Harold Derickson
Intertribal Forestry
Association of B.C.
(604) 769-4433
THIRD INTER-AMERICAN INDIGENOUS CONGRESS ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO BE HELD IN VANCOUVER, SEPTEMBER 15th-19th.
VANCOUVER, B.C., July 26, 1993 -- Over 1200 delegates from North, Central
and South America will meet in Vancouver on September 15th-19th to address
those issues omitted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, as well
as other outstanding issues of concern to the Indigenous peoples of the
Americas. This congress will continue and expand on the networking of
Indigenous organizations begun at the first Congress held in Panama in 1989
and the second held in Bolivia in 1991.
The extent to which the proposals put forth in the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development's Agenda 21 are either adequate or properly
comprehensive has not been addressed from an Indigenous perspective. It
will be the major objective of this Congress to prepare a manifesto of major
Indigenous resolutions for submission to the United Nations.
Aboriginal people are united in their demands to play a major role in the
protection of the earth's ecosystems and renewable resources. To do this
requires that they be actively participating in shaping national laws
and policies on the management of resources and other development processes
that impact upon them. The concerns expressed at this Congress will
have a direct effect on the state of the World's Indigenous peoples.
Persons interested in attending should contact Harold Derickson, President
of the Intertribal Forestry Association of British Columbia at (604) 769-4433
or Harry Bombay, Executive Director of the National Aboriginal Forestry
Association (Canada) at (613) 233-5633.