Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 3, 1 April 2009 — Aloha ʻāina [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha ʻāina

By Nara Cardenas Cūmmunity Dutreach Specialist As we await the United States Supreme Court's decision in Hawai'i v. OHA, Docket No. 07-1372, it is a good time to give the case some intemational eontext, as indigenous peoples are raising the cry for the return of their lands all over the world. The United Nations cites a eommon

delinition of indigenous peoples as "the descendents of those who inhabited a country or a geographical region at the time when people of different cultures or ethnic origins arrived. . ,the new arrivals later became dominant through eonquest, oeeupahon, settlement or other means." Indigenous peoples generally share a deep caring and responsibility for the lands they eall home. Their unique relationship with the land is reciprocal: without their lands, indig-

enous ways of lile are lost; encoded in indigenous languages and traditional lifestyles are the keys to biodiversity and sustainability - the lile of the land. Indigenous peoples' spiritual and eultural identities are bound to their lands, and as stewards the people are responsible for protecting them. Some indigenous peoples (o) span interna-

tional boundaries - for example, the Saami people in northern Europe live across Sweden, Finland and Norway. Some distinct indigenous peoples living in the same eoun-

try have formed partnerships to advance their eommon concerns within that country, such as the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON). There are also broader alliances such as the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), an organization of Indigenous Peoples from North, Central, South

Ameiiea, the Caribbean and the Paeilie. whieh. among other things, works for the protection of indigenous rights, treaties, traditional cultures and sacred lands. Indigenous land concerns are often tied to development, pitting indigenous peoples against large corporations and governments. Disputes over lands become heated and some-

times violent - in some parts of

the world indigenous peoples continue to be subject to attack, imprisonment and forced eviction. At the eonclusion of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issue's Sixth Session in 2006, the Forumurged States (countries) to "take measures to halt land alienation in indigenous territories, through for example a moratorium on the sale and registration of land - including the granting of land and other concessions - in areas occupied by indigenous peoples." The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIP), adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2007, speeifieally addresses land rights in several articles, reaflirming indigenous peoples' rights to their lands, territories and resources. It calls on States to give legal recognition and protection to the lands while duly respecting indigenous traditions and land tenure systems. It also calls for prevention of and redress for dispossession of indigenous lands, territories or resources, prohibits forced relocation, and requires free, prior and informed consent with regard to military activity, toxic waste and development on indigenous land. The poliīieal landscape for indigenous peoples is slowly starting to change as countries begin to codify the

DRIP in their own laws. The Supreme Court of Belize cited the DRIP in a decision to recognize indigenous property rights in 2007. Bolivia passed the DRIP as national law in November 2007. In December 2008 the Supreme Court of Brazil upheld the rights of the live tribes of Raposa-Serra do Sol to their indigenous territories, whieh had been legally recognized by their president after a 30-year struggle in 2005. Progress, however, is slow. Four countries still refuse to adopt the DRIP: Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Even in places where laws support indigenous rights, enforcement of these new laws is a challenge. Underlying attitudes of discrimination linger, hindering social change. But indigenous peoples are changing too - adapting strategies as they continue to advance their interests. In upstate New York the Onandaga Nation went to federal court to ask for the title to their traditional lands, including the now heavily polluted Onandaga Lake. Their aim is "to bring about a healing between themselves [the Onandaga people] and all others who live in this region that has been the homeland of the Onandaga Nation since the dawn of time...this relationship goes far beyond federal and state legal concerns of ownership, possession, or other legal rights." They want land title not to possess the land at exclusion of others, but to ensure their right to fullill their responsibilities as stewards of the land. As the global crises of food security, hnaneial instability and climate change sweep across the world, the pressures on indigenous peoples' lands and resources promise to increase. International partnerships between indigenous peoples will strengthen their positions as individual groups continue to negotiate land rights with their respective governments, both within nahonal borders and at the international level. For at the heart of all these stmggles is aloha 'āina: the love for our land, the value we all share as indigenous peoples. ■

The United Nations Declaration on the Right.s oflndigenous Peoples may be found online at iwgia.org/sw248.asp.

Kau Inoa Contact us Registration opportunities: (808) 594-1912 T-shirt inquiries: 594-0245 Web site: kauinoa.org e-mail: hla@oha.org

Community Consultation Network: lt's time to use your voice

CCN meetings have been held via video eonference in Washington, D.C., and are soon to eome to groups in California and Washington. Share your vision for our future Hawaiian nation. To sign up or for more information eall Dawn Hironaka at 594-1759 or email hla@oha. org. 0r visit the web site at www.oha.org/ccn.

HO'OULU LĀHUI ALOHA ■ 10 RAISE A BEL0VED NAĪION KA WAI OLA I ĪHE LIVING WATER 0F OHA

lndigenous peoples generally share a deep caring and responsibility for the lands they eall home. Pictured at the 2007 Nahonal lndian Education Association pow wow in Honolulu are representatives of an indigenous group from northwest Oregon tribes honoring the association's then-president VerlieAnn Malina-Wright, a Native Hawaiian. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom