SUPPORTING THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 1993
CABARET / PERFORMANCE / DANCE PARTY / InterRAVE
"The land belongs to the countless numbers who are dead, the few who
are living, and the multitudes of those yet to be born. How then can
the Government say that all untitled land belongs to itself, when
there had been people using the land before the Government itself
existed?" Native Elder
Despite the recent United Nations World Conference on Human Rights
(WCHR) and this the International Year of Indigenous People's little
is known of the struggles of the indigenous peoples of our South East
Asian neighbours. Regardless of the worlds outcry against the Dili
Massacre in East Timor, the slaughter of students in Bejing and the
dispossession of the native peoples of Sarawak our very own government
pays lip service to those responsible for these actions. In the hope
of securing trade agreements for the export of Australian made
products in Asia fundamental human rights abuses are seen as the
birth-pains of a country undergoing rapid development. This is the
perspective our Foreign Minister took to the WCHR.
The International Year of Indigenous Peoples is a regrettable reminder
that indigenous cultures are fast disappearing. Integrating indigenous
influences into our clothing and art, preserving them in our museums,
books and CD-ROMs, is being done at the expense of a people that have
evolved these aesthetics over thousands of years. These are a people
that are rapidly losing their lands,their food and fresh water
supplies, their self-reliance, independence and dignity to oppressive
regimes and their commercial interests; to uncooperative and
unnecessary development practices; to First world arrogance and
cultural colonialism. Not unlike the destiny of our own native
peoples.
Addressing this problem is no easy task. Becoming informed about it
is.
FIERCE is about aiding the indigenous peoples of South East Asia to
become more informed about the issues that affect them and to share
that knowledge with others internationally. All proceeds from FIERCE
will go towards the purchase of computers to aid in the establishment
of regional resource exchange programs. These programs are
facilitating information gathering and dissemination to indigenous
peoples in remote regions and to sympathetic supporters
internationally.
It was recognised via a recent study of the information needs of
non-goverment organisations that computers were greatly sought after
in the region. Field trips to the region have qualified the outcome of
this study.
Establishing an efficient resource exchange program is paramount to
assisting the plight of the indigenous peoples of South East Asia. It
will enable these people to represent themselves internationally,
develop more efficient community projects, create their own means of
communication and hence strengthen local and regional collaborations.
P E G A S U S N E T W O R K S________________________________________
po box 284 ph +61 7 257 1111
broadway qld 4006 fax +61 7 257 1087
australia e-mail <support@peg.apc.org>
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G l o b a l C o - o p e r a t i o n F o r a B e t t e r W o r l d
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