indigenous people / minorities

Interview with Sámi musician Mari Boine: Dreams about a world without borders

Published on November 15, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, culture traditions, globalisation, indigenous people / minorities, Saami, Us and Them

Six Degrees, Helsinki

Europeans romanticize American Indians but they forget that the Sámi are the indigenous people of the northern countries. What do you think about this?
In Norway people began recognising this connection through a continuous stream of information that I was providing. I truly feel that things are happening and changing in Norway that weren’t even considered ten years ago; not only me, but many Sámi artists think the same.

There is some progress, but do you think it is too late for the younger Sámi generation?
Sadly it is too late for the older generation. However, when I see young children studying the Sámi language in school, like my niece, and I hear how rich she speaks it, I know that they don’t carry the same shame that we did.

Would it be possible for Sámi from different countries to have an independent state?
No, that is a dream but, I don’t know… I don’t think it’s realistic. In 100 years it could happen, but also in 100 years there could be no borders at all – that would be even more perfect. >> continue (updated link)

Six Degrees, Helsinki

Europeans romanticize American Indians but they forget that the Sámi are the indigenous people of the northern countries. What do you think about this?
In Norway people began recognising this connection through a continuous stream of information that I…

Modern technology revives traditional languages

Published on November 14, 2004 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, inuit, language, technology

Two articles that both have been published some days ago:

ETHIOPIA: Old alphabet adapted for modern use in technology

ADDIS ABABA, 11 Nov 2004 (IRIN) – One of the world’s oldest living alphabets could make its debut soon on mobile phones, Ethiopian scientists said on Thursday. In groundbreaking research, the ancient script of Ethiopic, which dates back to the fourth century, has been adapted so it can be used for SMS text messaging.

The scientists believe it will open up the digital age to millions of people in Ethiopia who cannot speak or write English, but use their own centuries-old alphabet. >> continue

Inuit language finds home on net

(BBC News) Browser settings on normal computers have not supported the language to date, but attavik.net has changed that. It provides a content management system that allows native speakers to write, manage documents and offer online payments in the Inuit language.

It could prove a vital tool to keep the language alive in one of the most remote communities on earth. >> continue

Two articles that both have been published some days ago:

ETHIOPIA: Old alphabet adapted for modern use in technology

ADDIS ABABA, 11 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - One of the world’s oldest living alphabets could make its debut soon on mobile phones, Ethiopian…

Germans as Indians: Ethnographic images explore an unsettling cultural exchange

Published on November 12, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, art, Europe, indigenous people / minorities, migration, Native American, Us and Them

Boston Globe

Photographers Andrea Robbins and Max Becher, who have work up at the Bernard Toale Gallery, are anthropologists of a sort. They document explosions of one culture within another, which occur through migration, colonialism, but also through odder means, such as appropriation.

They’ve photographed a town in Washington that sells itself as Bavarian, with chalet-style architecture, signage in a Germanic font, and lederhosen worn during parades — even though the town has no historic ties to Germany. Their work examines the strange gaps and attractions between societies with a cool, deadpan eye.

That particular interest in German culture shows up in the pair’s exhibition at Toale, ”German Indians.” Certain people in Germany enjoy dressing up in traditional Native American garb. >> continue

Boston Globe

Long battle between Argentine oil company and Ecuadorian indigenous community

Published on November 10, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, development empowerment, ecology nature, indigenous people / minorities, Native American

IPS News

– Buenos Aires has unexpectedly become the new stage for a long-standing battle between an Argentine oil company and an Ecuadorian indigenous community fighting to defend its ancestral land rights in the Amazon rainforest.

Representatives of the Kichwa community of Sarayaku have come to the Argentine capital to call on President Néstor Kirchner to intervene in the conflict. ”Our people’s future is threatened. We are living in a constant state of fear,” Marlon Santi, a community leader from Sarayaku, told IPS.

The Ecuadorian government of President Lucio Gutiérrez has now militarised the area in an attempt to ensure that the project goes ahead, claiming that it will bring development and jobs to the region. >> continue

IPS News

- Buenos Aires has unexpectedly become the new stage for a long-standing battle between an Argentine oil company and an Ecuadorian indigenous community fighting to defend its ancestral land rights in the Amazon rainforest.

Representatives of the Kichwa community of…

“Reindeer People” Resort to Eating Their Herds

Published on November 5, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Asia, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities

National Geographic

Ghosta is a shaman who lives with his reindeer in the remote forests of northwestern Mongolia. He believes these sacred forests will die if he and his dwindling tribe of Dukha reindeer people abandon their ancestral homeland. Yet if the Dukha do leave, it’s they themselves who are almost certain to die out.

This, at least, is the conclusion of Hamid Sardar, a Harvard-trained anthropologist with the Geneva, Switzerland-based Axis-Mundi Foundation. Sardar recently spent three years on the trail of Mongolia’s last nomadic reindeer herders. >> continue

National Geographic