Survival International
Encyclopedia
Survival International is a human rights
organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous
tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples
, seeking to help them to determine their own future. Their campaigns generally focus on tribal peoples' fight to keep their ancestral lands, culture and their own way of living. Survival works for the people who they call "some of the most vulnerable on earth". A part of their mission is to educate people from misconceptions that help justify violations of human rights against indigenous people, and the risks that they face from the advancement of corporations, governments and also good intentions based on an idea of "development" that is forced upon them. Survival believes that in fact their alternative way of living is not lacking, they represent a model of sustainability in the environment that they are a part of and they possess a rich culture from which we could learn.
Survival International is in association with the Department of Public Information
(DPI) at the United Nations and in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC). To ensure freedom of action, Survival accepts no government funding. It is a founding member and a signatory organization of the International NGO Accountability Charter (INGO Accountability Charter). Survival has offices in Amsterdam
, Berlin
, London
, Madrid
, Milan
, Paris
and San Francisco
.
highlighted the massacres, land thefts and genocide taking place in Brazilian Amazonia.
It was the first in this field to use mass letter-writing, having orchestrated several campaigns in many different places throughout the world, such as Siberia
, Canada
and Kenya
. Several campaigns were able to bring change to government policies regarding the rights of local indigenous people. In 2000, this form of struggle was successful in driving the Indian government to abandon their plan to relocate the isolated Jarawa tribe, after receiving 150-200 letters a day from Survival supporters around the world. Shortly before that, the governor of western Siberia imposed a five year ban on oil drilling in the territory of the Yugan Khanty within weeks of Survival issuing a bulletin. Survival was also the first organisation to draw attention to the destructive effects of World Bank
projects – now recognised as a major cause of suffering in many poor countries.
Survival is the only international pro-tribal peoples organisation to have received the Right Livelihood Award
, as well as the Spanish 'Premio Léon Felipe' and the Italian 'Medaglia della Presidenza della Camera dei Deputati'.
Today, Survival has supporters in 82 countries. Their materials are published in many different languages throughout the world. It is a registered charity in the United Kingdom
and the equivalent in Germany
, France
, Italy
, Spain
and the United States
, and has the capacity of receiving tax-free donations in the Netherlands
.
Survival refuses government funding, depending exclusively on the public for its support, in order to ensure freedom of action. All the people sent into the field belong to Survival International staff, and there is no sponsoring of volunteers or visitors of any kind. The projects which are run oversea, are carried and managed by the tribe itself.
Today there are more than 150 million tribal people worldwide, including at least 70 uncontacted tribes
, living in 60 countries. Survival International supports these endangered tribes on a global level, with campaigns established in America, Africa and Asia. Most of them have been persecuted, facing genocide by diseases, relocation from their homes by logging and mining, and eviction by settlers.
Survival International considers that their rights to land ownership, even though recognised in international law
, are not effectively respected, with tribes being subject to being invaded by activities such as oil, mining or logging companies, cattle ranchers, private or government 'development' schemes such as road-building and dams, or for nature reserves and game parks. Survival International also highlights in their education mission that beyond economic interests that have led to exploitive invasions of their lands, lies a problem of ignorance and racism that sees tribal peoples as "backward" and "primitive". Survival believes that in the long-term, public opinion is the most effective force for change.
The impact of the outside world on the existence of these people and the survival of their culture is described as being very dramatic. In Siberia, only 10% of the tribal peoples live a nomadic or semi-nomadic life, compared to 70% just 30 years ago. In Brazil – where Survival International believes the majority of the world’s uncontacted tribes, probably more than 50, live – there are about 400 speakers for 110 languages. For authors such as Daniel Everett
, this phenomenon represents a fundamental assault on the existence of people, as language expresses the way a group of people experience reality in a unique way, and it's a part of our common heritage. Ranka Bjeljac-Babic, lecturer and specialist in the psychology of language, describes an intrinsic and causal link between the threat of biological diversity and cultural diversity. This assault on indigenous peoples' customs and traditions is described as part of a larger assault on life, with its historical roots in colonization. Survival International highlights in their report, Progress can Kill, that the invasion of the Americas and Australia by Europeans eliminated 90% of the entire indigenous population on these continents. The threat of genocide continues to this day.
Most fundamentally, Survival believes that it is the respect for the right to keep their land that may allow them to survive. The issues of human rights and freedom depend on the land from which they can get their subsistence and develop according to their own culture. The interference with this basic need endangers their capacity to live sustainably.
