Indigenous People/Indigenous Knowledge

Launched to commemorate International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, this report attempts to document, in indigenous people's own words, their views and concerns about their health and wellbeing and that of their communities. The study includeds the views of indigenous people living in Namibia, Guatemala, Burma, Laos and Cambodia.

Seeing with the Mbya Guarani is an ambitious collaboration between two small Mbya Guarani Indian communities in the rainforests of Argentina, filmmakers from UK based Native Voice Films and the University of La Plata in Buenos Aires. The project not only empowers the Mbya Guarani to both make a series of films about themselves and their changing environment but also represent themselves on the Internet. The intention is to give a voice to an enigmatic and passionate people in their struggle to preserve their culture and land. It has been in development for over two years and focuses on the rights of indigenous peoples and the preservation of their culture, and how innovation and new technologies, such as the Internet, can allow those in the poverty cycle to make themselves heard on a global scale. At the heart of the project is the intention to give a threatened culture a voice and access to a media that has for too long left them marginalized. All those involved have been working for free. The first websites written by the Mbya, in collaboration with OneWorld International, are already on the net. The short films made by the Mbya are to be on the net in January 2003. t is the primary intention that the film be screened in cultural centres and to other Indian communities across South America in the hope that it will inspire other indigenous groups and filmmakers to use visual media, cinema and the Internet as a platform for expressing their culture and bringing attention to their concerns.

The Indigenous Research Protection Act is offered to assist tribal leaders and attorneys when a Tribe desires to protect itself and its people by taking control of research conducted on its Reservation. It may be copied, adapted, and adopted freely. The appendices can also serve as stand-alone documents in the case of tribes that have not adopted legislation like this Act. Following are some points that we think are important to discuss about the Act as written.

This book explores the culture, history and environment of the Sahel through the memories and recollections of its people. The region is characterised by low rainfall and poor soils, yet some 60 million people mange to make a living from the land. At the Desert’s Edge draws on interviews conducted with hundreds of men and women from eight Sahelian countries, who have been living through a time of unprecedented social and environmental change. A fascinating blend of stories, anecdotes, information and opinion, it is also a moving testimony to the resilience and resourcefulness of the Sahelian people.

Each collection in the Voices of the Mountain series contains a fascinating blend of anecdote, information, history, culture, knowledge, opinion and experience with all the contradictions this may imply. These are the individual voices of the ordinary people on whose actions development depends. And they are at the heart of one of the key challenges of the next decade - how to meet national development needs without further marginalising mountain peoples. As the pace of development accelerates in mountain regions, so the social and physical environment is changing. Yet the demand for mountain riches - timber, minerals, water, tourism facilities - is more often driven by urban, lowland populations and industry than by highland communities. Mountain people are the custodians of diverse sometimes unique environments, essential to the survival of the global ecosystem. Further erosion of their ability to care for those assets will be the worlds loss, not just theirs. Panos has been working with community-based environmental, cultural and development organisations in select highland areas, training local people to record interviews on a range of issues, in order to communicate their personal experiences and understanding of the challenges ahead. The result is a wealth of material - vivid, challenging, full of human detail and variety. Voices From the Mountain Series: Oral Testimonies from Cerro de Pasco, Peru. Oral Testimonies from southwest and northeast China. Oral Testimonies from Wollo, Ethiopia. Oral Testimonies from the Lesotho Highlands. Oral Testimonies from Mount Elgon, Kenya . Oral Testimonies from the Sudety mountains, Poland. Oral Testimonies from the Himalaya (India and Nepal); the Karakorum (Pakistan); and the Sierra Norte (Mexico). Collections are published in A5-sized booklets, maps, photos, index, glossary.

The Panos Oral Testimony Programme has launched a new website which presents a collection of interviews gathered by and from communities in selected mountain and highland regions. To date more than 250 interviews have been recorded in local languages, and transcribed, translated and summarised. The testimonies come from communities in the western Himalaya of India, the Cerro de Pasco region in the Peruvian Andes, Mount Elgon in Kenya, the highlands of Ethiopia and Lesotho, Nepal, and from southwest and northeast China. Each collection is only a snapshot, and does not claim to be representative of entire mountain groups. But the range of individual voices does provide a vivid picture of highland societies, their changing physical and social environments, and their concerns for the future. The main content of the site consist of text summaries of each interview. Each summary presents a profile of the interviewee, an overview of the interview, and a detailed page by page description of the topics covered. The site also provides information about the locations where the testimonies were collected, and the partner organisations involved in the project; and the themes and concerns (with quotes) which emerge in each collection. The testimony summaries are accessible by region and by theme. It is easy, for example, to look through all the summaries in the Peru collection; or all the summaries in all collections relating to the theme of 'migration'; or all the summaries that relate both to Peru and the theme of migration. Sample themes include: changes in the environment; relations with lowland people; gender; the impact of resource extraction; traditional customs.

INFODOC online is a Documentation Center for grassroots development leaders. Documents are strictly selected among hundreds to facilitate access to action orientated information. It consists of a data Bank of development tools that includes dossiers, methodological and pedagogical tools, management methods, case studies, addresses and references. Users pay an online subscription fee and receive a personal access code that allows them to read and print documents. The documentation centre cover most areas of development work, including Culture, Education, Indigenous Knowledge, Participation, Social Development

Over the years Honey Bee has documented innovations, traditional practices & collected outstanding examples of contemporary knowledge to form a 10,000 strong database part of which it has been converted as multimedia database.

The Newsletter of Headlines Theatre, with news and updates about their work with communities struggling with social issues, including First Nations groups, unions, women's centres, alcohol and drug programs, and school districts.

NativeWeb is an international, non-profit, educational organization dedicated to using telecommunications including computer technology and the Internet to disseminate information from and about indigenous nations, peoples, and organizations around the world. NativeWeb offers many services, including website hosting, free email, e-commerce for Native products; and operates an extensive resources database.