Tapping Indigenous Wisdom In Helping Chart The Future We Want

7/31/2019 Tapping Indigenous Wisdom In Helping Chart The Future We Want

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Tapping Indigenous Wisdom In Helping

Chart The Future We Want

Baguio City, Philippines, 14 August (Tebtebba Indigenous Information Service)

A story was told about a team of urban-bred academic researchers who wouldlike to know about how the indigenous Aeta folk of the Philippines were cop-ing after Mt. Pinatubo, a long dormant volcano, erupted in 1991. After an houruphill climb, the researchers, along with an Aeta tribal elder as guide, chancedupon some wild guava trees with ripe fruits.

Opening ritual, Indigenous Peoples International Conference on Sustainable Development and

Self-determination. 17 June 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

E-Newsletter published by Tebtebba * 14 August 2012


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Excited with what they saw, the re-searchers stopped and had a eld daymunching on the ripe guavas. Afterthey had their ll, they harvested more,

lling their pockets and bags. But theAeta elder picked only a couple of ripeguavas to eat during their stopoveralong the trail.

So to their surprise, the research-ers asked why the Aeta elder pickedand ate only two guavas when therewere plenty ripe fruits. There wouldbe many travelers passing through thistrail so it would be good to leave some(ripe guavas) for them, the elder said.

Often told and re-told in many con-ferences, the story has become a classicillustration of indigenous wisdom.

The story has become a metaphorfor two distinct paradigmsone rep-resented by the team of schooledresearchers and the other representedby the unschooled indigenous elder,who has learned and kept the wisdomof his ancestors.

The rst paradigm is one based onconsuming and amassing more thanwhat one needs. Consuming and amass-ing more than what one needs has been

acknowledged as unsustainable.

The other is based on knowing onesreal basic needs and having a deepconcern for others, including those of

the next generations. This paradigm orperspective is largely cultural or a wayof life, which is deeply rooted in indig-enous peoples belief and value system.

Culture as fundamental dimension

In the search for assurance that thisworlds future generations would be ingood hands, indigenous representatives

from all regions worldwide met from 17to 19 June at the Museu da Repblica inRio de Janeiro, Brazil ahead of the 20-22June ofcial Rio +20 UN Conference onSustainable Development.

Meeting for what was called the In-ternational Conference of IndigenousPeoples on Self-determination andSustainable Development, the par-ticipants from 72 indigenous organiza-tions worldwide highlighted the role ofculture as a fundamental dimension ofsustainable development.

Our fundamental cultural beliefsystems and world views based on our

sacred relationships to eachother and Mother Earthhave sustained our peoplesthrough time, said the in-digenous participants in atwo-page statement.

In their statement, theypaid tribute to their tradi-tional knowledge holders,women and youth, who,they said, contributed andparticipated in sustainingand wisely managing the


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land and resources in their ancestralterritories.

Noting how the dominant economicgrowth-oriented development model

has been pursued at all costs and howit has encouraged unsustainable con-sumption patterns, the indigenousparticipants asserted that there must bea brake system to this madness for eco-nomic growth. And that brake systemis culture.

Cultures are ways of being andliving with nature, underpinning ourvalues, moral and ethical choices and

actions, said the indigenous partici-pants in their statement. Indigenouspeoples abiding survival is supportedby our cultures, providing us with so-cial, material, and spiritual strength.We believe that societies must fostercultures of sustainability, and that Rio+20 should highlight culture as the mostfundamental dimension of sustainabledevelopment.

Despite some criticisms of the Rio+20 ofcial outcome document, indig-enous leaders were happy with the of-cial recognition of culture in sustainabledevelopment.

Reecting on what transpired inRio, Tebtebba executive director Vic-toria Tauli-Corpuz noted that the out-come document veered away from thedominant economic growth-orientedkind of development. The message is

clearthe dominant economic growthmodel has failed, she said.

She cited paragraph 40 of the out-come document. We call for holisticand integrated approaches to sustain-able development that will guide hu-manity to live in harmony with nature

and lead to efforts to restore the healthand integrity of the Earths ecosystem,the paragraph read.

Paragraph 41 also reected what

indigenous peoples have been articu-lating all along. We acknowledge thenatural and cultural diversity of theworld and recognize that all culturesand civilizations can contribute to sus-tainable development, it said.

Green economy policies

There have been many statements

from civil society organizations con-demning the Rio Outcome as promotingthe green economy. But a careful read-ing of the document shows otherwise.

The language under the section onGreen Economy usually uses theterm green economy policies, which isnot the same thing. Indigenous peopleshad pushed for the recognition of di-verse and plural economies and not asingle green economy, an assertion thatwas reected and acknowledged bythe outcome documents use of greeneconomy policies.

Indigenous leaders and represen-tatives in their statement stressed onstrengthening diverse local economiesand territorial management. They hadasserted their right to self-determina-tion, from which, they said, BuenVi-vir or living well is anchored.

