Untitled Document
New Moon Update
July 2005
UPDATES FROM THE SOUTH
Achuar Make Important Developments in Community Mapping
Pachamama recently carried out two weeks of community-mapping training in Achuar and Shiwiar communities as part of our commitment to the Achuar, Shiwiar, and other indigenous nationalities of the Central-Southern Ecuadorian Amazon.
This training seeks to aid the Achuar in their fight to gain legal land titling and to conserve and manage their territories. The community-level, experiential training taught computer mapping, GPS, and demarcation techniques to these communities. This is especially important because of government requirements for accurately demarcated maps in the land titling process.
The Achuar have existing land titles for their communities, but now aim to secure titles for the unprotected parts of their territory. The fieldwork is the culmination of a learning process over the last few years that has focused on legal and geographical analyses of existing land titles, study projects and methodologies used in other parts of the Amazon. Furthermore, these efforts support the Achuar as they develop a clear political strategy for land titling - an important step in their self-determination or autonomy.
Importantly, training was carried out on site, rather than outside the communities. Such training will emphasize the communal importance of their newly-learned mapping skills and will reduce the likelihood of people migrating to cities with their new abilities.
Holding legal title over their territories is crucial to these nationalities’ autonomous management of their resources. The Pachamama-led training is part of a new strategy to support the Achuar so they can consolidate land ownership collectively under a strengthened, participatory governance structure for the entire Achuar nation. This strategy differs from the previous patterns of land titling carried out by indigenous communities in Ecuador. Additionally, gaining legal title to the entirety of their ancestral territory - an area estimated to be well above five hundred thousand hectares (about 2 million acres), will constitute a monumental victory for the Achuar as they strive to defend their territory and way of life against the unwanted intrusions of lumber, mining, oil companies, and colonists.
In addition to the mapping and GPS training, census data was taken for all the communities visited. Information on community characteristics was taken for 6 Achuar and 3 Shiwiar communities, and demographic information was taken for these Achuar communities. This census data provides extensive information about the lives and cultures of these communities. When compared with the 1996 census data available, migration patterns, changes in resource use, and economic, social, political, and cultural patterns can be analyzed. With this data, these communities, as well as supporting organizations such as Pachamama, can more accurately understand their realities and how to best aid them in processes such as land titling, struggling against invasion by oil companies, strengthening their political organizations, and promoting alternative development projects. Additionally, the combined effect of geographic and demographic information can be used by others outside the community to better understand the distribution of resources in the territory. With an awareness of where communication radios exist, where there are health problems, and other such information, outside organizations can refine and target their projects that support these distinct communities.
The current training and census data collection are part of a pilot project focusing on the most at-risk lands of the Achuar and Shiwiar people. We hope to extend this process to the rest of their communities and territory over the next year or two.
Huaorani Women Plan March to Protest Oil Development
In the past few months, a group of Huaorani women came together and formed the Organization of Huaorani Women of the Ecuadorian Amazon (AMWAE). They demand accountability from the leaders of the indigenous nation’s elected political organization ONHAE and are attempting to steer them on a new course. The Huaorani, an indigenous nation of the central Ecuadorian Amazon, have been fighting against the incursion of oil companies onto their territories for decades. However, the poor organization and sometimes-corrupt leaders of ONHAE have often been as much of a curse as a positive force working to protect their territories and culture. They have even signed agreements for oil extraction with the Brazilian oil company Petrobras. Fed up with the old-guard politics, disorder, lack of grassroots participation, and poor dialogue by the leaders regarding the decisions of ONHAE, the women have taken upon themselves the task of rearranging and strengthening the organization, calling for an immediate report on use of funds and an organizational evaluation. They have further demanded that ONHAE increase the political participation of the Huaorani base populations in the decisions of the organization.
Oil extraction is the most pressing threat to the cultural and physical survival of the Huaorani. After much fighting, Petrobras finally began construction on a road in Block 31, an area that cuts through both Huaorani territory and Yasuní National Park. Realizing that the political negotiations undertaken by the leaders of ONHAE had failed to protect their territories, AMWAE demanded a change of action. Led by Alicia Cahuiya Iteca, president of AMWAE, and Moi Enomenga, a male grassroots leader, the Huaorani have organized a march from Puyo to Quito to take place later this month. Once in Quito, they will march to the headquarters of CONAIE, the largest indigenous political organization in the country, and from there will continue to the Presidential Palace. They will be joined by Amazonian Kichwa and other indigenous organizations. This broader coalition will call for a moratorium on all extractive practices and construction projects in their territories, and will annul any previously signed agreements with Petrobras.
Pachamama has supported the Huaorani and especially AMWAE in these new developments, financing flights between Huaorani territory and Puyo for organizational meetings that have determined their present and future course of action. In addition, Pachamama has provided logistical support for the march in Quito.
upcoming events
Traditional Ways of Knowing and the New Cosmology
Tuesday, August 9 – Berkeley, CA: Join us for a special evening with John Grim – author, Bucknell Professor, and expert on indigenous religions. It is taken for granted that there is no one indigenous way of knowing, but certain shared family resemblances mark these diverse wisdom ways. Small scale societies identified as indigenous are marked by intimacy with local bioregions and a sense of the indeterminacy of reality. This talk will explore these two points in light of the new cosmology, namely, that our story of who we are as humans and where we are going lies at the juncture of an awareness of and an ability to act on universe emergence and ecological commitment. For more information on John Grim, click here: http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/grim/
For event details and to RSVP, click here:
http://www.pachamama.org/events/index.htm#5
new moon action
Buy Local Food
The next time you head out to shop for fruits and vegetables, consider this: The average produce travels 1200 to 2500 miles from where it was grown to your plate. Not only does buying local food help farmers in your area and the local economy, it reduces the amount of energy (truck, plane, refrigeration) needed to transport it. It also gets to you much quicker - the average produce travels or sits 4 to 7 days before reaching supermarket shelves. Find a locally grown food supplier near you by check out: http://www.newdream.org/consumer/farmers.html
RELATED NEWS
Increased Consumption of Oil Will Add to Poor Nations' Hardship
WASHINGTON (IPS) - As the U.S. headed into the recent G8 Summit, a report by Oil Change International, the Institute for Public Policy Research and Jubilee USA Network cited Ecuador as one of the examples of developing nations that are saddled with huge debts because of oil production. The study states that the U.S. strategy to increase oil production from non-Middle Eastern nations is likely to add to those poor nations' burdens of debt and economic hardship. For the full story, click here:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29290
|