A common threat to the tribes for which Survival campaigns is the invasion of their lands for exploration of resources. This invariably leads to forced relocation, loss of sustainability and forced changes in their way of living. Usually, this is accompanied by diseases from the contact with the outsiders for which they have an unprepared immune system – this threat alone can wipe out entire tribes. Logging and/or cattle ranchers have affected most of these tribes, from South America, Africa to Australasia. The Arhuaco, in Colombia, have drug plantations, associated with crossfire from guerilla wars between cartel and government interests. The Ogiek, in Kenya, have tea plantations, and the Amungme
in Indonesia, the Bushmen
in Botswana, the Dongria Kondh in India, and the Palawan
in the Philippines have mining fields.
Survival international has also pointed out in their campaigns against the assault on their way of living the effect of the work of missionaries. The Arhuaco, Ayoreo
, Aborigines
, the Innu
and several tribes in West Papua have all suffered direct attacks on their culture from what, in the perspective of Survival, may constitute good intention, but nevertheless is destructive to their lives. The children of the Khanty and Wanniyala-Aetto
have been kidnapped to be raised by foreign religions and culture. In the long run, these practices are successful in assimilating and destroying a group of people.
Besides suffering the genocide brought about through disease and hunger (which is the result of losing their natural environment and having fertile soil stolen from them), some tribes have suffered campaigns of direct assassination. Most tribes in South America, such as the Awá
, Akuntsu
, Guarini
and the Yanomami, have been murdered on sight by multinational workers, ranchers and gunmen for hire, while tribes in Africa and Asia have suffered waves of murder at the hands of the government. Survival International has pointed to the tribe Akuntsu
, of which only five members still remain, as an example of what this threat represents: the eventual genocide of a whole people.
Survival International has called attention to the rise in suicide in tribal peoples such as the Innu
, Australian Aborigines
and the Guarani, as a consequence of outside interference with the tribes' cultures and direct persecution. Suffering from the trauma of forced relocation, many tribal people find themselves in despair living in an environment they are not used to, where there is nothing useful to do, and where they are treated with racist disdain by their new neighbours. Other social consequences from this displacement have been pointed out to alcoholism and violence, with campaigns reporting the cases of the Innu
, Mursi
, Bodi
, Konso
and Wanniyala-Aetto
. Tribal peoples are also more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Among the tribes with whom Survival International has campaigned, there has been reported rapes of girls and women by workers of invading companies in the indigenous tribes of Penan
, West Papuan
tribes, Jummas and Jarawa
.
The government role in these territories varies. Most Brazilian tribes are protected under law, while in reality there has been resistance in policies and strong support for enterprises that carry out these threats on their existence. In Africa, the tribes of the Bushmen and other tribes have been persecuted with beating and torture to force relocation, as well as murder in the Nuba
, and in the Bangladesh, Asia, with the Jummas. Sometimes governments offer compensations that are believed by Survival to be unwanted alternatives for the tribes, portrayed as "development".
, who has spoken up for the Jumma of Bangladesh, Julie Christie
, who gave a Radio 4 appeal on behalf of the Khanty of Siberia, Judi Dench
, who warned of the events surrounding the Arhuaco of Colombia, and Colin Firth
, who spoke out against the eviction of the Bushmen tribe.
However, the media has not always come in hand with the agenda of the organisation. In 1995, Survival International saw its advert banned by the Independent Television Commission
, citing the Broadcasting Act 1990
, which states that organisations cannot advertise their work if it is wholly or mainly of a political nature. The Survival ad featured Richard Gere and was broadcast on the music cable channel The Box and the MTV satellite offshoot VH-1. Gere urged viewers to help to stop the slaughter and exploitation of tribal people. Another controversy was ensued after the publication of an article that cast doubt over the Survival's reporting of an uncontacted tribe in Peru, where it was presented a picture with tribesmen firing arrows up at an aircraft. After a heated confrontation that dragged for a couple of months, with threats of taking Survival to court for libel, the newspaper, The Observer
, on August 2008, ended up conceding that it had got the story wrong. In a clarification, the newspaper stated: "While The Observer cannot be responsible for content of other media it does have a duty under the Editors' Code not to publish 'inaccurate, misleading or distorted information'. It failed in that duty here."
How much attention we should give Survival's perspective in the media is also an issue. The Government of Botswana, with whom Survival has had a long battle over the reality of the Bushmen tribe, has complained that their side of the story is not nearly as covered by the mainstream media as its opponent. At the origin of this response is an article that alleges that the Botswana government "has instructed all departmental heads in the state media to ensure that any negative reporting on the controversial relocations from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve
(CKGR) should be contrasted strongly with freshly-sought government statements."
