Presentación de Andrea Carmen (USA) en el marco del Seminario Internacional de Expertos sobre 'Diversidad Cultural, Sistemas Alimentarios y Estrategias Tradicionales de Vida' realizado del 4 al 6 de noviembre de 2014 en Cusco Perú.

1. Food Sovereignty, Cultural Indicators
and Traditional Knowledge
Cusco Peru, November 6, 2014

2. “Everyone has the right to
a standard of living
adequate for the health and
well-being of himself & of
his family…including food”
-- Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
1948
Health, Food and
Well-Being are Human Rights

3. “…In no case may
a people be
deprived of its
own means of
subsistence.”
-- Article 1 in Common,
International Covenants on
Civil and Political Rights
and on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights
Oregon, USA

4. What is “Food Sovereignty” ?
“Food sovereignty is the right of Peoples to define their own policies and
strategies for sustainable production, distribution, and consumption of
food, with respect for their own cultures and their own systems of
managing natural resources and rural areas, and is considered to be a
precondition for Food Security.”
- Declaration of Atitlan, 1st
Indigenous Peoples’ Global Consultation on the
Right to Food and Food Sovereignty, Guatemala, 2002

5. The Right to Food from the
Perspective of Indigenous Peoples
 The Right to Food for Indigenous
Peoples is a collective right;
 Based on our special spiritual
relationship with Mother Earth;
 Based on our lands and territories,
environment, and natural
resources that provide our
traditional nutrition;
 Nourishes our cultures, languages,
social life, worldview and
relationship with Mother Earth;
 “The denial of the Right to Food
denies us our physical survival,
social organization, cultures,
traditions, languages, spirituality,
sovereignty, and total identity”;
--The “Declaration of
of Atitlan”
Indigenous Peoples Define the Right to
Food from their own Perspective
Gwitch’in Singers,
Arctic Village,
Alaska

6. Colonization and Food Sovereignty
“Without the Buffalo, the independent life of the Indian
people could no longer be maintained. The Indian spirit,
along with that of the buffalo, suffered an enormous loss”
-- White Clay Bison Restoration Project, Ft. Belknap Reservation
Montana USA

7. In 2003 IITC carried out a
global consultation in
coordination with FAO to
identify the main obstacles
to Food Sovereignty for
Indigenous Peoples. 128
completed questionnaires
were received from
communities, food
producers, organizations,
and knowledge holders in
29 countries, representing
over 5000 persons

8. Fresh Water Aqueduct from Oviachi dam to
Ciudad Obregon, Rio Yaqui, Sonora Mexico
Obstacles Identified by Indigenous Peoples:
# 1: Denial of Land and Water Rights

9. The six biggest
producers of GMO seeds
-- Monsanto, Syngenta,
Dow Agrosciences,
BASF, Bayer, and
Pioneer (DuPont) -- are
also the
biggest producers of chemical herbicides and insect
Toxic Exports: Pesticides and GMO’s

10. Cristian Molina age 13,
died May 15th
, 2008,
with his mother in Potam Pueblo Sonora
Mexico 2006
Juan Antonio Rodriquez, age 2,
died April 11, 2013,
shown his grandmother in Vicam Rio
Yaqui Sonora Mexico; January 2013
Impacts: Disabilities and Infant Mortality

11. Imposed Development and Denial of Free,
Prior & Informed Consent
.
Diseased fish,
Athabasca Delta and
Lake, 2010
In 2008, the Treaty Chiefs of Alberta
adopted a resolution calling for a
Moratorium on expansion of tar
sands extraction.
Syncrude Mildred Lake Tar Sands
mine Northern Alberta, Canada

12. 75% of the respondents stated that they were
either not consulted at all or not listened to by
the governments, corporations, NGO’s,
national and international development
agencies carrying out programs impacting their
food sovereignty, cultural practices and ways of
life.

