Indigenous Women in Asia A Presentation by Vernie Yocogan-Diano Who are We? A large number of indigenous women are peasants. Our survival is centered on the land, land which we call ancestral because we have tilled it, developed it, managed the natural resources in it since time immemorial and before colonization set in. Our ways of life is very much interconnected with the land. Our concept of ancestral land is within the assertion of our right to self-determination. Right to self-determination for indigenous peoples is having control over our ancestral lands or territories and all resources therein and defining our own path of development. It encompasses our rights and welfare in the social, economic, political and cultural fields of life. Our indigenous systems are retained because we have asserted our ancestral land rights and our right to self-determination. On the other hand, disintegration is happening because of imposition made by states and of imperialist structures wanting to grab our land and resources and integrate us to the whole system of imperialist globalization. Indigenous women in Asia number more than 75 million which is approximately 50% of indigenous population in the whole region. Essentially peasants, indigenous women play a major role in agricultural production. We are considered the main food producers in the community, holders of traditional or indigenous knowledge including medicine and passers of that knowledge to the future generation. 60-70% of indigenous women are small owner tillers in subsistence food production. They continue to observe sustainable agricultural practices and play roles to conserve the resources. Common among indigenous women in Asia is their important role in the first stage of agricultural production cycle by selecting the best seeds for the next crop to ensure that traditional crop varieties will not perish. Traditional cooperative practices and exchange of labor as system of mutual help is also a common practice. They give signals for holding rituals that regulate the agricultural cycle. Indigenous women are often relied upon to feeding her family. When harvest is not enough, which is usually the case now with modern agriculture and globalization, they find ways and means to feed the whole family. Thus farming is augmented by other productive activities such as foraging, fishing, handicrafts like weaving, knitting, basketry, embroidery and even small-scale mining. Indigenous women are drawn to engage in daily wage, odd jobs and even manual labor to augment the family’s income as a means to make ends meet. With poverty worsening in the villages, they are forced to set to the town and urban centers and even overseas for the much needed cash and needs for their family. While mostly peasants, there are indigenous women who are workers (including overseas workers), semi-workers and professionals. A small number form part of the ruling elite who have become the agents of the state or companies in imposing further control over indigenous peoples’ land and resources. Disadvantaged Status of Indigenous Women As indigenous peoples, they often experience institutionalized discrimination and racism from the dominant culture as imposed by the states. As farmers or laborers, they often experience exploitation at the hands of landlords or employers. But the mere fact that they are women is an aggravating factor that increases the degree of oppression and exploitation they experience as indigenous people. Indigenous women live within largely feudal-patriarchal societies which dictate that women are subordinate to men. Such culture of feudal-patriarchy view women as mere extension of their husband’s production and are not regarded as active forces of production. Indigenous women of Asia are usually considered inferior to males from birth. In such a culture, indigenous women are usually viewed as being there to bear children, to serve her father, her brothers and later her husband and her family, including her in-laws in many cases. In very specific cultures, indigenous women do not have property rights, or if they do, they cannot inherit these rights. Again among indigenous peoples where feudal-patriarchal culture is strong, women are often excluded from roles of political leadership, both in traditional and state structures. Much less are they involved in actual decision-making which is usually done in structures or institutions dominated by men such as the traditional village council. Women are normally not allowed to hold positions of leadership at the village level. Even in matters of marriage and divorce, tribal customary laws are usually unfavorable to women. Indigenous Women and Imperialist Globalization The unfettered forces of neo-liberal globalization at the turn of the 21st century, accompanied by the global war on terror, are violating the inherent rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. These conditions have allowed further development aggression and militarization in our ancestral lands, thus threatening our survival as distinct peoples. The impositions of imperialist globalization is exacerbating the disadvantaged position of indigenous women. Impacts of globalization on indigenous women are profound and far-reaching, disrupting the important roles they play as productive forces in society, as child-bearers, as nurturers of the family, and as vital members of indigenous communities. Imperialist globalization has accelerated the alienation, privatization, commercialization and theft of community forests, lands, waters and traditional medicinal plants causing impoverishment and generating ill health particularly for indigenous women and children. Indigenous women and children are being estranged from our lands, mountains, waters and forests which are sources of wisdom and means of survival. Our knowledge of biodiversity and natural resource management is systematically exploited, appropriated or eroded. Piracy of indigenous crafts, arts and medicines is rampant and is facilitated by patents and other western intellectual property rights. Current forms of tourism make indigenous women objects of curiosity, display and commercialization. Prostitution and sex trafficking has increased alongside the inducement to commercialize indigenous cultural heritages. Tourism is breeding cash dependence, especially on our children. The loss of lands, waters and forests is deepening the poverty of indigenous women while increasing their domestic work loads and subsistence responsibilities. We now have to work harder and longer to feed and nurture our families. Loss of livelihood and employment of indigenous women makes them less powerful economically and this condition erodes their influence and participation in decision-making. Rural poverty which is getting more