In 2005 Survival launched a campaign on tribal rights and development, with the book There You Go! (Oren Ginzburg
). In the book's foreword, Stephen Corry wrote: "The 'development' of tribal peoples against their wishes – really to let others get their land and resources – is rooted in 19th century colonialism ('We know best') dressed up in 20th century 'political correct' euphemism. Tribal peoples are not backward: they are independent and vibrant societies which, like all of us always, are constantly adapting to a changing world. The main difference between tribal peoples and us is that we take their land and resources, and believe the dishonest, even racist, claim that it's for their own good. It's conquest, not development. If you really want to understand what's going on, read this book."
Survival International encourages supporters to spread awareness on indigenous rights issues through several mediums. In the guide Walk your talk, the organisation gives tips on a variety of actions, from writing letters to governments, to spreading the word through sponsorships, leaflets, demonstrations, film shows, and collecting money from a variety of events, as well as many other advices.
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples
Uncontacted peoples
Uncontacted people, also referred to as isolated people or lost tribes, are communities who live, or have lived, either by choice or by circumstance, without significant contact with globalized civilisation....
, seeking to help them to determine their own future. Their campaigns generally focus on tribal peoples' fight to keep their ancestral lands, culture and their own way of living. Survival works for the people who they call "some of the most vulnerable on earth". A part of their mission is to educate people from misconceptions that help justify violations of human rights against indigenous people, and the risks that they face from the advancement of corporations, governments and also good intentions based on an idea of "development" that is forced upon them. Survival believes that in fact their alternative way of living is not lacking, they represent a model of sustainability in the environment that they are a part of and they possess a rich culture from which we could learn.
Survival International is in association with the Department of Public Information
United Nations Department of Public Information
The United Nations Department of Public Information helps non-governmental organizations gain access to and disseminate information about United Nations issues so the public can better understand the aims and objectives of the organizations...
(DPI) at the United Nations and in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council
United Nations Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...
(ECOSOC). To ensure freedom of action, Survival accepts no government funding. It is a founding member and a signatory organization of the International NGO Accountability Charter (INGO Accountability Charter). Survival has offices in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
History
Survival International was founded in 1969 after an article by Norman Lewis in the UK's Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
highlighted the massacres, land thefts and genocide taking place in Brazilian Amazonia.
It was the first in this field to use mass letter-writing, having orchestrated several campaigns in many different places throughout the world, such as Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. Several campaigns were able to bring change to government policies regarding the rights of local indigenous people. In 2000, this form of struggle was successful in driving the Indian government to abandon their plan to relocate the isolated Jarawa tribe, after receiving 150-200 letters a day from Survival supporters around the world. Shortly before that, the governor of western Siberia imposed a five year ban on oil drilling in the territory of the Yugan Khanty within weeks of Survival issuing a bulletin. Survival was also the first organisation to draw attention to the destructive effects of World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
projects – now recognised as a major cause of suffering in many poor countries.
Survival is the only international pro-tribal peoples organisation to have received the Right Livelihood Award
Right Livelihood Award
The Right Livelihood Award, also referred to as the "Alternative Nobel Prize", is a prestigious international award to honour those "working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today". The prize was established in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull, and is...
, as well as the Spanish 'Premio Léon Felipe' and the Italian 'Medaglia della Presidenza della Camera dei Deputati'.
Structure and aims
Survival works for tribal people's rights on three complementary levels: education, advocacy and campaigns. It also offers tribal people themselves a platform to address the world, while establishing a connection with local indigenous organisation, with focus on tribal peoples with more urgent threat from contact with the outside world. The educational programs are aimed at the people in the western world, with the objective of "demolishing the myth that tribal people are relics, destined to perish through ‘progress’". Survival International seeks to promote respect for their culture and explain the contemporary relevance in preserving their way of life.Today, Survival has supporters in 82 countries. Their materials are published in many different languages throughout the world. It is a registered charity in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the equivalent in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and has the capacity of receiving tax-free donations in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Survival refuses government funding, depending exclusively on the public for its support, in order to ensure freedom of action. All the people sent into the field belong to Survival International staff, and there is no sponsoring of volunteers or visitors of any kind. The projects which are run oversea, are carried and managed by the tribe itself.
