Deusdedit Ruhangariyo
Special to ICT
Around the world: Indigenous artists raise awareness to rainsforest issues, unmarked graves are found at the Beauval residential school, a Turkish Uyghur is detained in Xinjiang, and Māori farms make their mark in New Zealand
BRAZIL: Indigenous artists globalize the Amazon
Indigenous art is gaining global recognition with next exhibitions that spotlight Brazilian and Latin American artists, countering historical erasure by galleries and museums and forging new connections between markets and villages, Mongabay reported on Aug. 29.
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The new exhibitions include “Siamo Foresta,” which opened at La Triennale in Milan, Italy, in June, featuring 27 artists related to the Amazon rainforest, according to Mongabay.
The artists include Indigenous collectives such as the Yanomami Group, one of the best known in the country, with artists such as André Taniki, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, Vital Warasi and Joseca Mokahesi, Mongabay reported.
The new exhibition marks the second international show this year for the collective, which was also featured in “The Yanomami Struggle,” at The Shed culture center in New York in February. The artists were featured alongside the work of photographer Claudia Andujar, who has documented changes in the Yanomami Territory for 50 years.
“Siamo Foresta stages an unprecedented encounter between thinkers and defenders of the forest; between Indigenous … and non-Indigenous artists,” the exhibition’s curator, Bruce Albert, said in a press statement.
The exhibition, he said, “draws its founding inspiration from this aesthetic and political vision of the forest as an egalitarian multiverse of living beings, human and non-human and, as such, offers the vibrant allegory of a possible world beyond our anthropocentrism.”
It also comes as the National Museum of Denmark is set to return a 16th century Tupinambá mantle to Brazil after centuries.
The significant role assumed by contemporary Indigenous artists has captured global interest, prompting a reevaluation of Indigenous art history, according to curator Edson Kayapó, a member of the Mebengokré Indigenous community who shares programming responsibilities at the Indigenous Histories department of the São Paulo Museum of Art Assis Chateaubriand.
“We Indigenous peoples have always been here, producing art,” Kayapó said. “And now that society has the opportunity to see this in great depth, it is important to debate issues that have been dragging on for some time.”
CANADA: Graves discovered at Beauval residential school
The English River First Nation said it has found 93 unmarked graves in and around the former Beauval Indian Residential School cemetery, more than the community announced in an initial update earlier this month, CBC News reported on Aug. 29.
The unmarked graves include 79 children and 14 infants, and more are expected to be found, Chief Jenny Wolverine said in a news conference in Saskatoon, according to CBC News. Officials had initially indicated they had found 83 graves, but an archeologist confirmed the presence of additional graves.
“Let me be clear that this is not a finality,” Wolverine said. “This is not a final number. It breaks my heart that there are likely more, or even that there is even one. The experience of residential school is horrific.”
The findings have an effect on 16 communities located in the northwest, which encompass Métis communities as well as First Nations. She said the findings underscore that the narratives passed down through generations about residential schools “are based on fact.”
The Beauval Indian Residential School was established as a formal boarding school with financial support from the government in 1897, and its operations continued until 1983, CBC News reported.
English River First Nation said it began a search using ground-penetrating radar two years ago, based on guidance from elders and survivors.
CHINA: Turkish Uyghur detained in Xinjiang
A Uyghur design director with more than a decade of service to a Chinese locomotive manufacturer in Turkey was detained by Chinese authorities after returning to Xinjiang for a family visit, Radio Free Asia reported on Aug. 29.
The detention of Qahar Eli, 39, was confirmed by employees of his company, Radio Free Asia reported. The company, CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., based in China’s Hunan province, had provided assurance that he would be permitted to return to Turkey, according to officials.
Eli possessed a Chinese passport and had made previous visits to his hometown with the company’s guarantee and been allowed to return to Turkey, Radio Free Asia reported.
Eli departed Turkey on March 27 accompanied by his family for a planned month-long journey to his hometown of Turpan, where he intended to visit his parents. Instead, he was arrested as a criminal, officials said.
“He has been arrested, so there’s nothing I can assist you with,” an employee told Radio Free Asia. “Given that his situation is now a criminal case, you would need to reach out to the police department.”
Eli’s arrest coincides with escalating appeals from Uyghur rights organizations to ensure that China faces consequences for its suppression of the predominantly Muslim minority community in Xinjiang.
Originating from Lukchun village in Turpan’s Pichan county, Eli arrived in Turkey about 2010 following his academic pursuits at the Beijing Institute of Education.
NEW ZEALAND: Māori farms bigger than average
The Māori agribusiness sector is thriving, with larger farms and more livestock than the average New Zealand farms, according to a recent report from the Agricultural Production Census in New Zealand, Te Ao Māori News reported on Aug. 31.
The data shows that 16 percent of Māori farms extended beyond 2,400 acres, compared to just 5 percent of all New Zealand farms.
The divergence could be attributed to the substantial presence of Māori authorities, responsible for nearly half of all Māori farms, which effectively manage properties owned collectively, Te Ao Māori News reported.
Māori farms also included three times more beef cattle, five times more dairy cows and seven times more sheep than other farms, the data showed.
The data marks the first time that the data includes farms specifically identified as Māori-owned.
Traci Houpapa, chairperson of the Federation of Māori Authorities, underscored the significance of these findings, saying it quantified and shaped the contours of the Māori agribusiness, or ahuwhenua, influence.
“Māori have always had a strong presence in red meat, dry stock, dairy as well,” she said. “I think what we’re starting to see as a result of climate change also, markets moving into arable and starting to think more in a broader sense around horticulture.”
“Kiwifruit’s always been very very strong, especially in the Bay [of Plenty] and across to the East Coast and Gisborne. So we’re starting to think more around avocado, different types of tree crops and orchard crops, and that spreads risk against market volatility and market access as we’ve seen over the last few years.”
About 50 percent of Māori farms are concentrated in the northern regions of New Zealand, particularly prominent in the Bay of Plenty for kiwifruit cultivation, with the Waikato for dairy farming and Northland for beef cattle.
Houpapa said the practice of “whenua mahi,” or working the land, not only enhances the Māori economy but also contributes to the overall economic development of New Zealand.
My final thoughts
My final thoughts are in Canada where the English River First Nation has recently made a distressing discovery that once again has sent shockwaves through the nation. Using ground-penetrating radar in the proximity of the former Beauval Indian Residential School cemetery, investigators found 93 unmarked graves. This number is higher than the initial 83 unmarked graves that had been identified, and reveals an even more tragic reality than what was initially anticipated.
The discoveries serve as a stark condemnation of the historical injustices, cultural atrocities, and systemic abuse inflicted upon Indigenous communities in Canada. The unmarked graves bear witness to the pain, suffering, and loss experienced by countless Indigenous children who were subjected to the horrors of the residential school system.
As a way forward, several critical steps must be taken. First and foremost, there must be full transparency, investigation, and documentation of these unmarked graves. This process should involve collaboration with Indigenous communities, ensuring that their voices, experiences, and wishes are prioritized. It is essential to provide resources and support to these communities as they navigate the emotional and psychological toll of the discoveries.
And to honor the lives lost and pave a way forward, transparency, collaboration, and comprehensive actions are crucial. Only through acknowledging the past, seeking justice, and working towards reconciliation can Canada hope to heal the deep wounds inflicted upon its Indigenous communities.
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