ETHNIC GROUPS
April 2007
How did the Milky Way come to be?
This traditional Cherokee legend tells of the time when the world was new and there were not many stars in the sky. In those days there lived an elderly couple who discovered one morning that a thief was stealing their cornmeal. And the culprit was no ordinary thief, but a giant spirit dog! It took the courage of the couple's young grandson, the wisdom of the people's Beloved Woman, and the help of their entire village to drive the spirit dog into the night sky. And ever after the great band of stars formed in its wake has reminded us of the people's brave deed.
This lovely story's timeless message: that great things can be accomplished when a community works together.
Sent in by Deanna
Wichi Community of Salta, North Argentina.
The Founding Stone of the Argentine Nation was laid by the Spanish Conquisters, but before the arrival of Europeans, what today is a country was inhabited by the aborigenes who sustain their ownership rights on the legand that “The land belongs to those who have worked it.”
All the same, Argentina suffers and watches in silence how the minority aborigines group’s human rights are violated, and how they could be considered “internal refugees”, on not being able to cross , much less exploit – for their own survival – the lands that belonged to them long before the arrival of the Spanish Conquisters. The nation is also voiceless before official maniobras that could cause an ecological disaster.
In Salta province, the slow genocide of the aborigene tribes is being carried out. This matter has a lot to do with the sale of land on behalf of the provincial govenor, which had been declared “Protected Natural Reserves”, due to the richness and extent of the forest. There is a great variety of plant and animal species, as well as a small portion of the Wichi Community, who had previously been moved from another area, with the promise of work, but who had in fact been abandoned. They depend on the forest for their livelyhood
But the woods are already suffering irreparable damage, especially if we understand that just one willow tree, gives back 500 liters a day to the atmosphere. It is being sold for the cultivation of soy beans, under the arguement that the area needs to be developed and create jobs, when everyone knows that soy plantations only need one laborer every 500 hectars, without even mentioning that soy bean leaves the land completely exhausted, as well as the resulting ecological disaster of cutting down the forest.
One of the worst consequences of cutting down the forest, is directly associated with climate change. Ecologists claim that temperatures could reach 70ºC, where they have already been reported as reaching 50ºC. This is beside the fact that the aborigenes are treated indignantly, they have been uprooted several times, and are not not allowed to enter the land which means their wellbeing. It is notable the growing difference between the havegots and the don’t haves, and how poverty has grown in the area.
Article taken and translated from “ La Capital” newspaper of 12th September 2005
More Information (Spanish only)
Warning from the Mapuche Communit
The Rural Mapuche Front has warned that the mega touristic and hydroelectricity projects that are being carried out in the Patagonia region of South Argentina, are affecting the population of the region and may produce the uprooting of hundreds of families. Complete communities to the west of the southern Argentine province of Chubut, who have no electricy or transport, find themselves from one day to the next, overrun by these mega projects which also include mining and deforesting by national and international companies.
Their leader is making a fiery defense to the cultural and spiritual way of life aborigenes and creolles, agricultures, shepards, producers of fine fruits, who cannot face up to such giant corporations of German or US origen, who build mansions, fence everything off, and so the population cannot have access to the firewood or the land they have used for centuries to produce.
Article taken and translated from “ La Capital” newspaper of 12th September 2005
A “joke” sent to me by Vicki, sums all this up:
The Navajo When NASA was preparing for the Apollo Project, it took the astronauts to a Navajo reservation in Arizona for training.
One day, a Navajo elder and his son came across the space crew walking among the rocks. The elder, who spoke only Navajo, asked a question. His son translated for the NASA people: "What are these guys in the big suits doing?" One of the astronauts said that they were practicing for a trip to the moon. When his son relayed this comment the Navajo elder got all excited and asked if it would be possible to give to the astronauts a message to deliver to the moon.
Recognizing a promotional opportunity when he saw one, a NASA official accompanying the astronauts said, "Why certainly!" and told an underling to get a tape recorder. The Navajo elder's comments into the microphone were brief.
The NASA official asked the son if he would translate what his father had said. The son listened to the recording and laughed uproariously. But he refused to translate.
So the NASA people took the tape to a nearby Navajo village and played it for other members of the tribe. They too laughed long and loudly but also refused to translate the elder's message to the moon.
Finally, an official government translator was summoned.
After he finally stopped laughing the translator relayed the message:
"Watch out for these assholes. They have come to steal your land."
The CIA's new factbook has some interesting information on ethnic groups worldwide which you can have a look at here Ethnic Groups Worldwide
Canada for example has the following percentage breakdown: British Isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Amerindian 2%, other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, mixed background 26% and Argentina white (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other nonwhite groups 3%.
Some ethnic problems result from differences in language.
Is Language is the key?
The Government of Canada thinks it might be, and in cooperation with provincial governments, school boards, community colleges, and immigrant and community organizations, offers free language training across the country for adult permanent residents. In most provinces, the name of the program is LINC, which stands for Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada. These centres offering LINC classes can assess your language training needs and refer you to the right LINC classes for your needs.
For example in Nanaimo we have the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society which you can read about here
Sharon, our Western Canadian coordinator shared that with us.
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