Amazonian Chief Ninawa Huni Kui 'Sacred Sites Maintain the Equilibrium of Our People'

 

Hereditary Chief Ninawa Huni Kui speaking at the U.N. Permanent Forum. Screenshot by Censored News.

Amazonian Chief Ninawa Huni Kui, 'Sacred Sites Maintain the Equilibrium of Our People'

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, April 23, 2024

NEW YORK -- Hereditary Chief Ninawa Huni Kui recommended to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues that the protection of sacred sites be placed at the center of global discussions, to maintain the equilibrium of Indigenous Peoples.

"When we protect sacred sites, it is not only for cultural events, but we also maintain the integrity of the sacred spiritual relationship with the Spirit of Mother Earth," Chief Ninawa said on Tuesday, at the U.N. Forum now underway in New York.

"I would like to make a proposal to this Permanent Forum," said Hereditary Chief Ninawa Huni, of the Indigenous Peoples from the Brazilian Amazon.

Chief Ninawa said everything is suffering from the impact of the climate.

"I see a need to speak and bring the voice of the ancient wise Indigenous People to this Permanent Forum. We have a suggestion that we may be able to use, and the spiritual leaders of the world can also convey their ancestral wisdom to this Permanent Forum."

"It is an important aspect that affects the balance of this world, with our medicine, with our spiritual connection that we have, I would like to propose that we put at the center of the global discussion the protection of sacred sites, both at the Permanent Forum, and at UNESCO which is here at this Forum, it is very important that they also consider this." 

Chief Ninawa said this is a "contribution of spiritual leaders to maintain the equilibrium in our people."

"We are directly affected by a model that is continuing at a global level, it is not bringing positive results for Indigenous communities."

"A major step that we can take is to draw attention specifically to the protection of sacred sites, that protect the power of Indigenous People. When we protect sacred sites, it is not only for cultural events, but we also maintain the integrity of the sacred spiritual relationship with the Spirit of Mother Earth."

"If we do this, we will be able to live in peace, this is necessary for Indigenous People."

Chief Ninawá Huni Kui

Chief Ninawá Huni Kui is a hereditary leader of the Huni Kui people, a Wall International Indigenous Scholar, and the elected President of the Huni Kui federation of the State of Acre, in the Amazon region. He represents 118 communities and a population of more than 15,000 people. The Huni Kui Indigenous people are part of the Amazon Rainforest and put their lives on the line to protect it. Chief Ninawá has been a strong voice against false solutions to the climate crisis and a global advocate for placing Indigenous rights and lives at the center of the climate and nature emergency agenda.

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Indigenous Urge Investigation of COVID Vaccines at U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Calling for an investigation into COVID vaccines, during the U.N. Permanent Forum on Tuesday.

Indigenous Urge Investigation of COVID Vaccines at United Nations 

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, April 23, 2024

NEW YORK -- Indigenous Peoples urged an investigation into COVID-19 vaccines, during the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on Tuesday, now in its second week at U.N. Headquarters in New York.

The Russian Federation denied human rights abuses, which brought a strong response from those in exile and those recalling the genocide of Crimean Tartars.

Indigenous youths called out for support for children and youths who are victims of foster care systems, boarding schools and displacement around the world.

Freedom for Leonard Peltier, Arrest of Buddhist Monks and Amazon Lead Issues at U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Freedom for Leonard Peltier, Arrest of Buddhist Monks in Vietnam, and Defense of the Amazon Lead Issues at U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, April 22, 2024

NEW YORK -- "Leonard Peltier should come home and be with his great grandson and teach him songs, and what he has left of his life should be spent at home," Nathan Phillips, Omaha, Deer Clan, told the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York on Monday, as the second week of the session began.

"Leonard Peltier stood up for the people," Phillips said, and asked the U.N. Permanent Forum to write a letter to Coleman Prison and ask for a compassionate release for Peltier. Phillips said Peltier is sick, is 79 years old, and has spent more than 40 years in prison.

"They really don't know who committed the crime that he's in there for, and now his eyesight is really bad. He might die in there, and that would be death by incarceration," Phillips said during the interactive dialogue on Monday.

"The FBI admitted that they didn't know who did that, so they should let him go," he said, adding "the FBIs didn't have no business up there."

Nathan Phillips, Omaha, speaking today at the UN Permanent Forum. Screenshot Censored News.

Phillips began by responding to the concerns voiced at the Permanent Forum concerning the treatment of women.

