From November 2-5, 2005 in Mar de Plata, Argentina over 250 delegates
from across the continent joined with the host organizations of
Argentina and the Mapuche Nation to convene an independent Continental Indigenous Summit of Indigenous Nations Pueblos and Organizations.
In defense of the integrity of our Territories and Peoples, the
Indigenous Nations of Abya Yala, acting in the spirit of Self
Determination, gathered to challenge the agenda of the States meeting
simultaneously at the Summit of the Presidents of the Organization of
American States (OAS).
In spite of limited resources and overcoming many obstacles, the
Continental Indigenous Summit of Mar de Plata was a critical and
necessary act of independence, a clarification of political position
and organizational stand against the overt manipulation, cooptation and
control by the States, perpetrators of over 500 years of colonization.
Beginning in Ottawa, 2001 with a continental gathering financed
entirely by the Canadian government, the process of blatant cooptation,
manipulation, and control of the Indigenous Peoples continental
movement for Self Determination was exposed when Canada attempted to
utilize the Ottawa event to legitimize the promotion of the Free Trade
Agreement of the Americas (FTAA).
The strategy to place all opposition to the neo-liberal
globalization agreements such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA) within a pre-packaged and manageable framework was given
continuity by the Canadian government in late October 2005. At Buenos
Aires, Argentina a “Continental Indigenous Summit” was organized a
week before and at a safe distance away from the Mar de Plata Summit of
the heads of state of the Americas.
The primary goal of the Buenos Aires conference which was
bought and paid for by the Canadian government, was to define the
context of the debate regarding the political and economic future of
the continent exclusively within the framework of the agenda of the
States.
''The United Nations, in the last session of Human Rights in Geneva,
recommended to the Canadian government to make efforts to improve the
lives of Native peoples who are the poorest of the poor. Yet, the
Canadian government has been successful in co-opting the indigenous
leadership by creating a well-paid Canadian Aboriginals bureaucracy and
is now trying to export this model to Latin America.''
Arthur Manuel, Shushwap Nation British Columbia, Canada: Indigenous Network for Economies and Trade (INET) Statement to the Continental Indigenous Summit - Mar de Plata, Argentina November 2-5, 2005
And so on the 4th of November at Mar de Plata over 300 Indigenous
Peoples of the hemisphere joined with the 60 thousand participants of
the Peoples Summit of the Americas marching to protest the neo-liberal
globalization policies and presence of US President George W. Bush.
Calling
for the implementation of the specific and applicable procedures under
international law for DECOLONIZATION of the hemisphere, the independent Summit
of the Indigenous Nations Pueblos gathered at Mar de Plata, Argentina, and
acting upon the principle that self definition is the precept of
self-determination, proclaimed to the world the following declaration:
CONTINENTAL SUMMIT
OF
INDIGENOUS NATIONS PUEBLOS AND ORGANIZATIONS
MAPUCHE TERRITORIES, MAR DEL PLATA, ARGENTINA
November 2-4, 2005
DECLARATION
PREAMBLE
We the Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of the Continent of Abya Yala [America],
meeting in the ancestral territory of the Mapuche People at Mar del
Plata, Argentina from the second to the fourth of November, first
invoking the cosmovision of our elders and following the path drawn by
them, in a framework of unity and harmony among us and with our mother
nature, we emit the following words:
Whereas,
We are the representatives of more than 50 million Indigenous women
and men of this continent; we are Nations that predate the existing
States, and therefore we claim the recognition of our Right of
Self-determination as Peoples that we may decide our own independent
forms of political organization and define our own processes of
economic, social and cultural development.
Whereas,
For 500 years the Indigenous Peoples have been victims of the assault
of genocide, colonization, and discrimination that are the instruments
of imperial ideologies and policies that have systematically violated
our fundamental rights. Across the hemisphere, any meaningful dialogue
between Indigenous Peoples and the States and national society must
take into account the collective and historic nature of these our
inherent rights as Indigenous Peoples.
Whereas,
At this time we are witnesses to the ways in which domination and
repression toward our peoples continues through tactics of political
and economic globalization. In these times, economic exploitation and
pillaging of our territories and resources continue in benefit of both
national and transnational companies and bureaucratic elites.