Tribes
 Tribes |
|---|
Today there are more than 150 million tribal people worldwide, including at least 70 uncontacted tribes
Uncontacted peoples
Uncontacted people, also referred to as isolated people or lost tribes, are communities who live, or have lived, either by choice or by circumstance, without significant contact with globalized civilisation....
, living in 60 countries. Survival International supports these endangered tribes on a global level, with campaigns established in America, Africa and Asia. Most of them have been persecuted, facing genocide by diseases, relocation from their homes by logging and mining, and eviction by settlers.
Survival International considers that their rights to land ownership, even though recognised in international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, are not effectively respected, with tribes being subject to being invaded by activities such as oil, mining or logging companies, cattle ranchers, private or government 'development' schemes such as road-building and dams, or for nature reserves and game parks. Survival International also highlights in their education mission that beyond economic interests that have led to exploitive invasions of their lands, lies a problem of ignorance and racism that sees tribal peoples as "backward" and "primitive". Survival believes that in the long-term, public opinion is the most effective force for change.
The impact of the outside world on the existence of these people and the survival of their culture is described as being very dramatic. In Siberia, only 10% of the tribal peoples live a nomadic or semi-nomadic life, compared to 70% just 30 years ago. In Brazil – where Survival International believes the majority of the world’s uncontacted tribes, probably more than 50, live – there are about 400 speakers for 110 languages. For authors such as Daniel Everett
Daniel Everett
Daniel Leonard Everett is a U.S. author and academic best known for his study of the Amazon Basin's Pirahã people and their language....
, this phenomenon represents a fundamental assault on the existence of people, as language expresses the way a group of people experience reality in a unique way, and it's a part of our common heritage. Ranka Bjeljac-Babic, lecturer and specialist in the psychology of language, describes an intrinsic and causal link between the threat of biological diversity and cultural diversity. This assault on indigenous peoples' customs and traditions is described as part of a larger assault on life, with its historical roots in colonization. Survival International highlights in their report, Progress can Kill, that the invasion of the Americas and Australia by Europeans eliminated 90% of the entire indigenous population on these continents. The threat of genocide continues to this day.
Most fundamentally, Survival believes that it is the respect for the right to keep their land that may allow them to survive. The issues of human rights and freedom depend on the land from which they can get their subsistence and develop according to their own culture. The interference with this basic need endangers their capacity to live sustainably.
Campaigns
Survival International campaigns for the uncontacted tribes in the territory of Peru, many unidentified indigenous people in Brazil, Russia, West Papua, and about 30 tribes in several countries in South America, Africa and Asia. They select their cases based on a criterion the organisation has established, which depends on a wide range of factors, such as the reliability and continuity of the information, the gravity of the situation the tribe in question is facing, the degree to which they believe their work can make a real difference, the degree to which improvements in this area would have a knock on effect for others, whether any other organisation is already working on the case, and whether they are sure of what the people themselves want.A common threat to the tribes for which Survival campaigns is the invasion of their lands for exploration of resources. This invariably leads to forced relocation, loss of sustainability and forced changes in their way of living. Usually, this is accompanied by diseases from the contact with the outsiders for which they have an unprepared immune system – this threat alone can wipe out entire tribes. Logging and/or cattle ranchers have affected most of these tribes, from South America, Africa to Australasia. The Arhuaco, in Colombia, have drug plantations, associated with crossfire from guerilla wars between cartel and government interests. The Ogiek, in Kenya, have tea plantations, and the Amungme
Amungme
The Amungme are a group of about 13,000 people living in the highlands of the Papua province of Indonesia. Their language is called Damal.They practice shifting agriculture, supplementing their livelihood by hunting and gathering...
in Indonesia, the Bushmen
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
in Botswana, the Dongria Kondh in India, and the Palawan
Palawan
Palawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region or Region 4. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the...
in the Philippines have mining fields.
Ayoreo
The Ayoreo are a native ethnic group living on Gran Chaco, in an area among rivers Paraguay, Pilcomayo, Parapetí and Grande, stretching both in Bolivia and Paraguay. They speak the Ayoreo language, which is classified under Zamucoan, a small language family of Paraguay and Bolivia...
, Aborigines
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
, the Innu
Innu
The Innu are the indigenous inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan , which comprises most of the northeastern portions of the provinces of Quebec and some western portions of Labrador...
and several tribes in West Papua have all suffered direct attacks on their culture from what, in the perspective of Survival, may constitute good intention, but nevertheless is destructive to their lives. The children of the Khanty and Wanniyala-Aetto
Wanniyala-Aetto
Veddas or Veddahs , are an indigenous people of Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. They amongst other self identified native communities such as Coast Veddas and Anuradhapura Veddas are accorded indigenous status...
have been kidnapped to be raised by foreign religions and culture. In the long run, these practices are successful in assimilating and destroying a group of people.
