23 February 2018

9 August, World Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Celebration of Life, Culture and Survival

"It is no longer acceptable to describe any people as ‘primitive’, a racist term which has been used to refer to tribal indigenous peoples since the colonial era"

By Alma Grace Barla

Every year, 9 August is commemorated as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples with the purpose to promote and protect the rights of indigenous population. And also to recognize their unique identity, lifestyle, culture, their achievements and contributions in environmental protection throughout the world. The date also marks the day of the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. The day is celebrated with special events, including at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Who are Indigenous Peoples?

There is no rigid definition of what makes a group Indigenous, but the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank have outlined a few characteristics and political rights in accordance with international law. The United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) has set out guidelines for the member state’s national policies to include collective rights of indigenous peoples – such as culture, identity, language, and access to employment, health, education and natural resources. Practicing unique traditions, they retain social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live. Indigenous peoples according to a common definition are of those, who inhabited a country or a geographical region at the time when people of different cultures or ethnic origins arrived. The new arrivals later became dominant through conquest, occupation, settlement or other means.

The term “indigenous” has prevailed as a generic term for many years. In some countries, they are referred as tribes, first peoples/nations, aboriginals, ethnic groups, adivasi, janajati. Occupational and geographical terms like hunter-gatherers, nomads, peasants, hill people, etc., also exist and for all practical purposes can be used interchangeably with “indigenous peoples”.

A US based organization report states that, over 370 million Indigenous people worldwide make up more than 5,000 distinct tribes. Together they are one of the largest minority groups in the world, spanning over 90 countries. While Indigenous Peoples total only about 6% of the world’s population, they represent 90% of the cultural diversity. They hold 20% of the earth’s land mass that land harbors 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity. Each indigenous group is unique and speaks different languages, and their traditions are as diverse as their lands. However, there are some basic principles common in all Indigenous communities, that their economies and societies are equitable, balanced, and sustainable. (www.firstpeoplesworldwide.org)



"Artwork by Rebang Dewan, a Chakma boy from Bangladesh, was chosen as the visual identifier of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. It has also been seen on material to promote the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. It features two ears of green leaves facing each other and cradling a globe resembling planet earth. Within the globe is a picture of a handshake (two different hands) in the middle and above the handshake is a landscape background. The handshake and the landscape background are encapsulated by blue at the top and bottom within the globe."

India has ratified the International Labour Organization’s Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Populations, 1957 (No.107) in 1958, and voted in favour of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007, which sets out the individual and collective rights of the world’s over 370 million indigenous peoples, calls for the preservation and strengthening of their cultural identities, and emphasizes their right to pursue development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations with free, prior and informed consent. India has the largest indigenous and tribal population in Asia, comprising over 600 distinct communities, with over 80 million people speaking a number of different languages. As a legally recognized social group, they are referred to as Scheduled Tribes (STs) by the Constitution on account of their deprivation and centuries of exclusion. While the government avoids the terminology ‘indigenous’ to refer to these communities, they are popularly known as adivasis (meaning original inhabitants) and tribals.

History has become part of Indian culture, blended with misconception on adivasi indigenous peoples’ ethos and identities. Often we fail to acknowledge that, in many aspects, they are modern in distinct ways, though they might appear ancient from other considerations. However, they are not “primitive but proud”. They are not “backward” but they chose to live in their own ways. As G. Thenadikulam of Wayanad, Kerala says, “Our colour is good, our language is good, our art is good, and our way of living is good. If we can respect your religion and your practices, why can’t you respect ours?”

Rich Lands Poor People

This year’s theme puts a spotlight on the issue of indigenous peoples’ access to health care services, as improving indigenous peoples’ health which remains a critical challenge for indigenous peoples, countries, and the United Nations. A close look, into the health status of tribal communities of India and throughout the world presents a dismal scenario due to their isolation and inadequate health infrastructure doubled with poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, excessive alcoholism, absence of safe drinking water and sanitary conditions, poor maternal and child health services, ineffective coverage of national health and nutritional services, etc.

However, the community has blamed the government for unsafe mining impacts causing pollution, water contamination, radiation, destruction of local ecology, and displacements and uprooting them from their ancestral land and forest where they once farmed and consumed different types of food grains, vegetables, and through traditional medicine could save themselves from many diseases.

To name a few facts, Jadugoda mining, milling and tailing-dam by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited, have deposited radioactive waste into the rice fields owned by the Adivasi people of the Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. The Adivasi have unknowingly utilized the water and land in these areas for more than thirty years of radiation resulting in disabilities, congenital defects in new born, cancer and other dreaded diseases.

Incidence of forceful sterilization of tribal women in Chhattisgarh, and other parts of the country shows deliberate plan and actions by the government, health care departments and the authorities for control of tribal and rural population in the country.

There has been utter negligence in healthcare services resulting in child malnutrition and maternal deaths. The statistics from Attapadi district, in Kerala having nearly 88 tribal hamlets shows forty-seven infant deaths in 2013, 22 infant and 37 unborn infant deaths in 2014, and 9 more so far this year….the statistics  from Attapadi are disturbing, even alarming. Malnutrition, defunct Anganwadi, inadequate healthcare for pregnant women and extreme poverty due to alienation of tribals from their land for plantations, declaring national parks, wild life sanctuaries and cash crops by the government are some of the reasons attributed for this dire situation. As per a survey conducted in 1982, 64% of the tribal’s farmland had come under the control of others, and the government has failed to recover the lost land rights to them. The loss of land to others, the waning of the indigenous farming methods and the de-certification of the area pushed them to depend on Public Distribution System for survival. The influx of settlers or non-indigenous groups coupled with government policies from colonial period completely absorbed the little land their forefathers had prepared by clearing forest.

With the introduction of land reform Bills and Acts, specifically meant for providing land to the landless, benefited a few, but a large majority were allotted three or four cents in the so-called “colonies” designed for tribal re-settlement. The community which freely lived in the forest was confined to government colonies, leading disintegrated community to acute tensions, deprivation, suicides, starvation and malnutrition deaths.

According to various sources, 90 percent of India’s coal and 80 percent of its other minerals are found in the tribal areas. Given that their lands contain so much of the world’s natural assets, why are they not the wealthiest, healthiest people on earth? The answer isthey are not simply losing control of their assets, and their assets are being stripped from them. At the same time, they are systematically denied access to the legal and political tools to secure their basic human rights. This is the single most unifying for all indigenous peoples worldwide.

It is no longer acceptable to describe any people as ‘primitive’, a racist term which has been used to refer to tribal indigenous peoples since the colonial era. We must understand and acknowledge their cultural diversity, their struggle for survival and recognition as equal citizens of the country. On the world of the UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon, “The interests of the indigenous peoples must be part of the new development agenda in order for it to succeed. […] Together, let us recognize and celebrate the valuable and distinctive identities of indigenous peoples around the world. Let us work even harder to empower them and support their aspirations.”

First Published in Indian Currents, 10 - 16 August 2015, pgs. 18-21

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