Whereas,
Under the imposition of antiterrorist laws of some States repression
has increased, as has murder and incarceration of our traditional
authorities and leaders with the aim of impeding the recognition and
the exercise of our fundamental rights. We condemn the political and
judicial persecution of the States and national and transnational
corporations intended to silence the voice of our Indigenous Peoples
who are demanding their right to a life with dignity.
Whereas,
Without any legitimate justification vast areas of the continent are
being militarized, especially by the United States of America, with the
aim of politically controlling natural resources, many of which are in
Indigenous territories.
Whereas,
The creation of the multilateral organizations of the States in our
hemisphere, such as the United Nations and the Organization of American
States, are carried out without the participation of the Indigenous
Peoples, and that therefore these organizations have a moral, material,
and historical obligation and debt to the Indigenous Peoples of Abya
Yala and the entire world.
Whereas,
For the Indigenous Peoples, our territories, lands and resources are
fundamental for the continued development of our cultures; they
represent and are interrelated with our spirituality, culture, customs,
traditions, medicines, food security, and the very life itself of our
Peoples.
Whereas,
Indigenous Peoples are the first affected by the policies that the
States are pushing to promote supposed “development”. Yet these
policies, such as the push for agrarian reform, mining, hydroelectric
projects, oil, and infrastructure construction industries have not
produced development but have instead promoted the invasion of our
territories, the destruction of our forests, the predatory extraction
of our soil and subsoil resources, the pollution of the environment,
resulting in the impoverishment and genocide of our people. At the same
time, we must recognize that the borders and territorial limits imposed
by the States have divided our families, communities, Nations and
Peoples, attacking our collective and individual integrity as
preexisting Nations and Pueblos.
Whereas,
Contrary to improving the situation of our peoples of Abya Yala, the
representatives of the States gathered in the IV Summit of the Americas
continue to discuss economic policies that will deepen the existing
systematic marginalization and discrimination through agreements like
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Puebla-Panama plan
(PPP), the South American Regional Initiative, and the Free Trade Area
of the Americas (ALCA), among others. These economic agreements are
instruments to benefit powerful States as well as national and
transnational corporations, to the detriment of our Indigenous Peoples
and society as a whole. Further, such agreements decided by the States
are contrary to regional and international legal instruments of
Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights that these same States themselves are
committed to protecting and guaranteeing but yet systematically break.
Whereas,
Any true, pluralistic and inclusive democracy must first undergo the
recognition of the collective rights of the Indigenous Peoples at a
national and international level; to be valid, the full and effective
participation in all development plans must be submitted to our
Nation-Pueblos for free, previous and informed consent.
Whereas,
In terms of the objectives of the Fourth Summit of the Americas which
focus only on job creation as a way to eliminate poverty and
strengthen effective governance, we now manifest our concern and rejection
to this policy as being contrary to the pluricultural, multiethnic, and
multilingual nature of our societies in violation of our right to
economic self-determination.
Whereas,
In order to promote the so-called democracy and effective governance
of the continent, the States of Abya Yala should commit to eliminating
the external debt and reject all economic policies and structures that
oppress Indigenous Peoples for being the cause of our Peoples’ current
situation of poverty and marginalization.
Whereas,
Based on the text of the Sub-commission, we call for the prompt
adoption by the OAS and the UN of the Declaration of Indigenous
Peoples’ Rights as being absolutely necessary. This demand was recently
adopted by the Heads of State and Government during the High Level
Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations in its
fifty-ninth session, in which it consolidates the term Indigenous
Peoples and reaffirms
“… our commitment to continue making progress
in the advancement of the human rights of the world’s Indigenous
Peoples at the local, national, regional and international levels,
including through consultation and collaboration with them, and to
present for adoption a final draft United Nations declaration on the
rights of Indigenous Peoples as soon as possible.”
BASED ON THE ABOVE, WE HEREBY INSIST AND PROCLAIM:
1. We Indigenous Peoples have
our own vision of development that is based on criteria of solidarity
among human beings and a profound respect for mother earth. We are not
in agreement with the dominant concept and economic model, which is
based on exploitation of humans by humans and of nature in general.
Therefore, we reject the vision and the economic model currently
promoted by the States, in which they only aspire to create employment
in order to fight poverty and strengthen democratic governance, while
violating human rights and destroying our environment and ecosystems.
Such a vision will only continue to worsen the pillaging of our
territories and natural resources, leading to more aggression against
our rights of autonomy.
