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| Luciana Arauz, Mauro Villalonga, and Jeanne Rubin at Arte y Esperanza, the Fair Trade cooperative for the distribution of native art work and crafts. |
Buenos Aires, February 10, 2006. Mervyn Tano and Jeanne Rubin used two Continental Airline tickets won by Jeanne when she joined the Museo De Las Americas of Denver, Colorado to fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina. There they met with indigenous peoples organizations, human rights advocates, and filmmakers.
They met with Florencia Santucho, the assistant director of International Film and Video Festival on Human Rights. The festival is organized by DerHumALC (Human Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean ) Multimedia Institute, a center for “the production, research, teaching, and distribution of audiovisual and multimedia materials dealing with human rights, environmental, and human development issues. The festival is held in the fall in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, and “promotes a broad forum of political cinema focusing on the promotion of individual rights and democratic liberties.” Many of the films screened at the Festival are by indigenous filmmakers or involve issues of indigenous peoples.
The Festival was founded in 1997. In its earlier years, films were screened in Buenos Aires but of late, the festival has moved to Santiago del Estero to give the less affluent rural populace the opportunity of viewing narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works of all lengths that reflect the festival's mission.
Florencia pointed out that the lack of English-Spanish-English subtitles for indigenous films was hindering their distribution and screening at international indigenous film festivals. This is an issue we would like to address in some of the 2006 Indigenous Film & Arts Festival workshops.
We also met with Luciana Arauz and Mauro Villalonga of Arte y Esperanza, a cooperative organization that supports the development of indigenous communities through the production, distribution, and sale of indigenous arts and crafts. Their catalogue can be found at www.arteyesperanza.com.ar/. We also learned of the influx rich Europeans and North Americans arriving in Argentina to take advantage of the low prices and open economy established under the globalization-friendly presidency of Carlos Menem in the 1990s to grab lands occupied by Mapuche. In the last few years figures such as Ted Turner, Jerry Lewis, Sylvester Stallone, Christophe Lambert, and George Soros have become Patagonia's new landlords. Carlo and Luciano Benetton of the Benetton Group are now the largest landowner in Argentina, with 900,000 hectares (an area equivalent to 900,000 football fields) in resource rich Patagonia. For more on this issue see http://www.mapuche-nation.org/english/main/benetton/news/art-02.htm.
Wellington, February 21, 2006. We just learned of the passing of the gifted Maori actor, Wi Kuki Kaa. He died in Wellington on Sunday night, at age 67.
His most notable role recently was as Old Rangi in the box office hit River Queen. In 2005, the Indigenous Film & Arts Festival screened two of his films. Kaa was the homeless veteran confronting memories of the Vietnam War in Turangawaewae (2003) and played Wiremu in Utu (1983).
February 21, 2006. A study of the Finnish and South Saami languages will present its conclusions under the title ''Reclaiming my language - Measures to strengthen the Saami Language'' at a press conference in Stockholm on Tuesday 21 February.
The report, written by Paavo Vallius, will be submitted to Jens Orback, the minister responsible for minorities.
Vallius was commissioned to study whether or not to include the South Saami area in the official definition of Saami language territories and to propose changes to the current legislation on minority languages in the wake of criticism from the Council of Europe and others.
His proposals include measures to improve the implementation of Swedish policy on minorities and to bolster the position of the Saami language in Sweden. (From This Week in the Nordic Region, an electronic newsletter of the Nordic Council).
The South Dakota Supreme Court created the Equal Justice Commission to investigate, among other things, perceptions of unfairness in our state judicial system based on race, ethnicity, or minority status. To inquire into public, and especially minority, perceptions of the South Dakota Unified Judicial System, the Commission conducted interviews and public hearings at fifteen sites across the state. These sites included eight Indian reservations and three penitentiaries, as well as the cities of Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, and Vermillion. The Commission also received numerous letters and written testimonials. Upon completion of its investigation, the Commission was required to submit a public report with recommendations to the South Dakota Supreme Court. The Commission’s Final Report and Recommendations can be found at www.sdjudicial.com/downloads/SDEJCFinalReport2006jan.pdf.
