The Indigenous World, 1998-99 = El Mundo Indigena, 1998-99

This book provides an overview of the present situation and crucial developments in 1998 and 1999 among indigenous peoples in Asia, Africa, the Arctic, the Pacific and the Americas, with a special focus on indigenous women. This annual publication examines political, legal, social, and educational issues concerning indigenous peoples around the world in 1998-99. Part I highlights news events and ongoing situations in specific countries. In North America, these include court decisions on the legal status of Alaska Native tribal governments, indigenous subsistence rights and whaling by the Inuit of Nunavut and the Makah of Washington, political developments in Nunavut and the remaining Northwest Territories, and conflicts over Native land rights in the United States. Other sections cover the Arctic, Mexico and Central America, South America, Australia and the Pacific, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa. Issues in these regions include deteriorating economic and health conditions and educational needs in Russia's far north, conflicts over development of natural resources in indigenous territories by national and multinational companies, relationships between indigenous peoples and their national governments, intellectual property rights to traditional knowledge, indigenous educational policy in Brazil and elsewhere, language loss and cultural assimilation, and human rights violations and forced relocation. Part II examines indigenous women's issues and organizations in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Part III includes two articles: "The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Is Still Intact" (Andrew Gray) and "The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Establishment of a Permanent Forum for Indigenous Peoples in the UN System" (Lola Garcia-Alix). Maps and photographs are included. (SV)