DEVELOPMENTS

Life has improved for Iraq’s Marsh Arabs, or Ma’adan since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. No longer threatened with the complete destruction of the reed-filled marshes near Iraq’s border with Iran which they have called home for more than 5000 years, some of the more than 100,000 Ma'adan forced to relocate to camps in Iraq, Iran, or elsewhere during the 2003 invasion of Iraq have returned. With the help of the United Nations, non-government organizations, and innovative engineering, the Ma’adan will continue their restoration process apace, but the ultimate fate of the Ma'adan's native marshland culture remains an open question.

DEVELOPMENTS

The indigenous rights movements of the Americas are experiencing a renaissance. Indigenous peoples of the Americas are increasingly reasserting their claims to sovereign rights of self determination and resource governance.  

All over Latin America the effects of the indigenous rights movement can be felt.  In Ecuador, the Shuar have begun to defend their hunting grounds and traditional territory.  In Chile, the Mapuche are occupying ranches in a effort to gain necessary human resources.  In Bolivia, a new constitution gives the country's thirty-six indigenous peoples the right to self-rule.  All over Latin America a political awakening is emboldening Indians who have been regulated to second-class citizens in their own countries since the Spanish invasion.

This awakening is not limited to Latin America but extends into the United States as well.  President Barack Obama recently announced November as American Indian Heritage Month and gave a speech to 564 Tribal Representatives reaffirming the U.S.'s commitment to maintaining tribal sovereignty and the United States' unique trust relationship with the tribes of the United States of America.  The National Congress of American Indians has even recently opened an Embassy on Washington, DC to provide a bridge for American Indian Tribes to national levers of power.