13. ...and Climate Change
“Climate change constitutes the single
most important threat to food security in
the future”.
Report of the UN Rapporteur on the Right to Food,
UN Human Rights Council, 2009
--- “
Montana Alaska

14. Mexico: Changing weather patterns include dramatic
decreases in summer rainfall directly impacting traditional
agriculture. Growing capacity of traditional crops such as corn is
decreasing dramatically in many regions

15. More than a million spring-run Chinook lived in Central
Valley waters. Today there are fewer than 10,000 - a
99% decline. In 2010, Researchers at UC Davis
created models to predict the effect of climate change
on the Chinook salmon run. In all the scenarios, even
the hopeful ones, spring run Chinook failed to survive
until 2099.
Northern California

16. And Loss of Language, Practices &
Ways of Transmitting Traditional
Knowledge to New Generations

17. History is Made: the UN General Assembly
Adopts the Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, September 2007
New York
September 13th, 2007
Geneva, 1977

18. Subsistence Rights and
Traditional Economies
“Indigenous peoples have the
right to maintain and develop
their political, economic and
social systems or institutions, to
be secure in the enjoyment of
their own means of subsistence
and development, and to engage
freely in all their traditional and
other economic activities.”
-- Article 20, para. 1

19. Lands, Territories and Resources
“Indigenous peoples have the right to the
lands, territories and resources which they
have traditionally owned, occupied or
otherwise used or acquired…”
--- Article 26, para 1.

20. Right to Education: Article 14
“Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control
their educational systems and institutions providing
education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate
to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.”

21. Article 25: Spiritual Relationship to
Traditional Lands and Resources
Yarn painting, Huichol Corn
Ceremony
“Indigenous peoples have
the right to maintain and
strengthen their
distinctive spiritual
relationship with their
traditionally owned or
otherwise occupied and
used lands, territories,
waters and coastal seas and
other resources and to
uphold their responsibilities
to future generations in this
regard.”

22. Environmental Protection and
Productive Capacity of Lands
Indigenous peoples have
the right to the
conservation and
protection of the
environment and the
productive capacity of
their lands or territories
and resources…
-- Article 29, para. 1

23. Article 32: FPIC and Development
“States shall consult and
cooperate in good faith with
the indigenous peoples
concerned through their own
representative institutions in
order to obtain their free and
informed consent prior to the
approval of any project
affecting their lands or
territories and other resources,
particularly in connection with
the development, utilization or
exploitation of their mineral,
water or other resources.”

24. Traditional Knowledge: Article 31
1. Indigenous peoples have
the right to maintain, control,
protect and develop their
cultural heritage, traditional
knowledge and traditional
cultural expressions, as well
as the manifestations of their
sciences, technologies and
cultures, including human
and genetic resources,
seeds, medicines, knowledge
of the properties of fauna and
flora…

25. Border Rights: Article 36
1. Indigenous peoples, in particular those divided by international
borders, have the right to maintain and develop contacts, relations and
cooperation, including activities for spiritual, cultural, political,
economic and social purposes, with their own members as well as
other peoples across borders.
2. States, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples,
shall take effective measures to facilitate the exercise and ensure
the implementation of this right.
North-South Seed
Trading and Sharing
2nd
International
Indigenous
Peoples Corn
Conference, 2014

26. The “Cultural Indicators for Food Security,
Food Sovereignty and Sustainable
Development”: a community tool to assess
threats and develop solutions
Traditional Prayer Stick guards the crops,
Rio Yaqui, Sonora Mexico

27. 11 Cultural Indicator Areas
Finalized at the 2nd Global Consultation on the Right to
Food and Food Security for Indigenous Peoples
Bilwi Nicaragua, September, 2006 (IITC, CADPI & FAO)
1. Access to, security for and integrity of lands, territories ad natural
resources for traditional food production
2. Abundance, scarcity and/or threats to traditional seeds, plant foods
and medicines, food animals, as well as cultural practices
associated with their protection and survival
3. Consumption and preparation of traditional plant and animal foods
and medicines, ceremonial/cultural and household use
4. Continued practice of ceremonies, dances,
prayers, songs and stories and other cultural
traditions related to the use of traditional
foods and subsistence practices.

28. 5. Preservation and continued use of language and traditional names
for foods and processes
6. Integrity of and access to sacred sites for ceremonial purposes
related to use of traditional foods
7. Migration and movement away from traditional lands return patterns
and relationships to continued use of traditional foods.
8. Effective consultations for planning, implementation and evaluation
applying Free, Prior Informed Consent and full participation
9. Mechanisms created by and accessible to Indigenous Peoples for
transmission of food-related traditional knowledge and practices to
future generations
10.Adaptability, resilience, resistance and/or restoration of traditional
food use and production in response to changing conditions
11.Ability of Indigenous Peoples to implement rights, legal norms and
standards as well on the community, national and international
levels