Besides suffering the genocide brought about through disease and hunger (which is the result of losing their natural environment and having fertile soil stolen from them), some tribes have suffered campaigns of direct assassination. Most tribes in South America, such as the Awá
Awá
The Awá or Guajá are an endangered indigenous group of people living in the eastern Amazon forests of Brazil. Their language is in the Tupi–Guarani family. Originally living in settlements, they adopted a nomadic lifestyle about 1800 to escape incursions by Europeans...
, Akuntsu
Akuntsu
The Akuntsu are an indigenous people of Rondônia, Brazil. Their land is part of the Rio Omerê Indigenous Territory, a small forest reserve which is also inhabited by a group of Kanoê...
, Guarini
Guarini
Guarini is the name of several people:* Giovanni Battista Guarini , Italian poet and diplomat* Anna Guarini, Contessa Trotti, , Italian virtuoso singer of the late Renaissance...
and the Yanomami, have been murdered on sight by multinational workers, ranchers and gunmen for hire, while tribes in Africa and Asia have suffered waves of murder at the hands of the government. Survival International has pointed to the tribe Akuntsu
Akuntsu
The Akuntsu are an indigenous people of Rondônia, Brazil. Their land is part of the Rio Omerê Indigenous Territory, a small forest reserve which is also inhabited by a group of Kanoê...
, of which only five members still remain, as an example of what this threat represents: the eventual genocide of a whole people.
Survival International has called attention to the rise in suicide in tribal peoples such as the Innu
Innu
The Innu are the indigenous inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan , which comprises most of the northeastern portions of the provinces of Quebec and some western portions of Labrador...
, Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
and the Guarani, as a consequence of outside interference with the tribes' cultures and direct persecution. Suffering from the trauma of forced relocation, many tribal people find themselves in despair living in an environment they are not used to, where there is nothing useful to do, and where they are treated with racist disdain by their new neighbours. Other social consequences from this displacement have been pointed out to alcoholism and violence, with campaigns reporting the cases of the Innu
Innu
The Innu are the indigenous inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan , which comprises most of the northeastern portions of the provinces of Quebec and some western portions of Labrador...
, Mursi
Mursi
The Mursi are a Nilotic pastoralist ethnic group that inhabits southwestern Ethiopia. They principally reside in the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region, close to the border with South Sudan...
, Bodi
Bodi
Bodi may refer to:*Bodinayakkanur, India*Bodi, Benin* The Bodi people of Ethiopia* SAP BusinessObjects Data Integrator, software...
, Konso
Konso
Konso is a town on the Sagan River in southwestern Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Konso special woreda of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 1650 meters...
and Wanniyala-Aetto
Wanniyala-Aetto
Veddas or Veddahs , are an indigenous people of Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. They amongst other self identified native communities such as Coast Veddas and Anuradhapura Veddas are accorded indigenous status...
. Tribal peoples are also more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Among the tribes with whom Survival International has campaigned, there has been reported rapes of girls and women by workers of invading companies in the indigenous tribes of Penan
Penan
The Penan are a nomadic aboriginal people living in Sarawak and Brunei. They are one of the last such peoples remaining. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary...
, West Papuan
Western New Guinea
West Papua informally refers to the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and other smaller islands to its west. The region is officially administered as two provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea.The population of approximately 3 million...
tribes, Jummas and Jarawa
Jarawa
Jarawa may refer to:* Jarawa people , one of the indigenous peoples of the Andaman Islands; also their language* Jarawa , a Berber tribal confederacy that flourished in northwest Africa during the seventh century CE....
.
The government role in these territories varies. Most Brazilian tribes are protected under law, while in reality there has been resistance in policies and strong support for enterprises that carry out these threats on their existence. In Africa, the tribes of the Bushmen and other tribes have been persecuted with beating and torture to force relocation, as well as murder in the Nuba
Nuba
Nuba is a collective term used here for the peoples who inhabit the Nuba Mountains, in Sudan, Africa. Although the term is used to describe them as if they composed a single group, the Nuba are multiple distinct peoples and speak different languages...
, and in the Bangladesh, Asia, with the Jummas. Sometimes governments offer compensations that are believed by Survival to be unwanted alternatives for the tribes, portrayed as "development".
