In Memoriam: Dr. Mary Bruce Becker

On behalf of the Newberry Library's D'arcy McNickle Center for American Indian History, I submit the following:

Dr. Mary Druke Becker, passed away in June 26, 2006 in Munich, Germany of a sudden heart attack. She is mourned by friends and associates at the Newberry and across the country.

Mary Druke Becker's association with the Newberry began in 1978 when she was appointed Associate Director of the Documentary History of the Iroquois Project. This project, underwritten by a three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (and subsequently supported by the Library), is a comprehensive compilation of all treaties and agreements entered into by the Iroquois Nations, with various colonial and imperial states. Originally projected at some 2,000 documents, its size and scope grew dramatically and ultimately reached a total of 9,255 documents. This dramatic expansion was due in no small measure to the efforts of Mary Druke Becker, who, working closely with Center Director Francis Jennings and Project Editor William Fenton, coordinated activities, conducted research in archives and repositories, and consulted with members of Iroquois communities on matters of interpretation and presentation. These contacts drew Chief Jacob Thomas (Cayuga) of the Six
Nations Reserve in Canada, to the Library as a consultant. In 1980 Thomas presented the Center with his reproduction of an Iroquois Condolence Cane.

In 1984, Syracuse University Press published The History and Culture of Iroquois Diplomacy: An Interpretative Guide to the Treaties of the Six Nations and their League, edited by Jennings, Fenton and Druke. This publication is a companion to Iroquois Indians: A Documentary History, the 50-reel microfilm record of the documents collected and reproduced through this massive project.

Dr. Becker's association with the Center continued after she had left for subsequent academic postings. In 1991, the Center distributed her Recent Books and Articles in American Indian History," as well as a 1992 supplement.

In keeping with Becker's determination to share the fruits of her considerable labors, the Newberry Library transferred paper copies of the Iroquois documents to the Iroquois Museum, Howes Cave, New York. The Newberry holds a microfilm copy, and administrative records from the project.

A seminal figure in the long history of the Newberry Library's McNickle Center, Mary Druke Becker is remembered fondly by staff, scholars, librarians and associates, and on their behalf, I extend my condolences to family and friends.

Brian Hosmer, Director

Panamanian Indians Sail to Meet American Indians

Primitive past, fragile future
Across a vast distance, two tribes share a bond

Friday, August 04, 2006 - Bangor Daily News

HAMPDEN - The two narrow dugout canoes wobbled in the deep water, but didn't tip as the paddlers approached their brothers sitting afloat in traditional, handcrafted birch bark canoes.

In the rear of each dugout, a tattooed man of the Chocoe tribe, wearing a loincloth, stood and paddled, while a Chocoe woman, dressed in a bright cloth skirt and bandeau top, crouched in each bow.

The Chocoe Indians are used to maneuvering the canoes, also known as piraguas, or pirogues, in the shallow waters of their village, Mogue, in the Darien rain forest of Panama, not the deeper water of the Penobscot.

As the Chocoes and Penobscots met in a historic moment on the dark water of the river, the canoes and dugouts turned and headed toward a large vessel.

The members of the Chocoe tribe were paddling alongside the Pajaro Jai, a 92-foot wooden ketch that they handcrafted, to meet members of the Penobscot Indian Nation who were paddling downriver in two of their own traditional birch bark canoes.

The crew of the Pajaro Jai, whose name means "enchanted bird," has traveled from Panama and is meeting with indigenous people all over the world. In addition to the Penobscots, tribal historian Donald Soctomah of the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Pleasant Point also went on board the ketch Thursday and presented the Chocoes with traditional gifts.

The purpose of the Chocoes' voyage is to bring attention to conservation efforts and the dilemma of the region's indigenous people to create a self-sustainable future for themselves.

The Pajaro Jai will be moored at the Waterfront Marina in Hampden today and is expected to be in Maine for the next few days. The tribal members have no set plans for touring the state.

The sound of traditional drums being played by both tribes echoed across the water as the Penobscot Indian Nation Boys and Girls Club girl drummers chanted and sang from a nearby pontoon boat and the Chocoes sang and drummed on the Pajaro Jai's deck.

Listening to the drums and watching the two tribes meet in the river, Jim Brunton of Westport, Conn., founder of the Pajaro Jai Foundation, searched for a way to describe the moment.

"Does this get you in the gut?" he asked. "It gets me in the gut."

