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On the eve of the proclamation of the International Decade of Indigenous Peoples, the "First Conference on Cooperation and Indigenous Peoples" was held in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Euzkadi (Basque Country, of Spain), on 21-24 November 1994. The conference was organized by Mugarik Gabe, a non-governmental organization associated with the Euzkadi Government, which has the function of building cooperation with development projects. The conference had the collaboration of the Gasteiz town council and the University of the Basque Country.
The participants of the conference were: Atencio Lopez Martínez, Asociación Napguana (Pueblo Kuna, Panamá); Marco Anival Avirama, Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauca-CRIC (Colombia); María del Rosario Toj, Comité de Unidad Campesina-CUC (Guatemala); Aucan Huilcaman Paillama, Consejo de Todas las Tierras (Pueblo Mapuche, Chile); and Roman Shajian Sakejat, Coordinadora de Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazonica-COICA (Pueblos Aguaruna-Huambisa, Perú). Participating on behalf of the Spanish state were Carlos Caravantes García, Doctor of Social Anthropology and Luisa Abad, anthropologist.
The main topics of the conference were: Cooperation and Development, Historical-Cultural Recuperation, The Situation Today and Prospects for the Future, and Cooperation and Indigenous Peoples. The conference made it possible for various indigenous representatives from the Americas to meet and present to the global community their views on cooperative projects carried out in recent years by various national and international agencies, including private and public institutions, NGOs, and their own communities.
The conference was concerned not only with bringing the global community closer to the actual situation of indigenous peoples and the processes that involve them, but was also seeking to create a forum where people from both sides of the Atlantic could deepen their mutual understanding, and most importantly, revise and readapt the basic tenets that shape the world of cooperation for development.
The conference was intended specifically to permit indigenous peoples to speak their minds regarding development policies that tend to be imposed upon them by others. There has been an unfortunate lack of opportunity for such comments (both positive and negative) to be heard concerning projects that are being carried out by governmental and non-governmental organizations, often in collaboration with "development projects," and implemented within the countries where the indigenous peoples are located.
The final declaration of the indigenous representatives established nine recommendations and standards directed toward indigenous peoples' support groups. The representatives stated:
1. That the type of encounters produced in the processes of exchange between development NGOs and indigenous peoples should be demonstrations of brotherhood, sisterhood and solidarity.
2. That there cannot be true cooperation with indigenous peoples unless their requests are understood carefully, especially concerning issues raised by indigenous grass-root groups or communities, so that preference will be given to projects that come from the communities themselves.
3. That control and administration must be carried out by both sides (indigenous peoples and their supporters), based on respect and equality.
4. That in the process of assistance, not only must economic assistance be considered, but political and moral solidarity that contributes to the self-determination of indigenous peoples in the future must be stressed as well.
5. That every development project must be constructed as an integrated unit, in such a way that it is formulated for the long-term rather than for the short-term and that economic help is not used to dominate indigenous communities.
6. That importance should not be placed on the exportation of experiences but rather the sharing of them.
7. That the results of all research concerning indigenous peoples must be delivered back to them.
8. That indigenous peoples be consulted before photographic images of the people are used or made available to the public.
9. That the intellectual property of indigenous peoples in art, traditional medicine, resource management, conservation of biodiversity, etc. must be respected so that economic justice is done for the indigenous peoples who have always contributed to the development of humanity.
For the first time, as the participants pointed out, an indepth analysis of the conduct of the "supporting world" was put up for review. In the forum, numerous criticisms were heard of specific actions, that, under the pretense of "unselfish cooperation" and "solidarity," hide new forms of colonization and attacks on indigenous peoples, their cultures and their own models of development. Indigenous peoples call for the suspension of projects that, through governmental or non-governmental channels, introduce foreign models into the indigenous communities, that benefit social classes, as opposed to indigenous interests, and that cause assimilation of indigenous peoples into dominant societies and cultures. As an alternative, local initiatives developed by indigenous peoples themselves must be encouraged, with priority given to initiatives that guarantee that control over the land and its resources will reside in indigenous hands.
In summary, the indigenous representatives did not deny the necessity of international help, but asserted that it must pass through the filter of the indigenous community itself. Thus, they called for greater respect on the part of non-indigenous and non-governmental organizations attempting to assist indigenous recovery and self-development.
Fourth World Bulletin • Fall 1994/Winter 1995
Copyright © 1996 by the Fourth World Center
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