Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 1985 — Trustee Presents WCIP Papers at Geneva Talks [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Trustee Presents WCIP Papers at Geneva Talks

Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Hayden Burgess of Oahu, who also serves as a vice president of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples for the Pacific, North America and Nordic Sami regions, recently received word from Sweden that the presentation he made during July 29 to Aug. 2 in Geneva was re-enacted on Swedish radio. His presentation of a paper on the "Right of Indigenous People to the Earth" was taped by several people for programming in Europe. Swedish radio producers heard the talk, liked it and reenacted it in their language. A professional actor was hired to depict Burgess making his presentation. Burgess is hoping he ean secure a copy of the tape and perhaps have it played on loeal radio. Burgess was among hundreds of leaders representing indigenous peoples from throughout the world addressing members of the United Nations' Working Group on Indigenous Populations at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The OHA T rustee was a very busy delegate at the conferenee where he presented other papers, including one on the Declaration of Principles, some of whieh were detailed in last month's Trustees' Views. Burgess reported that the week-long conference for many of those in attendance and for the millions of people they represented was the high p>oint of many months and years of preparation. It was a week of presentations of indigenous thoughts on a wide range of issues and activities around the world. "These thoughts are certain to be some of the raw materials from whieh a fabric of indigenous peoples' rights will be woven by the United Nations," Burgess stated.

Burgess added that the annual work of the WC1P before the Working Group is an important and necessary part of the organization's advocacy responsibility for indigenous peoples. He further explained that the Working Group's yearly sessions represent an opportunity for indigenous peoples to present before a well-informed, concerned and often wellplaced international gathering of leaders and government representatives, information about the problems, issues, solutions and activities occurring in their countries. It is also a time when indigenous thought anchphilosophies ean be shared and strengthened, Burgess ful[jer noted. He reported also that lines of communications wiih indigenous leaders from Paraguay, Brazil and Venezuela were opened. Asia, he noted, is another major area of the world opening to the WCIP. The Veddas of Sri Lanka, the Andivasis of India, the Chittagong Hill Tracts people of Bangladesh, the Karens of Burma, the citizens of South Moluccas and the Igarots of the Philippines are other major areas where the world is opening to the WCIP. Burgess said that representatives of these Asian peoples will be invited to attend the next WCIP Pacific Region meeting during the second week in December in Australia.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs T rustee Hayden Burgess, left, is shown at the Geneva conference deliberations with Ossie Cruse, World Council of Indigenous Peoples executive eouneil representative for the Pacific Region.