There was something primitive and extraordinary about the meeting of the two tribes, who live thousands of miles from each other but have much in common.

"We never thought we'd find other indigenous people like ourselves so far from home," Brunton said, translating for Chocoe member Nilsa Caisamo when members of both tribes met Thursday afternoon at Indian Island.

The two tribes talked about their environmental concerns, and the Penobscots shared ways that they themselves monitor the water quality of the area.

"We try to keep an eye on the companies that are discharging toxins into the water," Penobscot Chief James Sappier said.

"They are hoping to gain that kind of control of their area," Brunton said of the Chocoes. "They did have it, but it's slipping away."

Most important, Sappier stressed the importance of working with other tribes in the area.

"We have to work together," Sappier said. "If we don't work together, the government will suppress us."

One of the Chocoes' main goals is to create a marketplace for themselves, where they can sell baskets and hand-carved furniture that they make in Mogue.

Brunton's plan for the future includes bringing satellite equipment to the area to give the tribe Internet access.

"If they can build this boat," Brunton said, referring to the Pajaro Jai, "does anybody really think they can't use the Internet?"

The Web would provide an outlet where Chocoes could sell their products at fair market value, subtracting the middleman from the equation.

"They have to do something, or accept a miserable future," Brunton said.

Chocoe Indians Land In New England

Panamanian ketch arrives in Bucksport
Chocoe Indians land after 3,000-mile sail

Thursday, August 03, 2006 - Bangor Daily News

BUCKSPORT - The tremendous white sail billowed on the 108-foot main mast of the Panamanian wooden ketch Wednesday as it made its way up the river and under the Penobscot Narrows Bridge that's now under construction.

Traditional drums being played on board by members of the Chocoe Indian tribe, crew members of the 92-foot vessel, could be heard along the riverbank.

Jim Brunton was a speck on the deck of the boat as he waved to his sister, Alice Keen, of Belfast, who was standing on shore to see the boat in person for the first time. Burton had called her a few hours before to let her know when he could be expected to arrive in Bucksport.

The $1.4 million Pajaro Jai, which means enchanted bird, was the brainchild of Brunton, a software entrepreneur from Westport, Conn. He financed the boat and his Pajaro Jai Foundation through his software business and the sale of 180 acres of oceanfront property in Maine.

"This has been years in the making," Keen said as she watched her brother sail closer. "This really looks beautiful."

The purpose of the voyage, which started June 4 in Colombia, is to bring attention to conservation efforts and the dilemma of the region's indigenous people to create a self-sustainable future for themselves.

The crew docked the vessel at the Bucksport town dock for the night before continuing up the river to meet today with representatives from the Penobscot Indian Nation.

They are planning to anchor near the Waterfront Marina in Hampden because the main mast is too tall to make it under the bridges any farther up the river.

"The great things is, she's fast for a wooden boat, and comfortable," Brunton said.

Once one is on board, the detail of the completely handcrafted boat, which dwarfed the other boats dotting the Bucksport town dock, is remarkable.

"It's very minimalist," Brunton said while standing on the deck. "That's the classic beauty. Nothing extra."

But hand-carved details in the areas below deck are intricate and meaningful to those on board from the village of Mogue in the Darien rain forest of Panama.

The crew, some of whom have never seen the ocean, weathered stormy 10-foot seas near Jamaica kicked up by Tropical Storm Alberto.

"These people are inspirational," Brunton said. "[They want to] find a way to try and make the future brighter for their kids."

Chile, Mining Company, Plan to Devastate Glacier

For more information on this tragedy in the making, see:

http://www.miningwatch.ca/index.php?/104/
Pascua_Lama_Background

From an e-mail alert received this week:

In the Valle de San Felix, the purest water in Chileruns from 2 rivers, fed by 2 glaciers.

Water is a most precious resource, and wars will befought for it. Indigenous farmers use the water, there is no unemployment, and they provide the second largest source of income for the area.

Under the glaciers has been found a huge deposit ofgold, silver and other minerals. To get at these, it would be necessary to break, to destroy the glaciers -something never conceived of in the history of the world - and to make 2 huge holes, each as big as awhole mountain, one for extraction and one for the mine's rubbish tip. The project is called PASCUA LAMA. The company is called Barrick Gold.

