Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 6, 1 Iune 2000 — Hawai ʻi hosts indigenous leader [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawai ʻi hosts indigenous leader

Guatemala's Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menehu reflects on her accomplishments

By Paula Durbln HAWAI'I HEARD ffom an intemationally acclaimed advocate for the rights of indigenous peoples when Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menehu Tum lectured May 2-4 as the guest of the University of Hawai'i. "I think she did a good job educating people about the situation of indigenous peoples globally," said Tmstee Mihlani Trask who has been working with Menehu for 15 years on the Indigenous Effort for Peaee. It was Trask who extended the university's invitation to Menehu and facilitated her visit. Menehu received the Nobel Prize in 1992 for her efforts toward ending the genocide of the Mayan Indians in her native Guatemala and for her furtherance of native causes worldwide. Addressing her Campus Center audience, she disclaimed any expertise in Hawaiian issues and spoke from her own experience and that of other Guatemalan Mayans. Menehu offered inclusion and education as an altemative to the cycle of repression and violence that has often been the pattem when native peoples are displaced or overwhelmed by outside forces. "We need active people with feasible ideas,"

she said, emphasizing that she tries to involve the rich and the poor in her quest for justice and respect for indigenous peoples. Menehu used most of her prize money to fund a foundation that, among other activities, tracks the peaee process in areas with significant indigenous populations, most recently in Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia. Her sense of humor was on display when she told how she was expected to spend the rest of her prize on a party in her own honor. This included flying to Europe representatives of such adversarial sectors as the Guatemalan military, the Guatemalan govemment, artists, exguerrillas and the indigenous leadership. But, she concluded in all seriousness, "I think it made a big contribution to the peaee process." Years before, the biography "I Rigoberta Menehu" had attracted worldwide attention to Menchu's stmggles and the simation in Guatemala. Based on 26 hours of taped interviews, the book painted a vivid picture of the impoverished circumstances of Guatemala's Indians and the atrocities committed against them, including Menchu's own parents and two brothers, all of whom died as a result.

Not long after receiving the Nobel Prize, Menehu was in the headlines again when her account was challenged as false. The Nobel committee conducted its own inquiry into the allegations and took no further action, however, and Menehu has continued to work on special projects and travel for UNESCO whieh in 1992 appointed her to a 10-year term as a goodwill ambassador. Reflecting on her life, Menehu spoke to Ka Wai Ola of what she considered her greatest accomplishments. "One is the book because it was produced just as genocide was being committed in Guatemala and it broke the silence on these atrocities. It's the testimony of my life and it will forever make me proud. "Another is the Nobel Peaee Prize whieh I received when I was 33. Most of the others who have received it were over 55. In that sense I was a premamre child," she chuckled. "I think I have made the Nobel Prize into something very active."

"Third, having children, whieh has changed my life. Since feeling my stomach swollen with a child, I have had good thoughts about the future even though

one of my sons died. My husband Angel is a wonderful eompanion and he takes care of our five-year old when I travel. I'm very happy with my family. "And finally, defending and dignifying victims in Guatemala. My goal now is to see that those responsible for genocide stand trial. We are not going to allow the victims to be forgotten. That's why we work so that justice is on their side." Trastee Trask attended all of the loeal events focusing on Menehu. "I think she was a voice of hope and encouragement to the Hawaiians who saw her," she eoncluded, adding that Menchu's lectures will

be scheduled for broadcast on 'Ōlelo. i

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