INDIGENOUS 2023: SETTING THE AGENDA OF SELF-DETERMINATION

INDIGENOUS 2023: SETTING THE AGENDA OF SELF-DETERMINATION

Anjan Sarma, Monikangkan Barooah

[The Editorial of the ‘INDIGENOUS 2023’,the Souvenir published on the occasion of the ‘International Day of World Indigenous Peoples’ on 9th August 2023 by North East Indigenous Peoples’ Forum and released at NEHU, Shillong, Meghalaya, India]

As envisaged as the theme as ‘Indigenous youth as agents of change for self-determination’ by United Nation, on scheduled World Indigenous day on 9^th of August, 2023, the NEIPF has also echoed all its efforts to strengthen the umbilical cord of all indigenous people  by organising an event at Shillong, Meghalaya.

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The indigenous people of Northeast unequivocally stands united for the survival and sustainable livelihood of self determination at their own land.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) states that Indigenous Peoples have the right to self-determination (Art. 3) and in exercising this right, they have the right to freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Self-determination is fundamental and must be taken together with Articles 1 and 2 of the UN Declaration.

These three articles of the UN Declaration confirm that Indigenous Peoples have the right to make their own decisions and carry them out meaningfully and culturally appropriate to them. In other words, Indigenous Peoples have an equal right to govern themselves, equal to all other Peoples.

In the Northeast, Indigenous youths are working as agents of change at the forefront as they mitigating their day to day life. The outposts of the colonial empire still haunts the indigenous youths while negotiating their livelihood.

Post colonization has created a class of ‘Urban Indigenous’, where they have slowly cop-up with cutting edge technologies thereby developing new skills to offer solutions and contribute to a more sustainable, peaceful future for our people and planet. Their representation and participation in global efforts towards climate change mitigation, peace building and digital cooperation are decisive for the useful implementation of the right of Indigenous Peoples to self-determination, and promotion of peaceful co-existence, and ensuring equality of all. The meaningful engagements of Indigenous youth in the trend-setting areas are crucial to exercising the right to self-determination and ensuring a better future for all.

The crucial areas where the indigenous youths can work on are a) Climate action and Green transition b) Mobilising for justice and c) Intergenerational connections.

1. Climate action and Green transition: Indigenous youths generally engaged themselves with the family or social activities like meeting elder people, socialise with their elders, collaborating in activities like Agriculture, sowing as well as community functions etc. By doing so, they create an intimate relationship with the nature and thereby act upon on biodiversity. Green transition is another area where indigenous youths can take positions to place their unique alternative solutions to climate change.  One of the Editor, Mr. Anjan Sarma has delved into deep thinking by analyzing the context of green transition and climate change as “Bamboo Region, Self-determination and Indigenous Youth”. The indigenous life of   “Nocte Naga Society : Nocte Kingship and Chieftainship”  of Arunachal Pradesh by  Mr. L Wanglat, has emphasized the  indigenous life style and tradition of the tribe.  Keeping tandem with theme, Rituraj Phukan has emphasized on effective climate action which implicit Indigenous People as the Guardians of Our Planet. Chinmoyee Deka has pondered on green transition with special emphasize on  Assam’s vulnerability to climate action. Dr. Binod Gogoi has talked about constitutional safe guards with special reference to  land holding of indigenous Assamese people.

• Mobilising for justice : Many Indigenous youth face multiple barriers, cultural clashes, and different influences that over time, push them to acquire an identity that is foreign to their place of origin to avoid being the object of discrimination and racism, in extreme cases rejecting their culture, languages, and the practice of ancestral customs. In some cases, entire generations of Indigenous youth have grown up out of their communities but have retained a connection to their lands and territories through their families, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations or others.

Despite these challenges, there are examples of Indigenous youth participation in Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, in urban and rural areas, and even outside national borders, who are revitalizing and promoting their cultural identities. One of such issue was heighted in the “Indigenous symbols, its inherent right and commodification”,  which has delved into establishing the rights of indigenous people over their cultural symbols. The initiative, if rightly taken by the indigenous organisations may  fetch dividends to the respected community. Manipur crisis has deeply moved Apurba Kumar Khound, who was looking for solutions in his write-up “ Manipur the way forward”. Indigenous youths Manipur as agent of change, must find ways for a new dawn in the strife torn state.

• Intergenerational connections: As they find their place in society, identity is fundamental for Indigenous youth. Individual and collective identity is also attached to the land, language, traditional livelihoods, ceremonies, arts, crafts, and family members and society as a whole. Identity is transferred through family ties: the transmission of the history of the land and the transfer of knowledge. Consequently, it is important to have an intergenerational dialogue between youth and elders, because youth represent continuity along the path already walked by their ancestors.  Kakali Das has penned there is a need for this year’s International Indigenous day to inspire positivity towards indigenous movement and reshape the movement. Dr. Raktim Ranjan Saikia discussed the  lingua-cultural crisis of small ethnic groups  and suggested that a diverse world is much better than a Hollywood style homogenous world.

In tandem with the global trend, the Indigenous youth as agent of change for self determination may act upon data sovereignty that encompasses both data localization and data residency. Data localization is the practice of requiring data to be stored and processed within a particular jurisdiction, while data residency is the physical location where data is stored. Businesses must consider all three concepts when managing data to ensure compliance with local regulations, protect sensitive data, and maintain business continuity. The indigenous youth as agent of change may delved upon digital dynamics to achieve data sovereignty.

09-08-2023

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