The operation is planned by a multi-national company, one of whose members is George Bush Senior. The Chilean Government has approved the project to start this year, 2006. The only reason it hasn't started yet is because thefarmers have got a temporary stay of execution. If they destroy the glaciers, they will not justdestroy the source of especially pure water, but they will permanently contaminate the 2 rivers so they will never again be fit for human or animal consumption because of the use of cyanide and sulphuric acid in the extraction process. Every last gram of gold will go abroad to the multinational company and not one will be left with the people whose land it is. They will only be left with the poisoned water and the resulting illnesses. The farmers have been fighting a long time for their land, but have been forbidden to make a TV appeal by a ban from the Ministry of the Interior.

Their only hope now of putting brakes on this projectis to get help from international justice. The world must know what is happening in Chile. The only place to start changing the world is from here. We ask you to circulate this message amongst your friends in the following way. Please copy this text, paste it into a new email adding your signature and send it to everyone in your address book. Please, will the 100th person to receiveand sign the petition, send it to

noapascualama@yahoo.ca

to be forwarded to the ChileanGovernment.

No to Pascua Lama Open-cast mine in the AndeanCordillera on the Chilean-Argentine frontier.

We ask the Chilean Government not to authorize thePascua Lama project to protect the whole of 3 glaciers, the purity of the water of the San Felix Valley and El Transito, the quality of the agricultural land of the region of Atacama, the quality of life of the Diaguita people and of thewhole population of the region.

UN Press Release: International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

PRESS RELEASE

Activists to celebrate International Day of the World’s Indigenous People on 9 August at the UN

Living with dignity, human rights and meaningful development to be highlighted; Indigenous Hollywood actress to take part

New York, 7 August – The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People will be celebrated around the world on 9 August. At United Nations Headquarters, core issues and concerns of indigenous peoples will take centre stage in day-long events in New York.

Along with an art exhibition by Kichwa artist Inty Muenala from Ecuador and a film screening, a panel discussion on “Indigenous Peoples: human rights, dignity and development with identity” will be held. Speakers include Q'orianka Kilcher, lead actress in the 2005 Hollywood film, The New World. The young actress is a descendant of the Huachipaeri and Quechua people of Peru and will speak about her recent trip to the country. Phrang Roy, Assistant President, International Fund for Agricultural Development; Wilton Littlechild (Cree Nation-Canada), Member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; and Romy Tincopa, Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Peru to the UN will also speak at the event.

Messages by Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, José Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Coordinator of the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, and Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will be delivered at the event.

This year’s observance coincides with a number of landmark events for indigenous peoples around the world. A significant achievement has been the recent adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in June this year at the inaugural session of the newly elected Human Rights Council. Indigenous peoples are looking forward to the final adoption of the Declaration by the General Assembly before the end of 2006. Advocates believe that the Declaration, once adopted by Member States, will serve as a crucial international instrument to protect and ensure indigenous rights. Celebrations and discussions this year will also draw upon the theme of “Partnership for Action and Dignity”, the central focus of the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, which runs from 2005 to 2015.

Estimates point to more than 370 million indigenous peoples in some 70 countries worldwide. While they are from diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds, they share common difficulties which include lack of basic healthcare, limited access to education, loss of control over land, abject poverty, displacement, human rights violations, and economic and social marginalization.

Another issue of concern for indigenous communities, that of development, is also likely to be discussed this week. Experts say development programmes often ignore the needs of these communities and their traditional knowledge. For development programmes, including the Millennium Development Goals, to truly have an impact on indigenous peoples, their participation in decisions that affect their lives and their visions of development need to be incorporated effectively into national plans.

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is commemorated each year on 9 August in recognition of the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva in 1982. This year’s observance at the UN is being organized by the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; and the NGO Committee on the Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.

For more information of the Day’s events, please visit http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/
news_internationalday2006.html

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:

Oisika Chakrabarti,

Department of Public Information,

tel: 212.963.8264,

e-mail: mediainfo@un.org

For Secretariat of the Permanent Forum, please contact:

Mirian Masaquiza,

Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,

tel: 917.367.6006,

e-mail: IndigenousPermanentForum@un.org

MEDIA ADVISORY
Hollywood actress, activists and artists to celebrate International Day of the World’s Indigenous People on 9 August at the United Nations

WHAT: International Day of the World’s Indigenous People observance at the UN Headquarters.

