Save the primitive people

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Save the primitive people
logo
legal form registered association
founding 1991
Seat Ludwigslust , Germany
main emphasis Human rights organization
Chair Bernd Wegener
Website www.naturvoelker.de

Rettet die Naturvölker eV (formerly "Friends of the Primitive Peoples") is a non-profit association based in Ludwigslust , which supports the last so-called "primitive peoples" , their cultures, values ​​and ways of life as part of human rights work.

Are supported hunter-gatherer cultures , including in particular the "Altvölker" Earth. These include the so-called pygmy and Bushman peoples of Africa, Negritos of South and Southeast Asia, as well as Vedo-Austronesian peoples of South Asia, Australia and Oceania (various tribes of the Veddas and Aborigines ). Furthermore, Papuans , Melanesians and Indians living in tropical natural forest areas who live in traditional horticulture are supported.

The association was founded in 1991. The occasion was the drama of the indigenous Aeta from the Philippines as a result of the devastating volcanic eruption of the Pinatubo , but also the negative impression that other German human rights organizations made on the founding members: They criticized the insufficient focus on the fate of the most sensitive of all cultures, the hunter and Collector peoples.

The association has partners at home and abroad, a worldwide network of human rights organizations that are committed to the protection of indigenous peoples living close to nature . In close cooperation and lively exchange with various institutions and human rights organizations in Germany, Switzerland, Tanzania, Paraguay, Malaysia, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, West Papua and Australia, RdN supports these peoples in their struggle for self-determination and recognition as sovereign nations. RdN is a sustaining member of the West Papua Network.

Club goal and fields of activity

Map of the different areas of the Aislados in Paraguay to which the association devotes its focus

The living spaces and the independence of the last remaining local communities of traditional ecosystem people are threatened to the utmost, especially by the effects of the rapidly expanding western civilization with a large number of habitat-destroying projects - such as B. mining, land development through roads, clearing for livestock and plantations - and the mediation of a one-sided cultural change that leads to poverty and marginalization .

In the opinion of the association - which consciously uses the term “primitive peoples” , which is controversial in ethnology - these people, who have lived and want to live in remote regions of the world for many millennia in harmony and harmony with the surrounding nature, have only received a lot little and far too little help in their mostly desperate attempts to continue their traditional way of life. The association works for these last indigenous peoples on earth and for their natural habitats. The primary goals are the creation of suitable protected areas or autonomous territories (example Emberá-Wounaan (territory) in Panama) for the last indigenous peoples and their homeland, but also the preservation and revival of traditional cultures . FdN sees itself as a mouthpiece for indigenous peoples who demand the right to their own traditions and want to decide for themselves about their future (Free, Prior and Informed Consent) and oppose any form of externally dominated “ development ideology ”.

The traditional subsistence economy is threatened by the exploitation of indigenous land. The diversity and vitality of indigenous cultures can only be preserved by preserving their livelihoods. The members of the FdN see this as an obligation of the citizens in the industrialized countries towards the indigenous peoples, as these themselves usually hardly have sufficient influence in the global balance of power. This takes place, among other things, by supporting land acquisition and securing as well as protective measures as a result of area surveillance (monitoring), supporting local groups for the renewal of traditional knowledge , the revitalization of cultural goods ; but also the support of training projects that help indigenous people to immediately document and report environmental damage, illegal logging , land grabbing, etc. with the help of modern technology.

For years, the focus has been on the nomadic isolated groups (Aislados) from the Ayoreo people in the border area of Paraguay and Bolivia, who still lead their lives independently of the destructive, growth- oriented civilization . In particular on the project “Urgent! Habitat preservation for the last Ayoréode forest Indians, Paraguay "should be pointed out, which is divided into two areas:

  • Land claim of the local group of Ayoreo Totobiegosode (indigenous isolated group in first contact; these include those in 2004 and 1998, in addition to those who were violently contacted in 1986 and 1979)
  • Protective measures for unidentified Ayoreo Aislados groups (outside the Totobiegosode land claim )

This enables the local groups or sub-local groups to live on their own land, which legally belongs to them (or in the case of the unidentified Ayoreo Aislados groups, the Ayoreo organization UNAP). This means that these local groups or sub-local groups have an economic subsistence perspective within the framework of their own culture as wild hunters with simple horticulture.