2. We reject the concept of poverty promoted by
the summit of the OAS States, because it does not take into account our
cosmovision and Ways of Life. For the Indigenous Peoples, the concept
of poverty does not focus only on an economic perspective, but rather
takes on an integral and holistic dimension. For our peoples,
maintaining out territorial rights, rights to land and resources,
guarantees our continuance as Peoples and our integral and sustained
development. This has been reaffirmed by the States in the 59th session
of the General Assembly of the United Nations: “To recognize that the
sustainable development of Indigenous Peoples and their communities is
crucial in our fight against hunger and poverty.”
3. We categorically reject the opening and
commodification of our territories, lands, and natural resources to
national and international markets as a way to fight poverty.
Currently, these types of development projects translate into the
heartless exploitation of our resources. As a consequence, the States
must recognize the negative impact that such projects and actions of
supposed development generate in the lives and cultures of our Peoples.
4. The States and national and multi-national
corporations continue to deprive us of our means and resources for
subsistence; there must be an embargo of allocating concessions for the
existing natural resources in our traditional lands and territories
without our free, previous, and informed consent.
5. The proposals to strengthen democratic
governance in our continent with only partial and discriminatory
measures in violation of the Human rights of Indigenous Peoples makes
the so called “free market” an instrument of oppression in favor of
national and transnational corporations.
THEREFORE, WE INDIGENOUS DELEGATES
DEMAND AND DECLARE:
FIRST: That the States recognize the Indigenous Peoples’ Right of Self-Determination
and that, in virtue of this right, we can freely and independently
decide our own Political Condition and likewise promote our own
Economic, Social and Cultural Development.
SECOND: That the States officially recognize the
pluri-cultural, multiethnic, and multilingual character of their
societies, in order to combat institutionalized discrimination, racism,
intolerance and exclusion.
THIRD: That the States fully recognize, respect and
guarantee the property rights of our Indigenous Peoples over our
territories, lands, and natural resources which we have traditionally
and historically used, occupied or possessed, or acquired by other
means, as inherent collective rights of the Indigenous Peoples which
are undeniable, inalienable, and undiminished and indomitable.
FOURTH: That the States, together with Indigenous
Peoples, delimit, demarcate and establish title for the lands
territories and resources of the Indigenous Peoples, fully respecting
the Indigenous normative systems of jurisprudence within a framework of
international judicial pluralism.
FIFTH: That the government organisms of the
Inter-american system recognize, respect and protect the cultural
patrimony and intellectual property of the Indigenous Peoples, with
full respect for the Indigenous normative systems.
SIXTH: That the States recognize, respect and
support Indigenous Peoples’ medicinal and traditional health practices,
including the right to the protection of plants, animals and minerals
that are of vital interest, from the medical point of view. Also, the
States must guarantee access, without any discrimination, to all of the
health institutions, services and medical attention, with particular
attention to the needs of Indigenous People who may be disabled.
SEVENTH: That the States recognize and effectively
comply in their constitutions, laws and institutions, the Rights of our
Indigenous Peoples, in particular our ways of living, as an effective
mechanism for eradicating poverty, marginalization, and social,
economic, and political exclusion.
EIGHTH: That the American States adopt, together
with the Indigenous representatives and delegates, the American
Declaration of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the context of the
organization of American States (OAS) as a way to strengthen peace and
coexistence between Peoples on this continent.
NINTH: That the States of the Americas and the
world promptly approve the Universal Declaration of Indigenous Peoples’
Rights within the framework of the United Nations (UN), based on the
text approved by the sub-commission.
TENTH: That the States ratify and effectively
comply with International Labor Organization - ILO Convention 169 as it
concerns the rights of Indigenous and Tribal peoples in independent
countries.
ELEVENTH: That the States implement measures and
effective actions to end the systematic violations of the human rights
of Indigenous women, boys and girls, especially in situations where
there is armed conflict.
TWELFTH: That the States implement measures and
effective actions to avoid militarization and to demilitarize the lands
and territories of the Indigenous Peoples, as well as the application
of effective sanctions to punish illegal armed groups, paramilitary
units, and other entities that have been used by the States to attack
our communities.
THIRTEENTH: That the States guarantee and respect
the free transit of the Indigenous Persons and families of the
Indigenous lands and territories traversed by state and national
borders.
FOURTEENTH: That the States of the Americas and
their appropriate organisms implement concrete measures and actions to
resolve and to put an end to judicial and political processes of
oppression initiated against the Indigenous community and civil society
authorities and leaders.
