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Deusdedit Ruhangariyo
Special to ICT
Around the world: For the first time, there will be a Māori film festival in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, Western Australia’s Indigenous enterprise plan prioritizes sustainability, Northwest Territories elder excited to receive award and there are renewed calls for the release of Uyghur academic.
NEW ZEALAND: Film festival a first for region
The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre has joined forces with the Wairoa Māori Film Festival to debut the Kiriata Māori Cinema Showcase during Waitangi weekend, a holiday weekend that takes place on the first Monday in February every year, Te Ao Maori News reported on Jan. 21.
The exhibition will feature a curated collection of documentaries, short films and moving image artworks crafted by Māori filmmakers.
The selection was personally curated by Leo Koziol, director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival.
“Kiriata Māori 2024 is a special programme for the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, as the full festival was unable to go ahead last year because of the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle on the East Coast. Many of the planned films will now be able to screen at the Kiriata Māori Showcase,” Koziol said, according to Te Ao Maori News.
Additionally, there was a program of short films by filmmakers with ancestral connections to Taranaki, titled “Me He Maunga Teitei.” This program featured films by Aroha Awarau, Katie Wolfe, and Rachel House.
Another notable work was Heather Randerson’s “Te Whenua Tupu Ora,” a film produced by the Hokianga-based Niniwa Collective. This film showcased images of Kauri die-back projected onto the sand dunes of the Hokianga.
AUSTRALIA: Plan prioritizes sustainability
Western Australia will carefully transfer control of over 20 million hectares of land to remote Indigenous communities, prioritizing sustainable economic opportunities, National Indigenous Times reported on Jan. 17.
The Western Australian Government has confirmed its intent to draft legislation expediting the transfer of more than 20 million hectares of land from the Aboriginal Lands Trust to 142 remote communities, which are home to 12,000 Indigenous residents.
This move is designed to facilitate a smoother transition for Indigenous enterprise and homeownership, eliminating restrictive land tenure rules that have hindered growth and prevented Aboriginal people from owning homes for over half a century.
Land tenure reform for remote Aboriginal communities has enjoyed bipartisan support from successive governments since the 1990s. However, Western Australia aims to streamline the process to support Indigenous individuals with homeownership, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Western Australia Liberal MP Neil Thomson noted there are enough remote communities near mainstream economies for these reforms to benefit Indigenous communities.
Northern Australia Minister Madeleine King has proposed the establishment of a fund financed by mining and resource projects to invest in remote Indigenous housing. This approach involves residents making long-term lease payments that yield a profit for the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.
Recent bipartisan efforts in Western Australia have seen some Aboriginal Lands Trust land transferred to Traditional Owners, greatly benefiting Indigenous communities and businesses. Notably, in 2022, the renowned Kimberley tourism precinct at El Questro was returned to the Wilinggin Aboriginal Corporation, securing them a nature reserve and freehold title over 165,000 hectares through a new Indigenous Land Use Agreement with the Western Australia government.
In 2014, the Western Australia Liberal government granted 73 hectares of historically significant ALT land to the Bidan community in West Kimberley. Traditional Owners have since utilized it for tourism and business endeavors. The Western Australia government is exploring similar transfers to empower Indigenous communities statewide for economic development.
CANADA: Elder excited to receive award
Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Inuvialuk Elder Steven “Guluk” Cockney Sr. expressed genuine surprise upon learning he had won one of the four community-based awards in the Northwest Territories, APTN News reported on Jan. 16.
“It’s something new to me, I’ve never had an award like this before in my lifetime,” said Cockney, according to APTN News. “I was really surprised.”
Northwest Territories’ Recreation and Parks Association recently revealed the award recipients. Nominator Karen King highlighted Cockney’s role in uplifting both youth and adults by preserving traditional Inuit and northern games that have thrived since the 1970s in the MacKenzie-Beaufort Delta region.
The Elder Award acknowledges those who share their wisdom with the community, supporting all generations in their journey towards physical, mental and cultural well-being.
“You don’t think of trying to be as good as you are, you just want to do the work that you know, the knowledge that you have throughout the years,” Cockney said.
