Sidsel Saugestad: Når støtten tar overhand.

Tildelingen av den 'den alternative Nobelprisen' til First People of the Kalahari, har vakt liten oppmerksomhet, til tross for at internasjonale organisasjoner, inkludert norske NGOer og Samerådet har vært aktive i å fremme urfolksrettigheter i Botswana. Tildelingen gir grunnlag for noen refleksjoner om bistandens rolle, og nødvendigheten av å ta utgangspunkt i lokale forhold for å nå frem med et budskap. I dag domineres støttearbeidet av en internasjonal organisasjon som dominerer mediabildet, men som møter liten forståelse nasjonalt.
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Utvidet Tromsø-Botswana-samarbeid
Det 10-årige NUFU-samarbeidet mellom Universitetet i Tromsø og Universitetet i Botswana har mottatt en ekstra bevilgning fra UD på vel fire millioner kroner. Les mer her

FIRST CONFIRMED NEWS ON ISOLATED TRIBES OF THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA
The first authoritative reports are now coming in on the fate of the five isolated tribes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, hit hard by the Asian quake disaster. All appear to have survived. The more numerous Nicobarese tribe, however, has suffered huge loss of life.

• The 270 Jarawa, who lived in complete isolation until recently, appear to have escaped unharmed. They almost certainly were living in the forest when the tsunami struck.
• Most of the Onge, who live in two government-built settlements, fled to high ground as the sea level fell, and so survived. They are currently being supported by a neighbouring community in a school house. Their awareness of the ocean and its movements has been accumulated over 60,000 years of inhabiting the islands. The Onge had already suffered a disastrous fall in their population, from 672 in 1901 to barely 100 today.
• Reports from overflights of Sentinel Island, home of the most isolated of all the tribes, the Sentinelese, indicate that many have been seen on the beaches. The Sentinelese fired arrows at the helicopter overhead. However, confident assertions by the authorities that all the Sentinelese have been accounted for are premature, as no-one has any idea of their population (estimates range from 50 - 250), and landing on the island is impossible.
• No reliable reports have yet been received on the fate of the 41 Great Andamanese, but early indications are that they have survived more or less intact.
• Similarly, there has been no reliable information on the fate of the 380-strong Shompen, an isolated tribe of Great Nicobar Island. It is hoped that, like the Jarawa, the fact that this hunter-gatherer people live primarily in the forests rather that on the coast will have helped them survive.

The sixth tribe of the islands, the 30,000-strong Nicobarese, have suffered much more. All 12 villages on one island, Car Nicobar, have been washed away, and many are feared dead. Unlike the other tribes, the Nicobarese are not hunter-gatherers but horticulturalists. They have largely converted to Christianity, and are much more assimilated than the other Andaman and Nicobar tribes.
Background: The Jarawa, Onge, Sentinelese and Great Andamanese are thought to have travelled to the Andaman Islands from Africa up to 60,000 years ago. The fact that the languages of the four tribes are mutually unintelligible indicate that they lived isolated lives on reaching the islands. However, their ways of life are similar - all are nomadic hunter-gatherers living from the forest and by fishing in the coastal waters. They have suffered terribly since the islands were colonized, first by the British, and later by India.
Survival's Andamans campaigner, Sophie Grig, who has visited the islands and is in close touch with contacts there, is available for interview. Tel 01780 460991 (home), 0775 252 0813 (mobile), 020 7687 8735 (office), email sg@survival-international.org

Carol A. Smith:
"Indigenous Movements in Guatemala and Ecuador:
Different Histories, Different Social Contexts, Different Strategies?" Read it here:

Afrikanske gjester på urfolkfestival
Helgen 9.-11. juli 2004 ble det møte mellom to ulike urfolkstradisjoner i Karasjok. En stor gruppe San, eller buskmenn hadde tatt den lange vegen fra Kalaharis varme sand til Nordkalotten.
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Support of the rights of the Gana and Gwi 'Bushmen' of Botswana
Two organisations representing some of South Africa's indigenous peoples have spoken out in support of the rights of the Gana and Gwi 'Bushmen' of Botswana to return to their land. Read more...

SUPPORT TO PLANNED COURT CASE REGARDING INDIGENOUS LAND RIGHTS IN BOTSWANA
In November 2003, the Forum for Development Cooperation with Indigenous Peoples addressed the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting the Ministry to support a lawsuit regarding traditional Land Rights in Botswana, with high significance. Read more:

Samer møter San-folket
Avstanden er stor, men likhetene mange. San-folket i Botswana og samer i nord har mange fellestrekk i sin historie, og i kampen for å bli akseptert som et urfolk.
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