights at the
international level--only individual rights under domestic law. Yet
while
asserting that it represents its indigenous peoples as citizens, the
government
contradictorily rejects sincere dialogue with Native American
representatives.
"They
said 'we're not accountable to you. We're accountable to the industries
and
Congress,'" said Goldtooth.
The
IEN director said indigenous peoples are on the frontlines of a battle
for the
future of life on earth, pointing to declining as well as deteriorating
water
supplies across the world. However, Goldtooth said Natives must
organize on
reservations independently of tribal administrations.
"We're
dealing with 500 dumping proposals in Indian Country, coming to our
lands with
highly toxic wastes. The IEN was formed because our leaders were
starting to
look at these activities as economic development opportunities. When we
deal
with the issue of toxic wastes, we're also dealing with the issues of
decolonization, we're dealing with internalized oppression," said
Goldtooth.
Like
the indigenous peoples of the southern rainforests, the IEN is seeking
to
"put a human face" on the ecological movement by making the
connection between human rights and the environment, Goldtooth said.
The
environmental activist said he found a number of allies among the
nations of
Africa, which he said has seen a signficant emergence of indigenous
identity. |
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