Monday, September 7, 2009

UN tell Peru to get indigenous consent - be good to see that here

This is the sort of headline i'd like to see here.

"‘No Oil Drilling Without Tribes’ Consent’, UN Tells Peru

"The UN has told Peru’s government it should not allow oil and gas drilling on indigenous peoples’ land without their ‘informed consent’.

If the government agrees to the UN’s call, it would mean that no drilling could take place in rainforest inhabited by uncontacted Indians, as they are unable to give their consent. This is something that indigenous organisations, Survival and many others have long been calling for."


How about "No Mining without iwi's consent."

For those who argue maori are right wing and as bad as the nats etc - think about this. Maori have a traditional balance between accelerator and brake. Between growth and protection. There is a natural kaitiaki role within te ao maori and that is part of the nature of indigenous people. If you don't protect the environment - who don't survive.

The funny thing is that if the UN did directly say that maori should have the right to veto over activity on their ancestorial land, many kiwis would be jumping up and down... "what about out rights" "It's not fair." etc

But just think - why are these indigenous people different from maori?

and think about why some people argue that maori are not indigenous - why do they do that?

could it be that the indigenous people in south america look a lot more indigenous? Have the attempts at swamping and assimilation worked? A thesis i am reading at the moment says, "maori have to become non-assimilated to create freedom." What do you think?

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