International Day of the World’s Indigenous People – Aug. 9, 2005
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The second United Nations Indigenous Decade is now under way, with many issues left pending from the first decade, particularly finalising the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. Encompassed in these rights are participation in the decisions that affect them and development that incorporates their unique cultures and identities into the definition of success.

IPS brings you the latest happenings on this International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, with a special selection of recent stories that reflect the realities and the diversity of the world’s native communities.
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INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY: With Violent Greetings
By Sanjay Suri
LONDON – Indonesian soldiers cut the face and body of Petto Wenda with a razor and a knife before pouring petrol on his head and setting him on fire. Petto was attacked when the soldiers overran Pyramid village of the Lani tribe in the Papuan highlands in July. He is not expected to survive.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29825

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New Universities for a Multicultural Mexico
By Adrián Reyes
MEXICO CITY – Seven intercultural universities in Mexico are going a long way towards preserving the historical and cultural roots of the country’s indigenous community, which comprises more than 10 percent of the country’s 106 million people.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29824

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PUERTO RICO: The Taíno’s Last Stand
By Katherine Stapp
NEW YORK – A group of indigenous Puerto Ricans is occupying a cultural centre in hopes of pressuring Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá to meet with them and address what they say are continuing violations of human rights and desecration of sacred sites around the Caribbean island.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29818

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KENYA: In the Aftermath of a Massacre
By Darren Taylor
NAIROBI – He describes himself as an old man, and one ignorant of many things in life — especially “women and the ways of Waq (God).” But Huka Kanchoro, a wizened Borana elder, knows that he holds a position of influence in the northern Kenyan district of Marsabit.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29683

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Acehnese Women Rediscover Role in Society
By Fabio Scarpello
JAKARTA – Women once ruled the defunct Sultanate of Aceh whose history speaks of women admirals and matriliny. But after the principality merged into a larger Indonesia in 1949, women became marginalised and it took a devastating tsunami for them to rediscover their traditionally dominant role in Acehnese society.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29648

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COLOMBIA: Indigenous Women Brave War Zone to Express Solidarity
By Constanza Vieira
BOGOTA – A caravan of around 1,250 indigenous and Afro-Colombian women and women’s rights activists drove into an area of southwestern Colombia that is caught up in fighting between leftist guerrillas and the army, for a “Visit to the Family”.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29631

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NEPAL: Indigenous People Seek More, Get Less
By Marty Logan
KATHMANDU – The glass bangles on their arms are shattered, they are forbidden to put saffron-coloured powder in their hair and to wear red — reserved for those ‘’blessed’’ with a husband — for the rest of their lives. Widows in Hindu societies are traditionally treated in ways that today have become striking symbols of paternalism.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29588

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Badawi Ushers in New Era for Malays and Malaysians
By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR – A new man brings a new style. But beyond the style — softer, less parochial and more consensus-seeking — Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has also brought in a new vision for Malaysians.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29630

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FRANCE: Recasting Colonialism as a Good Thing
By Julio Godoy
PARIS – France and other European countries are claiming, either officially or through historians, that colonialism was a positive thing.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29364

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Maori ‘Marae’ Integral to New Zealand Tourism
By Neena Bhandari
HAWKE’S BAY – Atop the Te Mata peak, in freezing 6C weather, visitors to New Zealand are treated to a traditional ‘Powhiri’ or Maori welcome ceremony.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29346

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And many more: ipsnews.net/new_focus/indigenous_peoples/

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