intense among indigenous peoples in Asia is accelerating migration to urban centers and even overseas. It is also increasing the vulnerability of indigenous women to different forms of violence including sexual, domestic and work-related. Uprooted from the communities, indigenous women who migrate lose the protection afforded by customary laws on women. Corporate mining has resulted in the displacement of indigenous communities as well as in soil erosion and contamination, water and air pollution, serious health problems, impoverishment and social conflict. Recent climatic change in Mongolia have devastated nomadic livestock herding thus deepening rural poverty and lack of access to basic social services. Commercial logging, monoculture plantations and agribusiness ventures are depriving indigenous peoples of lands and livelihoods and seriously eroding our rights. National parks and protected areas have displaced indigenous communities of forest lands and resources. Large dams have serious impacts on the lives, livelihoods, cultures and spiritual existence of indigenous and tribal peoples who have suffered disproportionately from their negative impacts, while often being excluded from sharing in any benefits. In the Philippines, almost all the larger dams built or proposed are on the lands of indigenous peoples. In India, 40-50 percent of those displaced by development projects were tribal peoples. The cash economy has eroded indigenous women’s interdependence as self-reliant food producers, healers, artisans and spiritualists, transforming us into vulnerable lowly paid workers, urban poor and tourist attractions in the market economy. The continued survival of traditional livelihoods and cultures is under threat with the rapid transformation to market and urban-western lifestyles. A particular issue faced by hill tribe women in Thailand is the non-recognition of their existence by the Thai government until they are properly registered and possess the proper identification card as citizens of Thailand. Regulation of the citizenship process is integrally linked to the system of patriarchy and hierarchy present within political and social structures. Domination and subjugation of women is achieved by creating a cumbersome application process which only serves to keep women in a position of little or no power (Anchalee Phonkling, 2002). US-Led Global War on Terror The US-led global war on terror puts pressure on governments which have yet to enact a national law against terrorism. Progressive indigenous peoples and women’s organizations are regarded by the state to be engaged in terrorist activities. Women leaders suffer persecution and our leaders are criminalized for asserting customary practices in defense of our land and resources. Militarization is a common experience in our homelands and this intensifies with development aggression and our assertion of our right to self-determination. Rape continues to be a weapon of war by the military to humiliate and attack indigenous communities. Girls, even old women and children are not spared. Courtship and marriage with indigenous women is used to gain acceptance in indigenous communities, however soldiers often abandon local women and children upon transfer to other destinations. Military rule and the establishment of detachments in our villages have curtailed our movement and economic activities, the entry of food supplies and basic social services and even disrupts the education of our children. In Bangladesh, the military has facilitated the occupation of Chittagong Hill Tracts territories by non-indigenous settlers, a form of assimilation which breeds conflicts between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples belonging to the democratic classes. The Burmese military regime has perpetrated extreme violence against ethnic communities including forced labor, forced relocation, torture, rape and murder. Prof. Rodolfo Stavenhagen, UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples Rights in his mission report on the Philippines (2002 and 2006) underlines the continuing militarization of indigenous territories in furtherance of development aggression. Intensified militarization has resulted in family and community disintegration, human rights violations and hardship. As individuals, as organizations, as communities or as a people, the indigenous women have proven their strength in the face of threat and adversity. Their responses show that they are not passive victims of oppression but militant actors in the indigenous peoples’ struggles for survival. Indigenous women have formed organizations and networks. They have initiated community-based projects to respond to their basic needs They have developed education programs to combat illiteracy.They have initiated capability-building activities and awareness-raising activities. They have been in the forefront of numerous actions of indigenous peoples to defend their land, lives and livelihood. Innabuyog as an alliance of indigenous women’s organizations in the Cordillera, Philippines continue to advance indigenous women’s struggles, contributes its analysis of issues and conditions to the wider women and indigenous peoples’ movements, contributes in building the leadership capacities of indigenous women and encourages militant actions of indigenous women in the Cordillera, nationally and internationally through our networks. BAI, as the national network of indigenous women’s organizations in the Philippines is serving as a forum to share experiences, analysis and common actions among indigenous women leaders in the country. Efforts to establish national and sub-regional formations of indigenous women in Asia are being initiated by indigenous women leaders as part of the empowering process of indigenous women in the region. Regionally, indigenous women in Asia have come together in a network called the Asian Indigenous Women’s Network (AIWN) after the first Asian Indigenous Women’s This network could be a focal point for solidarity links and mutual support among the different indigenous women in Asia. The Asia-Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development particularly its Task Force on Rural Indigenous Women has served as a forum for solidarity and continuing discussion on globalization, food sovereignty and indigenous women. Regional formations in Asia-Pacific are providing a space for indigenous women in their programs like Pesticide Action Network-Asia Pacific (PAN-AP) and the Asian Indigenous People’s Pact (AIPP). Indigenous women are being invited to become part of the Indigenous Peoples Study Commission of the International League of People Struggles (ILPS) where issues of indigenous women in relation to self-determination and national oppression are enriched.### References: |