Thursday, November 17, 2011

underreported struggles 55

More essential underreported struggles from Ahni at Intercontinetal Cry this month.

In an historical event, the Tanzania government has offered a traditional land certificate to the Hadzabe, an Indigenous People that even now, some believe to be extinct. The move, hailed by the villagers and supporting organizations, will ensure land tenure for the nomadic tribe. This is the first time in Tanzania's history the government has provided a land certificate to a "minority tribe".

The Elder "Mamos" or Spiritual leaders of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, have expressed profound concern over plans to build a new seven-star hotel on their ancestral land within the Tayrona National Park in northern Colombia. The Mamos warn that the site for the proposed hotel is located on sacred lands that are supposed to be held inviolate.

Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), a massive iron ore mining company based in Australia, is trying to get out of a state order that forces the company to protect any burial sites they encounter on Yindjibarndi lands in Western Australia's Pilbara region. The company also wants to avoid its legal obligation to consult the Yindjibarndi. "There are 250 [sites] or more in this country, some very important places for our religious ceremonies," says Michael Woodley, chief executive of the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC). Any number of those sites could be at risk.

Visit Intercontinetal Cry to read about these issues and many others.

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