But they asserted that living wellcould be realized through secure landrights and territorial management andby building vibrant community econo-mies. These local economies, they said,provide sustainable local livelihoods,community solidarity and are critical


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components of resilient ecosystems.

The ofcial document may notreect the way indigenous peoplesleaders have strongly articulated theirposition. But the document recognizedhow indigenous peoples contributed tosustainable development, said Tauli-Corpuz.

Paragraph 58j stated: We afrmthat green economy policies in the con-text of sustainable development andpoverty eradication should enhancethe welfare of indigenous peoples andcommunities, other local and tradition-

al communities and ethnic minorities,recognizing and supporting their iden-tity, culture and interests, and avoidendangering their cultural heritage,practices and traditional knowledge,preserving and respecting non-marketapproaches

One weakness of the outcomedocument, however, lies on its textson mining. Tauli-Corpuz would have

wanted the inclusion of free, prior andinformed consent as a prerequisite toany mining activity.

Still, she noted that the section onmining recognized the importanceof strong and legal and regulatoryframeworks, policies and practices forthe mining sector. The section alsostressed on economic and social ben-ets and included effective safeguardsthat reduce social and environmentalimpacts, including impacts on biodiver-sity and ecosystems.

Rights-based approach

Civil society groups, indigenouspeoples and their supporters and ad-

vocates have long been pushing for arights-based approach to development.This approach, according to the DanishInstitute for Human Rights, is a frame-

work that integrates the norms, prin-ciples, standards and goals of the inter-national human rights system into theplans and processes of development.

So indigenous peoples and theirsupporters and advocates were general-ly elated over the outcome documentsreafrmation of freedom, peace andsecurity, respect for all human rightsParagraph 9 particularly reafrms the

importance of the Universal Declara-tion of Human Rights and other inter-national instruments relating to humanrights and international law.

Indigenous leaders and representa-tives were also particularly happy overthe outcome documents recognition ofthe importance of the UN Declarationon the Rights of Indigenous Peoples orUNDRIP in the context global, region-

al, national and sub-national imple-mentation of sustainable developmentstrategies.

The recognition of the UNDRIPsimportance would denitely help in-digenous peoples as they assert tostrengthen and defend their local econo-mies and rights to their lands, territoriesand resources. For indigenous peoplesand local communities, any kind ofdevelopment that is pursued through

land-grabbing and forced relocationviolates both human rights and sustain-able development principles.

In their 19 June statement in Rio deJaneiro, they cited large-scale dams,plantations, large-scale infrastructure,tar sands extraction and other mega-


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projects, as well as the theft and ap-propriation of biodiversity resourcesand traditional knowledge.

Pondering on the gains of indige-nous peoples in Rio, Tauli-Corpuz said:The outcome document can be usedto push governments to adhere to andimplement international human rightslaws, including the UN Declaration onthe Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Looking forward

Critics had expected an outcome

document with high action points orsome kind of a road map for imple-mentation of sustainable developmentgoals. But between those who saw theglass as half-full or half-empty, one ofthose who chose to be optimistic wasBrazilian President Dilma Rousseff.She hailed the outcome document as astarting point and not a threshold orceiling for implementing the path tosustainable development.

For Rousseff and the like, theirhomework did not end with Rio +20.Rio +20 has not ended, but only start-ed, as the Brazilian President stated,said Martin Khor, executive directorof South Centre, a Geneva-based inter-governmental organization providinganalyses of global issues and concerns,which developing countries can use forcollective and individual action.

With the outcome in Rio, the mul-tilateral system in sustainable develop-ment lives to ght another day, Khoradded. The mandated actions in theRio +20 text, on the high-level forum onsustainable development, the nancestrategy and technology facilitating

mechanism, and the sustainable devel-opment goals, point to more and poten-tially important work in the year aheadat the UN. The success of any conference

is ultimately determined on the strengthof the follow-up. Rio +20 could remaina disappointment, or could become thestart of something signicant.

Khor pointed to a new item in theRio +20 outcome document with con-siderable follow-up implicationthedecision to formulate sustainable de-velopment goals. This will be done nextyear through a 30-member working

group under the UN General Assembly,nominated through the UN regionalgroups.

For indigenous organizations, theneed for follow-up offers opportunitiesfor engagement and collaboration withinternational policy-makers. Indig-enous organizations can thus engage inthe processes of follow-up actions suchas in helping formulate sustainabledevelopment goals and helping deneinternational mechanism for implemen-tation, said Tauli-Corpuz.

Pushing for the recognition of theimportance of traditional livelihoods insustaining local economies is anotherarea of follow-up action, she said.

The follow-up action, which Rio +20mandated, also offers opportunities forindigenous peoples to elaborate moreon the role of culture as a fundamentaldimension of sustainable development.With the still urgent tasks ahead, thehomework of all those concerned inhelping chart the future we want in-deed has just begun.

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Tapping Indigenous Wisdom In Helping Chart The Future We Want