The fields of activity include political engagement, securing “tribal” land, cultural support and public relations. Members of the organization travel to Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, Australia and Oceania in order to obtain information locally, to consolidate their cooperation, but also to start new activities.

Current projects and campaigns (as of 2019)

  • "Ayoreo-Aislados Protective Measures" - Iniciativa Amotocodie projects (land acquisition, monitoring, public relations - also to support the Ayoreo organization UNAP)
  • “Landerwerb Ayoreo-Totobiegosode” - land reclamation (and protective measure for their relatives living outside the colonizing society) of 5,500 km² of their 19,000 km² stolen homeland
  • "Reactivation of the territorial memory of the Nivaĉle and Manjui" - basis of indigenous land reclamation (Paraguay)
  • "Construction of a Caiou and a canoe (seaworthy)" - traditional revival of the Callinago Tribe ( St. Vincent and the Grenadines )
  • "Continuation of land rights" - Hadzabe (Tanzania)
  • "Dipuntian - Refuge for Displaced Agta" - Negritohilfe (Philippines)
  • "Help in the fight against habitat destruction: Mapping project and workshops 'modern media'" - Support Senoi, Negritos and Protomalayen (Malaysia): Projects for self-help
  • Supporting the indigenous people of West Papua in their fight against the Indonesian occupation forces

Publications

The information booklet “Naturvölker” published by RdN, which appears quarterly, is the only periodical in German-speaking countries that is particularly devoted to ethnic groups living close to nature . The magazine reports on the current situation of indigenous peoples primarily in the tropics, documents economic policy developments and explains the background. The contributions are characterized by extensive research, high information density with a far-reaching background content. In addition to the booklet "Primitive People", members of the association have published the following:

Books

  • Bernd Wegener: Indians in the USA between the end of the Indian wars and today, 267 p., Numerous. farb./sw Abb./Karten, Ludwigslust 2018
  • Bernd Wegener: Gran Chaco - The wilderness dies, In the footsteps of the last forest Indians, 351 pages, numerous. farb./sw Abb./Karten, Ludwigslust 2018
  • Bernd Wegener and Steffen Keulig: BLACK ASIA - indigenous people between cultural destruction and genocide. ISBN 978-3-8255-0684-1 , 146 pp., Numer. Fig./Karten, Centaurus Verlag & Media UG
  • Steffen Keulig: NIGHTMARE CIVILIZATION - BACK TO THE STONE AGE. A journey to the forest people of New Guinea, ISBN 3-934121-04-7 , 253 pp., Numerous. Fig / cards;

Movies

  • "Gran Chaco - The wilderness is dying" by Bernd Wegener about the Ayoreode and their fate. The film calls for active support for the last independently living forest Indians of the Gran Chaco (approx. 40 min).
  • "Hadzabe - No Need for Development" by Hartmut Heller and Steffen Keulig about the last hunter people and their struggle for survival in Tanzania. (43 min.)
  • "Land of Thorns - Struggling for survival in Karamoja" (English) - by Steffen Keulig, Marketfilm; Produced by ACTED and FdN (49 min.)
  • "West Papua - The secret war in Asia" (English - 16 minutes) - by Steffen Keulig, Marketfilm
  • "Conversation Refugees - Expelled from Paradise" (English) - by Steffen Keulig, Marketfilm. The film deals with the displacement of the indigenous people through nature conservation (24 min).
  • Kalinago Worrier Canoe - A dream becomes reality - by Bernd Wegener (7½ min.), Realized with the support of Steffen Keulig, Marketfilm; The film documents the construction of the first traditional large canoe in over 300 years on the Lesser Antilles island of St. Vincent.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rettet die Naturvölker eV - About us. Retrieved October 11, 2019 (German).