"Our men are in desperate need of healing, what we're doing to the women, that's not how we used to be." Phillips said the "extraction industry came in and took away our manhood. We have to figure out how to come back to our original instructions."

Years ago, when the Yanomami stood up against the gold miners, and were murdered, Phillips said he went to Brazil's Embassy in Washington with Western Shoshone Spiritual Leader Corbin Harney, who fought against the nuclear industry on his lands.

The Ambassador for Brazil told Phillips, "If you keep doing this, you're going to wind up like your friend Leonard Peltier."

Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation on Monday.
Screenshot Censored News

The Arrest of Buddhist Monks in Vietnam

The government of Vietnam is hypo-critical of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and undermines the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam, a representative of Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation told the U.N. Permanent Forum.

Human rights defenders are constantly harassed when educating the community about human rights.

Thirteen human rights defenders have been criminalized and are detained or imprisoned, an all time high for Vietnam, she said. This includes Monks, women, youth and men who have been reported and publically arrested for their activism.

Five Buddhist Monks were defrocked and disrespected in violation of Article 11 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

One of those arrested was part of the International Women's Day event and was sentenced to two years in prison. Indigenous women are the most vulnerable, especially farmers.

"Our people should not be fearful or threatened."

The government of Vietnam was quick to respond and deny the statement, calling it misinformation that was divisive, and undermining its sovereignty. The government said it is upholding "ethnic minority rights."

Waorani from Ecuador's Amazon speaking at UN Forum on Monday. Screenshot Censored News

Waorani of the Ecuadorian Amazon told the U.N. Forum that their rivers are polluted, and the devastation by the oil industry has impacted the women the most, and affected their ability to carry out their traditional way of live, including gathering their medicine plants.

During the interactive dialogue on Monday, the Sami Council pointed out that too often, Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations are only respected in empty words, not action.

"We are not the problem, we are the solution."

As with Vietnam, the governments of Tanzania and Indonesia were quick to deny the statements presented by Indigenous Peoples in their countries, both governments denied human rights abuse. The governments said they are not discriminating and are upholding human rights.

The government of Vietnam identifies the peoples of the MeKong Delta as "ethnic minorities," not Indigenous Peoples.

The government of Pakistan said all of its people are Indigenous and they have no colonized settlers.

Read more:

Arrest of Buddhist Monks in Vietnam

Arrests include charges of "posting slandering and insulting videos on social media and charged with 'abusing the rights to democratic freedom," reports Radio Free Asia.

The Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation is calling on UN Secretary General
to urgently act against #Vietnam's persecution of the Khmer Krom community

Ecuador's Waorani in Amazon

"The Waorani are Ecuador’s most recently contacted Indigenous group. Starting in the late 1950s, missionaries and oil exploration workers contacted the Waorani in the rainforest, leading to decades of oil exploitation, territorial displacement, and cultural colonization. Today, some 2,000 Waorani remain in their Amazon territory in northeastern Ecuador, including some Waorani tribes that continue living in voluntary isolation in the Zona Intangible," reports Mongabay.

"On Sunday, August 20th, 2023, in a historic referendum held during the first round of the presidential elections, Ecuadorian citizens massively voted in favor of keeping over 726 million barrels of oil underground in the Yasuní National Park deep in the northern Amazon Rainforest, one of most biodiverse regions on the planet and home to two of the world’s last Indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation."

This protects the ancestral homeland of the Waorani people and their relatives living in voluntary isolation, the Tagaeri and Taromenene communities. By banning oil extraction in this area of the Amazon, 345 million tons of carbon will also be prevented from releasing into the atmosphere, reports Amazon Frontlines.

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Canada Failing Youths and Survivors of Residential Schools, Indigenous Youths Tell United Nations

Photo: Screenshot by Censored News
Canada Failing Youths and Survivors of Residential Schools, Youths Tell United Nations By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, April 22, 2024

NEW YORK -- "Canada continues to fail to take up solutions from survivors and Indigenous youths to address the legacy of the residential school system," a coalition of community-based Indigenous youth groups told the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Indigenous community-based youth groups in so-called Canada voiced an urgent need to have their collective rights respected for cultural and language revitalization, and climate justice, in the face of ongoing environmental racism, land and cultural dispossession and "Canada's willful disregard of traditional government systems."

The youths urged implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation's Commission's Call to Action 66 for multiyear funding for community-based youth groups organizations, to deliver programs on reconciliation and establish a national network to share best practices.

The youths stressed the need to have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.

Censored News original series on the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.