> I for one am very skeptical of this entire enterprise. I saw the web page
> and found the 'Impact Projects' to be very vague, using fancy terms but
> avoiding real data, like the number of people benefiting, location, budget,
> staff responsible, etc. There were all sorts of endorsements, including one
> from EtnoTur, Ecuador, but curiously none from the Secoya or Huaorani
> peoples themselves.
>
> It seems to me personally to be a fairly traditional tourism business,
> perhaps not intentionally harming Indigenous communities, but doing so
> indirectly, and thus trying desperately to improve its karma by shrouding
> itself in social responsibility.
and gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary Trujillo) adds:
> I would hope that Scott would answer Gilles' questions point-by-point.
> He has made a good start in what I have quoted above to allay some fears,
> but I think it is also essential to address the specific concerns that
> Gilles raises in this followup article.
Hello Gary, I just have some thoughts on this issue (from: kekula)
Thanks for your confidence, and thanks to Gilles too - and as always I
thank Scott for assisting with the dissemination of information. I like
Gilles' questions myself and think they should be asked. I don't know if
Scott is the person to answser though. I think Johnathan should perhaps
answer and when you hear from him I'm sure feelings can be settled. We've
sent Gilles' message to his mother and him. It will take a while to get an
answer back but it will come and we can forward it then. I am reflecting
though on what was a red flag for Gilles: [Francoise Stein, Wife and Mother
of 5 children 'An authentic doorway to the truly archaic.'] This type
statement can leave a incredibly foul taste in the Indigenous mouth and
depicts a supremist attitude. However, looking a few years back into
Johnathan's work I find the term "Archaic" used again by the Waorani.
In 1991 they (the Waorani) decided to record their chants/songs onto a CD
to raise funding to do their ground level work. The lead statement on the
CD says:
WAORANI WAAPONI ("THE GOOD WAY OF THE PEOPLE"): Archaic Chanting in the
Amazon Rainforest (Acapella)
This is the title they chose for their CD. I've never noticed the term
until I took it out to look it over and refresh my mind on their work.
When I'm working in international forums with other Indigenous peoples, we
find that the definitions of our languages and the way we use others'
languages becomes a difficult crux in determining what terms and words we
are going to use in resolutions etc. Especially, especially when we are
dealing in the colonial languages. Mostly because they translate
differently and are unreliable terms. I am thinking that perhaps this term
was picked up by this foreigner and used in her letter to the project after
her visit and perhaps after purchasing this CD. I've asked Scott to take
it off the web site though, because if western thinking people read it they
hear something different than what the people themselves mean. Thanks to
Gilles, we've been alerted of this problem.
Knowing how little we hear from and see Johnathan and how little he has
besides his hamock and backpack is not the profile suspect here. In fact
he is also Indigenous... and works with entire tribes and peoples, not just
a handful. I believe they take in less than 40-50 people a year to educate
and inform in ways that the indigenous peoples there have chosen to do.
And we are working on an issue for Johnathan against a breathless man
(hawaiian in english for foreigner) who has patented some of the plants
from their rainforest, or says he has. These concerns are real that Gilles
raises, but all of what we've seen Johanthan do is on the right side of the
issue. Money 2k x 50 = 100k for two tribes, working on demarcation -
taking care the forest and having the funds to have tools to do it, funds
to politicize when the transnationals come against them...? They need more
money even than this. How do we get them money... hopefully those who do
go down on this travel expedition will become life long supporters of their
efforts to maintain their forests and rights to the land areas. Hopefully
they will slowly build a strong supportive body that will stand up when
they have trouble. Unlike some of us, who do not have the world standing
for us, perhaps we can help other Indigenous peoples' tribes and nations
have the necessary international backbone it takes to make it and keep it.
Last, speaking on tourism and the impact on Indigenous peoples... we live
on Maui - which has the highest rate of development in the United States.
We also have more millionaires per capita in the USA, but we're poor and
the tourism industry here brings in 16.5 billion dollars a year. impact?
extreme. Biological Diversity - the issue is so transparent no one can
see it and our people are on the list of extinction. They are on the list
to be genetically patented. They are suffering and in the face of the
exotic tourist in paradise all is well... and we are not. Yet our brown
smiling or sad faces blend in with our environment, our ocean our land and
burials... we are a part of their illusion
Johanathan - take care the Waorani,,, the Secoya,,, keep safe brother.