FIFTEENTH: That the States of the Americas,
together with the Indigenous Peoples, formulate and implement fora and
instances for dialogue and interaction with Indigenous Peoples within a
framework of the Inter-american systems of governance.
SIXTEENTH: We call on the Indigenous Peoples and
organizations of Abya Yala to go forward in a spirit of union and
solidarity. In this context, we manifest our special solidarity with all
of the Indigenous Peoples that are fighting to defend and implement
their collective and historic rights, such as is the case of our
Zapatista brothers and sisters in Mexico and others whose traditional
lives, cultures and borders are under assault by external forces.
SEVENTEENTH: In order to strengthen and cultivate
brotherly relationships, cooperation and solidarity among us, we make a
special appeal for the creation of a Network of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Abya Yala for Indigenous Rights that will allow us to have permanent systematic and effective interaction and relationship on a continental level.
Issued from Mapuche Territories, Mar del Plata, Argentina, November 2, 2005
! Another America is Possible !
! Never again an America without the Indigenous Peoples !
**********************
Actions of Implementation
Continental Indigenous Summit
Mar de Plata, Argentina
November 2-3-4, 2005
ISSUE: GOVERNMENT
STATES
The United Nations and the Organization of American States -
OAS
ACTION: To implement
the initiatives of DECOLONIZATION, at the dimension of our continent Abya Yala,
obligated the procedures under international law indicated by resolutions of
the United Nations General Assembly 1514 and 1541, among others.
ISSUE: CIVIL SOCIETY
ACTION: To call for
the commitment of support from the social justice movements of the continent
for the global campaign of the Indigenous Peoples in demand of annulment of the
Papal Bull Inter Cetera of 1493 (Doctrine of Discovery)
ISSUE: CONTINENTAL
UNION of INDIGENOUS NATIONS
ACTION: Historical
Clarification
The Continental Indigenous Summit Mar de Plata 2005 is the
continuation of a process and millennial tradition of Continental Union of
Indigenous Nations, the Confederation of the Eagle and the Condor, which was
regenerated at Quito, Ecuador in 1990 at the First Continental Encounter of
Indigenous Peoples. The Second
Continental Encounter of Indigenous Nations, Pueblos and Organizations was hosted
in México at Temoaya, in 1993. These two
continental encounters served as the foundation for the First International
Indigenous Summit realized at Teotihuacan, México in 2000. The Second Continental Summit Abya Yala took
place in 2004, once again at Quito, Ecuador.
ACTION: Call to Cultural
Uprising
It is proclaimed from this Continental Indigenous Summit a
call for a movement of CULTURAL UPRISING by the Indigenous Peoples of all urban
areas of the continent, in accord with the principles of the Declaration of Mar
De Plata, 2005.
NAHUACALLI
Embassy of the Indigenous Peoples
C/o TONATIERRA
Tel: (602) 254-5230
P.O. Box 24009 Phoenix, AZ 85074
Email: chantlaca@tonatierra.org
www.tonatierra.org
********************
To the Secretariat of the Continental Indigenous Summit
Mar de Plata, Argentina November 2, 2005
The Legend of Truth and the Doctrines of Power
MAY IT BE KNOWN:
Amixpanzinco, Amixtlamatqueh,
Good greetings. We take this opportunity to deliver the attached
documentation regarding the agenda of responsibilities which are of
priority to the Indigenous Nation Pueblos gathered in Summit in Mar de
Plata, Argentina November 1-4, 2005.
We stood by the Sacred Fire in Quito, Ecuador in 1990 at the First Continental Encounter of Indigenous Pueblos and Nations
and recall the mutual commitments made under the principles embodied
under our ancient ethics of International Indigenous Law. These are the
traditional systems of jurisprudence, of tradition and liberation,
which emerge from the essential fundamentals of the sacred
inter-relationship of all life, and the obligations of we who are the
earth children of the Continental Confederation of the Eagle and the Condor.