His dedication to preserving the skills and values of traditional Northern Games, originating in the Arctic, was shaped through his travels and collaboration with the late Edward Lennie, known as “the father of the northern games,” who was posthumously inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame last October.
“I’m really thankful for these people that were behind me, that helped me out and helped me come up to this level where I get their appreciation … to be there for their kids,” he said, according to APTN News. “It’s something that I’m sure will be with me for, for a long, long time.”
CHINA: Calls for academic’s release
The U.S. State Department, lawmakers and human rights groups marked the 10th anniversary of jailed Uyghur academic and blogger Ilham Tohti’s arrest with renewed calls for China to release him, while his daughter urged Beijing to provide proof that he remains alive, Radio Free Asia reported on Jan. 16.
Ilham Tohti, a prominent economics professor and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, faced arrest on January 15, 2014. During his tenure as a professor, he consistently shed light on the religious and cultural oppression faced by the predominantly Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Subsequently, he was convicted of promoting separatism in a two-day show trial and sentenced to life in prison on Sept. 23 of the same year. Tragically, Tohti has not been seen or heard from since 2017.
On this matter, the State Department issued a statement on Monday, urging the immediate and unconditional release of Tohti, asserting that he remains in detention “simply for advocating for the rights of Uyghurs and other minority groups” in China.
“His life sentence demonstrates [China’s] efforts to silence those brave enough to speak out against the government’s discriminatory practices and other human rights abuses, which include genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,” it said, according to Radio Free Asia.
The bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter (now X), also demanded an end to his “unjust” detention. The commission emphasized the need to seek his release and called for an end to the genocide in Xinjiang.
During Tohti’s trial, the court cited his criticism of Beijing’s ethnic policies, interviews with foreign media and his work on the Chinese-language website Uighurbiz.net, which was shut down by Chinese authorities in 2014.
Despite Beijing branding him as a “separatist,” many have praised his commitment to peaceful interethnic dialogue between his ethnic group and China’s Han Chinese majority. Tohti’s achievements include being nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, receiving over 10 international human rights awards since his sentencing, including the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2016 and the Sakharov Award for “Freedom of Thought” in 2019.
Tohit was a finalist for the peace prize in both 2020 and 2023.
During an interview with Radio Free Asia, Jewher Ilham, his daughter, called on the Chinese government to provide evidence of her father’s well-being. She highlighted that for the past decade, her family was only permitted to see him once every three months from 2014 to 2017.
“We lost all communication with my father after 2017, so I don’t even know if he is still alive,” she said, according to Radio Free Asia, and added that the only time the Chinese government and media mentioned Tohti was in 2019, when they criticized the European Parliament for giving the Sakharov Award to “a criminal.”
“My hope is that my father will be awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize because … [I believe it] will help pave the way for his freedom,” she said, according to Radio Free Asia. “What’s most important to me is for my father to return home and reunite with my brothers and me.”
My final thoughts
My final thoughts are with jailed Uyghur academic and blogger Ilham Tohti and I would like to join all peace-loving people around the globe to join hands and call for China to release him unconditionally.
I am glad rights groups have rightly brought attention to the solemn anniversary, emphasizing the urgency of addressing Ilham Tohti’s prolonged detention. This case exemplifies a severe injustice, and it’s imperative for governments and academic institutions to intensify their efforts in pressuring the Chinese government to secure his release.
To condemn such a blatant violation of human rights is not only just but necessary. Ilham Tohti’s continued detention, especially for his peaceful advocacy, is a grave injustice that demands global condemnation. It is an affront to fundamental principles of freedom of expression and the rule of law.
Diplomatic channels should be actively utilized to engage with Chinese authorities on this matter. International pressure and public awareness campaigns can play a pivotal role in urging the Chinese government to rectify this injustice.
Furthermore, academic institutions should continue to champion the cause of academic freedom and human rights. They can support scholars at risk and collaborate with organizations that work towards the release of unjustly detained academics worldwide.
Together, concerted efforts can help secure justice for Ilham Tohti and uphold the values of freedom and justice that are fundamental to society.
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