The Call For Entries is open for the Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2006. Current planned dates for the festival are Labour Weekend late October 2006, with dates to be finally set once bookings for screening venues and marae are confirmed.
Entries are now open, with the closing date of April 30th 2006. Entries are to be mailed to: Huia Koziol, Secretary, Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2006, PO Box 379, Wairoa, Aotearoa (New Zealand). All entries should be accompanied by a completed Call for Entries application form. Viewing copies or screeners must be in either VHS or DVD format. The festival can screen works in VHS, DVD, or 35 mm format only.
Entrants will be informed on the status of their entries by 31 May 2006. Click here to download the Entry Form.
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Sandi and Trevor Moeke at the October 10, 2005 IIIRM Roundtable on Imagery and Identity: Imagining the Future(s) of Indigenous Peoples. |
February 21, 2006, Wellington, Aotearoa. Kia ora. The New year underway! Greetings to our homeland people and to our global relatives and friends. Much remains as a big memory and much to learn from 2005 and the recent year/s when we have all stood together side by side in the name of progress for our people's and communities and each other. When we have enjoyed the company of each other's heart spirit and conversation. When we have made plain our intentions and visions for useful programmes at the frontline of change, and made life changing plans for the indigenous, and all people's in spite of their unfettered over inflated view of their nonsense in this our world. As you will all appreciate no one said it was and is to be easy. In fact some days it is more dangerous than shark diving, crocodile wrestling or snake charming (food gathering undertakings), especially for the novice among us. We here in Aotearoa owe you all our thanks for your generous spirit and courage in the times of our great need. Thank you. Kia ora koutou katoa!
I have waited until now to “settle some of the dust” and to write a short note. I wanted to send you the attached findings from the Waitangi Tribunal which convened at Hamilton late in November 2005 while the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education was in full session. The court convened to hear a case brought by the Aotearoa Institute, the founders and parent body of Te Wananga o Aotearoa, regarding the New Zealand government's “colonising”, shameful policy and actions, and unfettered disrespect for the partnership they hold with the Mäori and with the founders of Te Wananga o Aotearoa in particular.
The findings will speak for themselves and remind us that indigenous success will always be challenged by the elite and the powerful. Yet our successes are no less deserved and promulgate models for solutions and results, our way! Our gains can so easily be "risked" by this kind of treatment. The findings are greatly useful to us here, especially to the founders of the Te Wananga o Aotearoa and to wananga as institutions of higher education here. This report, along with the other audits and proceedings, vindicate the founders of Te Wananga o Aotearoa and hold the New Zealand government to a higher standard when it enters into partnerships with Mäori, and just maybe offers many of us lessons as we work within the various communities, nation states and their governments across the world, democratic or otherwise. You may already know by now that Rongo has retired from his role as CEO/leader of Te Wananga o Aotearoa and is now pursuing international developments in literacy and cultural programmes. We will update more on that as the year unfolds and as the various plans and programmes he is organising move into place.
I trust you can take heart from the report and this update. We'd like to hear what you think, what's going on in your lives (personal and professional), and simply to keep in touch. I hope you can share this note with others of our colleagues and friends so none are left out in our thoughts and prayers. Until we meet, thank you and stay well.
Kia kaha, Trevor Moeke.
The International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management has long endorsed tribal use of protected geographic indicators to protect their cultural and intellectual resources. Europeans, especially, the French have long used protected geographic indicators for wine, cheese, and other foodstuffs. The following example illustrates a growing trend among food producers in the U.S. to use geographic indicators to distinguish their products from what would otherwise be a commodity.
Virginia Peanuts is now a protected geographic indicator. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted official endorsement – called a certification – to peanuts grown for centuries in the sandy farm belt along the Atlantic coast.
