IPS-English COLOMBIA: Flu, War Hems in Nukak Indigenous Nomads Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 15:23:19 -0700 X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (borg.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61] X-Sender-Host-Address: 63.203.231.61 X-Sender-Host-Name: adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST ROMAIPS LA HD HE IP PR IN MD=20 COLOMBIA: Flu, War Hems in Nukak Indigenous Nomads Constanza Vieira BOGOT=C1, Sep 21 (IPS) - Decimated by a flu epidemic and driven from thei= r territory by the civil war, Colombia's Nukak indigenous people are teet= ering on the brink of extinction. =94It is absolutely essential for the Colombian government to find a way = to let the Nukak return to their own land, otherwise they will not surviv= e in the long term,=94 Stephen Corry, director of Survival International,= warned Wednesday. The London-based non-governmental organisation works t= o support the self-determination of tribal people. Fewer than 500 Nukak have survived, their numbers cut in half since their= first contact with outsiders in 1988. They live in the Amazon jungle, an= d are considered one of the world's most mobile nomadic people. Their int= roduction to Western culture was less an encounter than a head-on collisi= on. =20 Until fairly recently they roamed throughout an expansive territory betwe= en the Guaviare and In=EDrida rivers in the country's eastern region, whe= re the State set up a 900,000-hectare reserve for their protection.=20 But the Guaviare region has been taken over by a wave of settlers, most o= f them seeking land to grow coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine. Colo= mbia is now the world's largest producer of cocaine, and coca crops in th= e country are regularly sprayed with the herbicide glyphosate in U.S.-bac= ked eradication initiatives. The cocaine industry also fuels the long-running Colombian war, in which = leftist guerrillas, who took up arms in 1964, battle the army and the ult= ra-rightwing paramilitary groups, led by drug-lord commanders, that emerg= ed in the 1980s. Aerial spraying in Guaviare, like other places in the country, has pushed= the cocaleros, or coca growers, to find new land -- some of which is in = the Nukak reserve. No longer able to feel safe in their traditional terri= tory, close to half of the nomads have moved to towns in the area. But contact with mainstream society has both entranced and, literally, si= ckened, the Nukak people.=20 They are fascinated by tools, such as the machete, fish hooks and flashli= ghts. As far as it can be said that Western culture =94discovered=94 the = Nukak, they in turn have discovered such marvels as a device that plays m= usic. They have discovered compact disks.=20 But this contact is also deadly. A simple flu is a dangerous killer when = brought in by a colonist, blindsiding their immune systems and traditiona= l medicine with a previously unknown contagion. In fact, disease is the m= ain cause of the reduction of the Nukak population.=20 A new flu epidemic is exactly what Survival International activist David = Hill found on a recent visit to the Nukak. He sounded the alarm upon his = return to London: about a hundred Nukak are infected, and three had to be= hospitalised between Sep. 1 and 4. The first group left their jungle home three years ago, escaping the figh= ting between two rival paramilitary factions. The second wave set out two= years ago, because of another confrontation between the same militias an= d the country's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Co= lombia (FARC). A third group held out until a year ago, when they fled in the wake of FA= RC death threats against Monikaro, a member of the community. The exodus = began in November; some 70 Nukak arrived at San Jos=E9 del Guaviare, capi= tal of the southeastern province of Guaviare, and close to 90 struck out = for Tomachip=E1n, a jungle village on the In=EDrida River, west of their = reserve.=20 But other displaced Nukak were already settled in Tomachip=E1n. =94There = wasn't enough food for everyone in the jungle, so they headed to San Jos=E9= in March,=94 H=E9ctor Mondrag=F3n, an economist who is an advisor to the= National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia (ONIC), told IPS. Sixteen y= ears ago he became one of the first non-natives to learn the Nukak langua= ge.=20 When the news of the displacement reached Bogot=E1, the government took a= ction. Following several weeks of deliberations, it moved 215 indigenous = people to Puerto Ospina, between San Jos=E9 and the Nukak reserve, althou= gh still quite far from the region the largest group of displaced people = once called home. Puerto Ospina, a relatively small forest area surrounded by farms, part o= f which are owned by long-time settlers who raise livestock and cacao, is= part of the Campesino Reserve Area of Guaviare. The system, implemented = by past governments to slow agricultural encroachment, relies on farmers = themselves to ensure that their properties remain the last line of develo= pment before the jungle.