The Indigenous Peoples of the World Must Survive

By Adrian Eisenhower

What began for me in Johannesburg, South Africa has drawn to an end. A circuitous route north has brought me to Nairobi, Kenya where I await my departure to the New York. Upon our tapestry of experience, several patterns appeared, some of which I will address below.

Our trip has shed light for me on certain aspects of the indigenous condition in Southern, Central and East Africa. This light has been rather anecdotal, it has been strange and dazzling. At midday, it carried force and purpose and was used by farmers to dry slices of the tuber, Devil’s Claw; toward the late afternoon, it raked past the rolling patterns on the fabric adorning Pygmy woman; it was held captive and turned a hue of deep crimson by the ochre powder covering the bodies of Himba ladies; it was milk in the night sky above a lick of fire and hymn of hyenas. It was always a privilege to behold.

Many of the Indigenous leaders with whom we met spoke toward the significance of Education and Livelihood. Inextricably linked are issues of land rights, sovereignty and sense of purpose. Stemming from present-day and historical injustices are also a range of emotional responses, many of them thinly veiled under face of congeniality. At one point we had the fortune of meeting with Tienie Abemie Mushavanga, a young San Bushman in the town of Omega One in Namibia. Although good humored and willing to field many of our questions, he was uneasy to do so in front of the video camera. ‘I may get angry,’ he said with an uncomfortable smile and he did not want this emotion caught on camera. When pressed as to why he might get angry, he said it was because he had not eaten meat in months and that he was feeling weak. His people have had a long-standing history of hunting and gathering. This type of livelihood is now virtually impossible. Today, animal husbandry and farming are carried out on their settlements and the slaughter of livestock is reserved for only special occasions.

Although the significance of education and entrepreneurship is understood the practical steps to advance these topics have proven difficult. Nearly universally separated from their land and their original means of subsistence, the San, Himba and Pygmy communities that we visited have difficulty generating income let alone getting ahead. This precludes building schools and investing in long-term and profit gaining programs. In fact, meeting basic needs such as access to food and water has not been easy.

In the Caprivi of Namibia, not far from Omega One, we did encounter a rather exciting pilot project. A community of San are permitted to live in the Bwabwata National Park and members of the San community are employed to monitor the patterns of wildlife and the environment. The San Bushmen have an immense database of knowledge concerning their local ecosystems and process a fluctuating stream of information just as someone on Wall Street might track the ebb and flow of stocks. As they are incredible trackers, they have also become citizen patrolmen and work against the poaching of elephant and other wildlife within their park. At the Bwabwata National Park, the knowledge of the San people is being recognized and compensated for.

This was indicative of the strides being made to preserve and advance the condition of indigenous peoples. Now that I am returning to New York I hope to also explore how the conditions of the indigenous with whom we met compares with the objectives set forth by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by General Assembly Resolution 61/295 on 13 September 2007. That there is a real, living document signed by the member states of the United Nations presents some potential oversight for crimes against indigenous peoples.

As I return to a New York that is also pushing technological frontiers and advancing in remarkable ways, I have to wonder what is being lost. I personally wonder if the benefits outweigh the detriments. I am not qualified to present answers. I can, however, offer testimony to what I saw. It seemed to me fragile and with fleeting moments of beauty and heartache.