Steve and Megan Dragswolf - Our life

Indigenous Is

11-09-09

Indigenous is not a skin color,
Indigenous is not my nose,
Indigenous is not my eye color,
Indigenous is not my lips,
Indigenous is not romanticizing ancient teachings,
To appropriate,
To disseminate,
To cut to pieces,
And abbreviate in a research document,
Indigenous is removing layers of shame from your ancestors trail,
Indigenous is stepping up to the plate,
Healing and creating a new way for future generations,
Indigenous is standing tall,
Indigenous is standing beautifully,
Indigenous is an honor.

 

via ojibwaymigisibineshii.blogspot.com

Brazilian Indians find plane survivors

Indigenous Indians located nine survivors of a plane that crashed in a river in the Amazon rain forest with 11 people onboard, according to the Brazilian air force.

The nine passengers were in good health, the air force said Friday.

Of the two people missing -- a passenger and a crew member -- one is believed to be dead. The air force did not provide further details.

The plane was on its way to deliver health supplies Thursday when it crashed. It had taken off from Cruzeiro do Sul in Acre state and was headed to Tabatinga in Amazonas state.

The plane landed in the Itui River between the tribe settlements of Aurelio and Rio Novo. Indians of the Matis tribe, who live in Aurelio, initially located the plane and alerted the Brazilian air force, which sent search planes to the site.

Before the passengers were located, at least eight aircraft had been dispatched for the search operation, the air force said.

Members of the Matis, an indigenous tribe of about 300, live deep in the rain forest.

Other area tribes were helping in a search for the two missing passengers along the shores of the Itui.

via cnn.com

 

findout:

Guatemala indians

Highland Maya of Guatemala have one of the most colorfully dresses in the Americas. While traditional native dress has disappeared in many parts of the world, Guatemala remains a place where a high percentage of the indigenous people still proudly wear their traditional dress.

Moreover, in Guatemala, Maya dresses is village-specific or language-group related. Thus, with dozens of Indian towns and villages, and 21 different Mayan ethnolinguistic groups represented, the variety of indigenous costume is truly dazzling.

Aborigenes more likely to be jailed in Australia

Aborigines are 13 times more likely to be jailed than other Australians and the government must step up efforts to tackle drug and alcohol abuse fuelling crime in indigenous communities, researchers said today.

Almost a quarter of all prisoners are indigenous even though Aborigines make up just 2 percent of the population, according to a report by the Australian National Council on Drugs.

“The figures are appalling,” Gino Vumbaca, the council’s executive director, said in a telephone interview. “Every family in indigenous communities knows somebody who has been to prison or is in prison.”

Aborigines remain the poorest and most disadvantaged group in Australian society, more than 200 years after Europeans settled the nation in 1788. Their life expectancy is 17 years less than other Australians and they are three times more likely to experience coronary problems, according to the Australian Medical Association.