HIGHLIGHT: A panel discussion “Indigenous Peoples: human rights, dignity and development with identity” will be held. Speakers include Q'orianka Kilcher, lead actress in the 2005 Hollywood film, The New World. The young actress is a descendant of the Huachipaeri and Quechua people of Peru and will speak about her recent trip to the country.

BACKGROUND:

A significant achievement has been the recent adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the Human Rights Council in June. Indigenous peoples are looking forward to the final adoption of the Declaration by the General Assembly before the end of the year.

The Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People runs from 2005 to 2015. The Day’s events will draw upon the Decade’s theme of “Partnership for Action and Dignity”.

WHEN: Wednesday, 9 August, 2:30pm

WHERE: Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, United Nations Headquarters, 1st Avenue & 46th Street

MEDIA ARRANGEMENTS: Journalists without UN accreditation who wish to attend the event should send a request on company letterhead signed by a supervisor to Mr. Gary Fowlie, Chief, UN Media Accreditation Unit, United Nations at fax (212) 963-4642. Media accreditation forms and general information for the media can be found at www.un.org/media/accreditation
For further information on accreditation and media access questions, contact: +1 (212) 963-6934

For more information or interviews, please contact:
Oisika Chakrabarti, Department of Public Information, tel: 212.963.8264, e-mail: mediainfo@un.org
For Secretariat of the Permanent Forum, please contact:
Mirian Masaquiza, Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, tel: 917.367.6006,
e-mail: IndigenousPermanentForum@un.org

PROGRAMME:
(2:30pm, Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, United Nations Headquarters)

2:30 p.m. Film Screening: Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations

3:05 p.m. Messages for the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

Welcome and Spiritual Ceremony

Secretary-General, Kofi Annan;
Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Coordinator of the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, José Antonio Ocampo;
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

3:30 p.m. Panel Discussion: “Indigenous Peoples: human rights, dignity and development with identity”

Speakers include Phrang Roy, Assistant President, International Fund for Agricultural Development; Wilton Littlechild (Cree Nation-Canada), Member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; Romy Tincopa, Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Peru to the UN; and Q'orianka Kilcher, lead actress in the 2005 Hollywood film, The New World.

4: 30 p.m. Indigenous Cultural Performances

Art Exhibition by indigenous artist Inty Muenala (Kichwa)

The event is organized by the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues DSPD/DESA and the NGO Committee on the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. For more information of the Day’s events, please visit: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/
news_internationalday2006.html

New Book from Caribbean Studies Press

Revolutionary Freedoms: A History of Survival, Strength, and Imagination in Haiti

Foreword by Kamau Brathwaite
With the paintings of Ulrick Jean-Pierre

Edited by Cécile Accilien, Ph.D., Columbus State University, GA; Jessica Adams, Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley; and Elmide Méléance, Montgomery County (MD) Schools.

This new perspective on Haitian history features essays that augment the historical paintings of renowned contemporary Haitian-American artist, Ulrick Jean-Pierre. Poet, playwright, and scholar Kamau Brathwaite has written the powerful Foreword to this volume, which combines scholarship, experience, and inspiration to reveal the complex history of the island of Hispaniola. Chapters cover pre-Columbian and colonial history; critical events and people of the Haitian Revolution; the tangle of U.S.-Haitian relations, including the special relationship with Louisiana; Haitian connections to South America; and the contested border with the neighboring Dominican Republic. Revolutionary Freedoms also includes an interview with the artist, a section on women in the nation's history, and suggested reading.

May 2006
265 pp., hardcover
45 color reproductions
$49.50
ISBN: 1-58432-293-4

Available from:
Caribbean Studies Press
7550 NW 47th Avenue
Coconut Creek, FL
33073
954 725-0701
www.caribbeanstudiespress.com

Reminder: "Indigenous Resurgence in the Caribbean"...TODAY

A reminder to e-mail subscribers to The CAC Review: tonight at 8:00pm EST, Join us live on WPFW Pacifica Radio, 89.3 FM. Jose Barreiro, Lynne Guitar, and Maximilian Forte will be hosted by Jay Winter on The Nightwolf Show, to speak about issues arising from the recent publication of Indigenous Resurgence in the Contemporary Caribbean: Amerindian Survival and Revival.

Internet listeners can follow the show live by clicking on: http://jazzstream.us/wpfwlive.ram).

Hopefully more shows will be dedicated to the issues arising from the book, Indigenous Resurgence in the Contemporary Caribbean, the first and only book of its kind.