=20 The government settled the Nukak in two camps here. In one, they placed t= he recent arrivals and those who previously had been displaced to San Jos= =E9. All others went to the second.=20 =94Health experts had warned that settling 200 Nukak in one place was lik= ely to lead to outbreaks of disease,=94 according to Survival Internation= al, since traditionally the Nukak live in small, nomadic groups made up o= f a couple, their children and unmarried siblings.=20 The epidemic hit the =94least traditional=94 group the hardest -- the one= that agreed in principle to give up their nomadic way of life and settle= in the encampment, said Mondrag=F3n.=20 =94The criticism is that they have not used a good resettlement model. Th= e government took the people and piled them all into one place. They are = overcrowded,=94 added the indigenous expert. However, on Thursday it was reported that the Nukak had left the two camp= s, and just 15 people stayed behind. Armed with an intimate knowledge of the jungle, the Nukak know when and w= here different fruit ripens and when and where there is good fishing and = hunting; this all entails moving around vast areas.=20 However, their new camp is just two percent of the size of their own terr= itory.=20 Thus, =94The Nukak's wild food is in short supply at their new camp; the = forest there does not contain any of the trees necessary to make the blow= pipes and poison that they need to hunt meat, and there are few fish in t= he rivers,=94 explained Survival International. =94Their own territory co= ntains abundant natural resources.=94 A diet change is no small matter in the jungle, as food is the secret wea= pon of the native peoples against tropical diseases, such as malaria, whi= ch has also devastated the Nukak.=20 =94The worst problem is that there's a move on make the Nukak seem as tho= ugh they would rather have a crate of Coca-Cola instead of their 900,000 = hectares. It's exactly what the Spanish did, when they traded mirrors for= the indigenous gold,=94 warned Mondrag=F3n.=20 But what can be done? =94The bottom line is that a humanitarian agreement= needs to be signed by all parties in the conflict, including the cocaler= os and the government=E0in which they pledge to respect the Nukak and the= ir territory,=94 he said. It is important to =94let them live peacefully where they have always liv= ed, and to be aware that, for them, the forest holds a trove of riches.=94 =94Second, the Nukak's wishes must be addressed. They should be given cer= tain objects of ours that they now need, and, above all, they should rece= ive health care,=94 he added.=20 Starting this week, and continuing to the end of the month, an ONIC-spons= ored International Verification Mission will be touring various areas in = Colombia to evaluate the serious humanitarian and human rights plight of = indigenous peoples in this Andean country. The mission is made up of envoys from Europe, the United States and Latin= America, including indigenous legislators, advisors to U.S. Congresspers= ons, delegates from non-governmental organisations, diplomats and observe= rs from United Nations agencies in Colombia.=20 On Wednesday, the delegation began reviewing information that had led the= Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. speci= al rapporteur for indigenous peoples to make specific recommendations to = Colombia in 2004 and 2005. The group had planned to visit just four regions to observe the struggles= of other native peoples. However, in light of the =94emergency situation= ,=94 it planned to send a mission to the Nukak camps on Sep. 27 -- plans = that are now cast into doubt by the report that almost all of the indigen= ous people had left the camps.=20 ***** + COLOMBIA: Kankuamo Indians Have Paid High Price in Blood (http://www.ip= snews.net/print.asp?idnews=3D34292) + COLOMBIA: Massive Coca Spraying Mostly Hurts Legal Farmers - August 200= 6 (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D34474) + COLOMBIA: Indigenous Women Help Preserve Biodiversity - July 2005 (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D29342) + RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Indigenous People Flee Homes After FARC Killings - Apr= il 2006 (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D32817) + Survival International (http://www.survival-international.org/news.php?= id=3D1876) + National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia - in Spanish (http://www.o= nic.org.co/nuevo/index.shtml) (END/IPS/LA PR HE IP HD MD IN/TRASP-SS-SW/CV/DCL/06) =20 =3D 09212305 ORP016 NNNN