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Akha Chronicles Not enough can be said about
the indigenous perspective, how important it is to one’s work in the
indigenous community. Often ignored. On an international level it
is very useful to connect to this combined indigenous perspective, to aid
ones work, to gain skill, to find out what people are doing who are way ahead
on the curve of learning activism for indigenous rights. Indigenous Perspectives Intrinsic to the survival of the indigenous was the
stark differences of their reality, which worked, and the reality of the west
which was in direct contradiction of that, and needed to exploit them and the
resources that they lived on. The west needed to rob the Indigenous in order to
live at the standard of living that they lived at. Isolated from exposure to the lives and realities of
Indigenous people. What
is driving the world today and what this will do to the indigenous. The
Need for a structure for appeal and justice.
Tai Journal of Society and Culture Providing
Choices and Security, not development. Land
and Food security Traditional
education vs. western style education The
removal of children from the traditional system. The
removal of children from their culture to mission, school, and ngo compounds. Its
implication. Removal
of children and past historical examples and their results today Implementation
of AID. The admin and research top
heavy end. Lack
of streamlined funding methods, monitoring methods. Views
of the indigenous, charity, aid or is it investment? Memorial
Funds, what we get for free in the west, subsidized business, the $600
Billion Space Station Rosebud
Catholic Radio Whiteclay Pineridge The
Leonard Peltier affair Anna
Mae Aquash The
US hesitancy to support international indigenous rights due to the Indian
situation in the US and their lack of rights. SIL
and the indigenous of South America The
Makah Whale hunt Missing
funds at BIA The
BIA apology Papal
Bulls An
anti missionary Bill? Effects
of internet networking and activism, video activism. White
Racism and its effect on the indigenous exchange. The poor are blamed. The
great flywheel, and the loss of indigenous lands and
resources. The
PC of Indigenous Self Development, and the calculated disadvantage, while
westerners know exactly who is doing what and how to stop it. Making the indigenous gain the techno
curve. The
Canadian Genocide and the United Church of Christ in Canada Dreaming of Extinction Impossible Conflicts and Social Differences Between
Tribal Societies and Western Cultures A
Short Comment In the process of looking for solutions to the severe
poverty and exploitation that the Akha are experiencing
one must first ask some questions as to the background of this situation and
similar situations
that Tribal Societies have experienced in history. The first thing that is apparent is how little the
situation has changed. The
experiences which the Akha are having now are not
improvements on this cultural conflict.
Possibly one could start with some points worth
mentioning. First off, is there any likelihood that tribal
societies will ever assimilate or that they want to or even should? Why
must everyone be the same? Today
we see an ever increasing push to force everyone to join the mainstream
consumer economy where everything,
every idea and every person for that matter is nothing more than a commodity
to be traded or provided with services, like it or not. If
one understands that the western economy is based on a model where there must
be constant growth of overproduction and consumption then it doesn't leave
much room for anything else. The idea
that anyone is different is irrelevant because the basis of the machine is
that no one is going to be allowed to be different so basically they can
think what they want while being pushed into line. This is much the same for the religious orders which
follow on the heels. The
argument is valid that people should have a choice to NOT stand in this line,
to not join this single consumption
model. Tribal
societies are a clear test case of this.
Although there will be a lot of people who partake in both societies
or cross the line into the larger society, the fact remains that many tribal
people want to remain just who they are, where they are, raising their
families and their food that they live on.
As they have for centuries. This should be their right. Perhaps
it is only in the west where the "Family" is so touted, where
circumstances have actually departed so far from this essential human reality
in the direction of human alienation.
Try not paying your property tax and see how long you get to live
there? However tribal societies would laugh at anyone who agreed to live
under such duress. But
at this time as no other, the last corners of the earth are seeing roads
plowed into them and these last tribal societies are being told to "get
out". If
people who consume so little to survive are now being told that those who
have so much have no room for them then it can only be seen as evidence at how
far the situation has gone. Why
shouldn't tribal people have the right to Sanctuary, to be able to live in
preserves, where jungle is
badly needed at any rate, and be protected there? There is no logical reason not to allow it.
Not to demand
it. Why should tribal peoples be forced to join the
western economy? Should
choice of economy be listed as a basic human right? One would think so. Why
should they not have the choice to consider their form of education
acceptable without having the western
form of education forced on them with its increasing emphasis and
collaboration with the marketplace? Possibly allowing even one tribal society to exist is
like leaving one piece of evidence that once life had some
value, once not everyone needed, wanted or wore a watch. That at one time there was a spiritual way to
live and grow up that wasn't something which had been reduced to just words
in religious books. Sitting
in a hut watching an Akha women carry on endless
conversation with her child as she goes about her work makes such mockery of
foolish western notions made up to ease the conscience like "quality
time". One would laugh if it weren't so tragic. Tribal societies don't assimilate well for very
possibly the reason that they don't want to.
Assimilation is a term of denial used by the social
system which is rolling over them and taking away what they
have. In
America it was the land. In
Brazil it was the land. With
the Akha it is the land. It
is the same everywhere. And
in little more than a hundred or so years of this new model almost all of the
worlds resources have been put
in jeopardy. The tribal peoples become a slave class in a cash
society so much more hardened than they.
Many
of the men end up in prison, many of the women end up as prostitutes while
drug addiction, alcoholism,
suicide and diseases such as AIDS are the actual reality of
"assimilation" and "development" programs.
The larger society comes up with all kinds of rationalizations as to
why this occurred but can
never admit to the causes which are not convenient to talk
about. Like
a bird in a cage, tribal societies die more often than become enslaved. To live among them one would
quickly see why. More often they are
being asked to give up all which they have in exchange for what, for many good reasons,
appears to be less than nothing. It is the vast difference in these two realities and
who the looser usually are that makes the work to assist Tribal peoples so crucial. It is not just a matter of helping them till they
assimilate, because this in reality is not what is occurring, in reality they are
dying. More often than not, "Assimilation" or
"Development" as it is so politely put, is
not what they want and should not be forced on them by governments, religious
groups or well meaning NGO's. Tribal
societies one after the other are being wiped out in this fashion. And
this is what appears to be ignored. End Have a comment or question? Like to know
more? Send me an email at akha@akha.org |