A logo depicting a large peanut on top of the outlines of three states – Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina – is intended to assure buyers that peanuts wearing the label were grown in one of the three states, said Dell Cotton, director of the Peanut Growers Cooperative Marketing Association in Franklin.
The successful campaign to have the peanuts certified was led by Suffolk farmer Tommy Rountree, president of the Virginia Peanut Growers Association. Rountree, Cotton and Bob Sutter, head of the North Carolina peanut growers, came up with the design.
“We want people to start saying they want the peanuts with the logo,” Rountree said. “They already know our peanuts have the best taste. We want to identify and protect our reputation.” The problem was that the Virginia peanut is a specific type of peanut seed that can be planted and grown from Texas to China. Trademarks imply a specific geographic area. There is a difference, however, in the Virginia-type peanut grown in the three-state area, Sutter said. Peanut farmers want to emphasize the nut’s specific taste.
“It’s going to take some time to get it going, but it will mean quality and good taste,” Sutter said. “What’s on the logo is what’s in the can. Because of the climate, soil and growing conditions, Virginia peanuts grown in this area taste better than Virginia peanuts grown elsewhere.” “It’s got to be beneficial for us to distinguish our peanuts from the rest of the country,” said David Benton , production manager at Hubs peanuts in Southampton County. “They’re defining the difference.” (From the Virginian-Pilot, January 27, 2006).
WM '06
February 26-March 2, 2006
Tucson, Arizona
Information at http://www.wmsym.org under “Latest News.”
Native Nations Institute/Roger Willie
Charity Golf Tournament
March 31, 2006
Starr Pass Country Club& Spa
3645 West. Starr Pass Boulevard
Tucson, AZ 85745
Click here for registration and sponsorship information.
13th Native American Film and Video Festival - Call for Entries
Submissions are currently being accepted for the 13th Native American Film and Video Festival
November 30-December 3, 2006
Call For Entry forms can be downloaded from:
www.nativenetworks.si.edu
Phone 212-514-3737, or E-mail: FVC@si.edu for more information.
Deadline: April 7, 2006
15th Annual Land Use Conference
March 9-10, 2006
Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
2255 East Evans Avenue
Denver, CO 80208
Online registration at www.law.du.edu/rmlui.
For more information call Nora Brandon 303-871-6319.
Workshop on Preparing for the Environmental, Political, Cultural, Economic, and other Implications of Energy Development in Indian Country
International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management, Council of Energy Resource Tribes, and National Tribal Environmental Council
22-23 March 2006
Radisson Hotel Denver Stapleton Plaza
3333 Quebec Street
Denver, CO 80207
Click here for agenda and registration information.
Call 303-733-0481 for more information.
Cohen's Handbook: Treatise or Brief
The American Indian Law Center; University of New Mexico School of Law; Arizona State University School of Law; and University of Connecticut School of Law
April 8, 2006
University of New Mexico School of Law
Albuquerque, NM
Call 505-277-0405 or click here for more information.
National Tribal Environmental Council
13th National Conference
May 1-5, 2006
Temecula, California
Click here for registration information.
Council of Energy Resource Tribes Conference
Energy Efficiency in Tribal Communities: Maximizing Our Potential
May 9-10, 2006
Radisson Hotel-Denver Stapleton Plaza
Denver, CO
Click here for on-line registration.
Call 303-282-7576 for more information.
DNA Fingerprinting & Civil Liberties: A National Symposium
American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics
May 11-13, 2006
Boston Park Plaza Hotel
Boston, MA
Click here for registration information and forms.
Call 617-262-4990 for more information.
Hawaiian Business Conference & Economic Expo
Presented by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs
May 18 & 19, 2006
Hawaii Convention Center
Honolulu, HI
Call 808-956-5083 or e-mail pace@hawaii.edu for more information.
Click here for on-line registration.
Sovereignty Symposium XIX
May 31-June 1, 2006
Renaissance Hotel
Cox Business Services Center
Oklahoma City, OK
Call Julie Rorie at 405-521-2450 for more information.
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