11-4 Militarization and Indigenous Peoples: Part 2 Africa, Asia, and the Middle East

The News That's Not Fit to Print (and what we intend to do about it)

Unreported News of 1987 Each day, hundreds of critical events shape the future of indigenous peoples around the world, few of which are reported in the Western press. For example, how many articles have appeared in the last year on the tribal and ethnic roots of ongoing wars? The last two issues of CSQ have been devoted to this topic because militarization - and such spinoffs as arms purchases,…

The Armies of Uganda and Human Rights - A Personal Observation

Few Americans know much about Uganda. Most perceive Uganda's history as having ended with Idi Amin. Almost all find it hard to believe that under his successor, A. Milton Obote, Uganda produced more refugees, displaced persons and civilian deaths than under Amin. But it is true. Obote's instrument of havoc was the Ugandan National Liberation Army (UNLA), the presumed defender of Uganda's borders…

Sarawak - Orang Ulu Fight Logging

In recent weeks, newspaper reports have highlighted the protests of the orang ulu native peoples against logging companies in various areas in Sarawak, Malaysia. The orang ulu peoples belonging to the Penan, Kenyah, Kayan and Kelabit communities in the Baram and the Limbang have been staging blockades at various sites on logging roads to prevent logging companies from entering their lands. Land…

Resettlement and Villagization - Tools of Militarization in SW Ethiopia

During the dark days of the 1984-1985 famine, Ethiopia made plans to relocate virtually its entire rural population - somewhere between 33 and 37 million people - by the 1990s. As part of the Dergue's 10-year development plan, these relocations are labeled as two distinct but related programs: resettlement and villagization. Together they constitute one of the largest mass movements of people…

Nuclear Weapon States and Fourth World Nations

Nuclear Geography All nuclear weapon states explode their bombs on unconsenting nations. No nuclear state tests bombs on its own lands and peoples. Americans don't set off nuclear weapons in Santa Barbara or Washington; they bomb the Western Shoshone Nation. Russians bomb Kazakhstan, Han Chinese bomb Uygur territory, French bomb Tuamotu Island peoples. Great Britain has bombed both Australian…

Mau Mau - The Politics of Revitalization and the Revitalization of Politics

I speak the truth and vow before God And before this movement. The movement of Unity, The Unity which is put to the test The Unity that is mocked with the name of "Mau Mau. That I shall go forward to fight for the land, The lands of Kirinyaga that we cultivated. The lands which were taken by the Europeans And if I fail to do this May this oath kill me, May this seven kill me, May this meat kill…

How the West (Papua) Was Won

Cysticercosis and Indonesian Counter-Insurgency in a Continuing Fourth World War A devastatingly pathological infection known as cysticercosis, which has been running rampant in West Papua (or over 15 years, has now entered Papua New Guinea. In humans, cysticercosis comes from the pig tapeworm. Although Melanesians have kept pigs for thousands of years, the disease has never previously been known…

Environmental Restoration in SW Colombia

At 7:30 on a Friday evening in the overcrowded offices of the Colombian Indian organization, CRIC (Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauca), at least 50 people are still hard at work. They are writing journal articles, preparing educational materials and reports and performing other tasks related to the many activities CRIC coordinates from its base in the city of Popayan in southwestern Colombia. "…

Cultural Survival Projects - 1987

Since 1980, over 50 percent of Cultural Survival's limited funds have been designated to support field projects among Indians and similarly disadvantaged ethnic groups in the Third World. New projects are added to Cultural Survival's program each year, and others finish their funding cycle. Two or more projects are described in each issue of the Quarterly. The last issue of each year also…

Burma - Frontier Minorities in Arms

The nation known as the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma has a population of about 40 million of which approximately 15 million are not ethnically Burmese. This includes Indian and Chinese urban minorities, and the many ethnic groups of the frontier areas. Currently, most ethnic groups of the frontier areas have formed insurgent armies in rebellion against the Burmese government. These…

Attacks Continue on Indigenous People in the Chittagong Hill Tracts

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), an area of 5,093 mi², is an official administrative district in Bangladesh, bordering Burma and northeastern India. It is inhabited by several indigenous groups such as the Marma, Baums and Chakmas, numbering approximately 600,000. They are culturally, racially, ethnically and linguistically distinct from the majority Bengali population of Bangladesh. They form 0…

Armed Struggle and Indigenous People

The two CSQ issues on militarization and indigenous peoples are intended to acquaint our readers with the important role militarization plays in the lives of even the most isolated tribal groups. The articles contained in these issues focus mostly on the consequences of shooting wars and on the increasing number of groups involved in them, directly or indirectly. This increasingly militarized…

Anthropology and Apartheid - The Rise of Military Ethnology in South Africa

The use of anthropologists by military forces did not begin in Vietnam or with Project Camelot in Latin America. Already in 1941 the American Anthropological Association had unanimously passed a resolution calling on all members to place themselves and their specialized skills and knowledge "at the disposal of the country for the successful prosecution of the war." Many enthusiastically did,…