We were at the Second Continental Encounter of Indigenous Nations and Pueblos in 1993 in Temoaya, Mexico and returned to Teotihuacan, Mexico in the year 2000 for the First Continental Summit of Indigenous Nations, Pueblos and Organizations convened by the Continental Council of Indigenous Nations and Organizations - CONIC. From July 21-25, 2004 we attended the II Continental Summit Abya Yala in
Quito, Ecuador where the accords of the previous First Continental
Summit of Teotihuacan 2000 were once again validated and reasserted
before the Sacred Fire of the altar of the Continent. These mutual
commitments are given expression by the Treaty of Teotihuacan, a mutual
commitment at the continental level among the Indigenous Nation
Pueblos with four aspects:
Spiritual Alliance
Political Solidarity
Cultural Understanding
Commercial and Economic Agreements of Exchange and Development - Pochtecayotl
And so we stand today once again among our relatives of the great
and humble family of Indigenous Nation Pueblos of our mother continent
Abya Yala in summit at Mar de Plata. May the Creator continue to guide
our footsteps, as we leave a trail for the future generations.
The previous assertion of the sequence of continental gatherings
from Quito 1990, Temoaya 1993, Teotihuacan 2000, back to Quito in 2004
and now Mar de Plata is not meant to be controversial: it is history.
It is our history, related not from within the manipulative context of the government states or the "compra-cumbres" crowd: it is our story, the legend of a continent emerging from centuries of genocide and colonization.
In fulfillment of these sacred obligations and the mutual
commitments made under the Treaty of Teotihuacan at the First
Continental Indigenous Summit of Indigenous Nations and Pueblos, we
now submit the following for discussion and action before the Continental Indigenous Summit Mar de Plata, Argentina.
Issue: Self Determination and Decolonization
A basic issue for the Indigenous Nation Pueblos of the continent
Abya Yala (the Americas) continues to be the discrepancy of the
eventual outcome of self determination for the Indigenous Peoples as
viewed from the perspective of the interests of the government states
and from within the cultural based cosmovision of the Nican Tlacah, the Indigenous Peoples themselves.
The elemental issues derive from utterly divergent presentations of
the relationship of human society to territory, individually and
collectively, as either government states or the reality of the Nican
Tlacah Indigenous Peoples and Nations. The jurisdiction of the states
is one of dominion and colonization, that of the Nican Tlacah is one of
inter-relationship and reciprocity. As evidenced by the Global Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA),
recently commissioned and completed by the United Nations, the reality
of the Indigenous Peoples relationship of territoriality is
increasingly recognized scientifically at a global level as being the
best hope for humanity to achieve homeostasis within the environment of
the world’s ecosystems.
Any political position on self determination,
whether by the government states or the Nican Tlacah will inevitably be
determined within the context of the sum of global ecological systems
as sets of parameters, including humanity itself as a subsystem among
all these relationships.
In terms of the continent Abya Yala, [the Americas] a centuries old Doctrine of Denial
takes its place among a regime of genocidal policies that is centuries
in the making and continues till today. Beginning with the Papal Bull Inter Cetera of 1493, continuing with the present militarily enforced Monroe Doctrine and now projected under the Free Trade Area of the Americas,
the Doctrine of Denial is insidious for presenting to the world’s
Peoples a denial of the very processes of history in terms of
recognition and self determination for the Indigenous Nation Pueblos of
our continent.
In view of the above, we now propose that:
A special session of the Decolonization Committee of the United Nations under section 73(e) of the United Nations Charter must be held in order to evaluate the above mentioned Doctrines of Power in light of the Spirit of Truth, and under the criteria of evaluation established by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 "Right of Self Determination" and GA 1541 which outlines the processes and criteria for identifying and rectifying the crime of colonization under the norms of international law of the member states of the United Nations system.
An finally, we propose that in the process of undertaking such an initiative, namely the implementation of the processes of DECOLONIZATION
for the Indigenous Nation Pueblos and territories of our continent
Abya Yala, without which any declaration of self determination would be
of only limited rhetorical value in the practical sense of
International Law, special attention be given to the establishment by
the United Nations of the regional organization of the Organization of American States
OAS itself, as yet another example of the usurpation and violation of
the Right of Self Determination in our hemisphere by establishing yet
another regime of political representation on our territories in our
continent without our participation or consent and in violation of GA
1514, as evidenced under GA 1541.
Respectfully submitted,
Tlahtokan Nahuacalli
Izkalotlan, Aztlan
NAHUACALLI
Embassy of the Indigenous Peoples
c/o TONATIERRA P.O. Box 24009 Phoenix, AZ 85074 Tel: (602) 254-5230
Email: chantlaca@aol.com
www.tonatierra.org