Media
Survival International has received some attention in the media over the years with the campaigns and work of volunteer supporters. Some celebrity endorsements include Richard GereRichard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
, who has spoken up for the Jumma of Bangladesh, Julie Christie
Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie is a British actress. Born in British India to English parents, at the age of six Christie moved to England, where she attended boarding school....
, who gave a Radio 4 appeal on behalf of the Khanty of Siberia, Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
, who warned of the events surrounding the Arhuaco of Colombia, and Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
, who spoke out against the eviction of the Bushmen tribe.
However, the media has not always come in hand with the agenda of the organisation. In 1995, Survival International saw its advert banned by the Independent Television Commission
Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003....
, citing the Broadcasting Act 1990
Broadcasting Act 1990
The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, often regarded by both its supporters and its critics as a quintessential example of Thatcherism. The aim of the Act was to reform the entire structure of British broadcasting; British television, in particular, had earlier been...
, which states that organisations cannot advertise their work if it is wholly or mainly of a political nature. The Survival ad featured Richard Gere and was broadcast on the music cable channel The Box and the MTV satellite offshoot VH-1. Gere urged viewers to help to stop the slaughter and exploitation of tribal people. Another controversy was ensued after the publication of an article that cast doubt over the Survival's reporting of an uncontacted tribe in Peru, where it was presented a picture with tribesmen firing arrows up at an aircraft. After a heated confrontation that dragged for a couple of months, with threats of taking Survival to court for libel, the newspaper, The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, on August 2008, ended up conceding that it had got the story wrong. In a clarification, the newspaper stated: "While The Observer cannot be responsible for content of other media it does have a duty under the Editors' Code not to publish 'inaccurate, misleading or distorted information'. It failed in that duty here."
How much attention we should give Survival's perspective in the media is also an issue. The Government of Botswana, with whom Survival has had a long battle over the reality of the Bushmen tribe, has complained that their side of the story is not nearly as covered by the mainstream media as its opponent. At the origin of this response is an article that alleges that the Botswana government "has instructed all departmental heads in the state media to ensure that any negative reporting on the controversial relocations from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Central Kalahari Game Reserve is an extensive national park in the Kalahari desert of Botswana. Established in 1961 it covers an area of 52,800 km² making it the second largest game reserve in the world.The park contains wildlife such as giraffe, brown hyena, warthog, cheetah, wild dog,...
(CKGR) should be contrasted strongly with freshly-sought government statements."
In 2005 Survival launched a campaign on tribal rights and development, with the book There You Go! (Oren Ginzburg
Oren Ginzburg
Oren Ginzburg is the owner of Hungry Man Books and the author of several books. He works for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and has spent time working on human trafficking in Asia for the United Nations Inter-Agency Project Against Human Trafficking.-Books Written:*Le...
). In the book's foreword, Stephen Corry wrote: "The 'development' of tribal peoples against their wishes – really to let others get their land and resources – is rooted in 19th century colonialism ('We know best') dressed up in 20th century 'political correct' euphemism. Tribal peoples are not backward: they are independent and vibrant societies which, like all of us always, are constantly adapting to a changing world. The main difference between tribal peoples and us is that we take their land and resources, and believe the dishonest, even racist, claim that it's for their own good. It's conquest, not development. If you really want to understand what's going on, read this book."
Survival International encourages supporters to spread awareness on indigenous rights issues through several mediums. In the guide Walk your talk, the organisation gives tips on a variety of actions, from writing letters to governments, to spreading the word through sponsorships, leaflets, demonstrations, film shows, and collecting money from a variety of events, as well as many other advices.
See also
- Cultural SurvivalCultural SurvivalCultural Survival is a nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA which is dedicated to defending the human rights of indigenous peoples. Their stated mandate is to promote the rights, voices and visions, of indigenous people. For 37 years, Cultural Survival has partnered with...
- Friends of Peoples Close to NatureFriends of Peoples Close to NatureFriends of Peoples Close to Nature is a non-governmental human rights organization that works in the field of indigenous rights. The organization is dedicated to the survival of tribal peoples, in particular hunter-gatherers...
- Indigenous peoplesIndigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
- Self-determinationSelf-determinationSelf-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
- Songs for SurvivalSongs for SurvivalBruce Parry Presents Amazon - Tribe - Songs for Survival is a double album released by Kensaltown Records in support of a tribal peoples charity.-Background:...
External links
- Survival International - Official website