Continental Indigenous Summit Mar de Plata, Argentina (2005)

History and context:

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

An 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

ISUUE:          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 SOCETY

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 Indigenous Peoples
C/o TONATIERRA
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 Indigenous Peoples
c/o TONATIERRA  P.O.  Box 24009     Phoenix, AZ  85074   Tel: (602) 254-5230 
Email: tonal@tonatierra.org
www.tonatierra.org