29. Chimaltenango, Guatemala
Field-testing the Cultural Indicators
2007 – 2010, 5 countries
Gaigirgordup, Kuna Yala, Panamá
Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Tucson, Arizona
Kuna Yala, Panama
Chickaloon Village, Alaska Vicam,Sonora, Mexico

31. Rio Yaqui, Sonora Mexico
Structural Indicator: The
Mexican Government’s “Green
Revolution” mandated hybrid
imported corn and other seeds
for Yaqui farmers to obtain
bank loans in the 1940’s - 70’s
Process Indicator: No formal
processes in place for elders to
share seeds and knowledge
Result Indicator: <15% Yaqui
farmers use or have access to
traditional seeds
Response: A new traditional
seed bank and seed trading
with other communities

32. Yaqui Traditional Leaders Assert Free, Prior
and Informed Consent, Declare Ban
on Aerial Spraying of Pesticides
December 2006, Vicam Pueblo, Rio Yaqui, Sonora, Mexico

33. Chickaloon Village Alaska
Structural Indicator: Boarding
Schools, Land Claims, State-run
education impacting inter-
generational knowledge sharing
Process Indicator: Family, clan
and community members teach
hunting, fishing & related cultural
knowledge, but not wild plant
gathering
Results Indicator: 80% of
adults and children did not
participate in wild plant gathering
(except berries)
Response: New program at
implemented at tribal school
for elders to teach gathering
and preparing of wild tsass

34. “49. We stress the importance of the participation of
indigenous peoples in the achievement of
sustainable development. We also recognize the
importance of the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of global,
regional, national and subnational implementation of
sustainable development strategies.”
Rio + 20 Outcome Document:
“The Future We Want”

35. The Voluntary Guidelines recognize the
Cultural Values of Indigenous Peoples
“State and non-state actors should acknowledge that
land, fisheries and forests have social, cultural,
spiritual, economic, environmental and political value
to indigenous peoples and other communities with
customary tenure systems.” -- Article 9.1, UN
Voluntary Guidelines for Land Tenure, Forests and
Fisheries, adopted May 2012

36. Yurok Girls gather
Tule reeds for
basket making,
Northern California
Follow up IITC consultation in 2012 – 2013
with input from over 5000 Indigenous
Peoples: 86% said that traditional
knowledge and practices can be useful in
responding to climate change

37. The UN Post-2015 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG’s):
Indigenous Peoples’ Priorities
• Culture as the “4th
pillar”
• Rights-based approach
(Land & resources,
Treaties, FPIC, Self-
determination, etc.)
• Protection for Traditional
Knowledge & Livelihoods
• Full participation and real
partnerships
Indigenous Peoples Rio+20 International
Conference, Rio de Janeiro, June 2022

38. Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved
nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture
2.3. by 2030 double the agricultural productivity and the
incomes of small-scale food producers, particularly women,
indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and
fishers, including through secure and equal access to land,
other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial
services, markets, and opportunities for value addition and
non-farm employment
Final proposed Goals and Targets agreed
by the Open Working Group on July 19,
2014

39. 39
Traditional Knowledge, Cultural Rights and
Solutions to Climate Change:
Cultural Indicators Areas 2, 6 and 10
“Tule marshes absorb more than ten times
more carbon than a pine forest”
-- Dr. William Carmen (Yaqui) Wildlife Biologist

40. Indigenous Peoples International Corn
Conference, September 2012

41. “The health and survival of our corn mother/father
in all its natural varieties, colors and original
strength and resilience cannot be separated from
the health and survival of our Peoples. Our
struggles to protect corn as a source of our lives
cannot be separated from our struggles to defend
our rights to land, water, traditional knowledge
and self-determination.”
--- Declaration of Santo Domingo Tomaltepec,
September 30th
, 2012

42. Sharing and Trading Seeds at the Indigenous Peoples “Corn is Life”
Gathering, September, 2013, Tsaile, Arizona and the 2nd
International
Indigenous Peoples Corn Conference, Okmulgee Oklahoma, September 2014

43. “The cycles of our lives and the countless generations of our Peoples
are merged with the life cycles of the Salmon. Salmon is our traditional
food but it also defines who we are… The health of the Salmon is one
with the spiritual, cultural, and physical health of our Peoples”
--- Declaration from the Indigenous Peoples' International Gathering to
Honor, Protect and Defend the Salmon, June 23rd
, 2013,
Yurok Nation, Klamath River, Northern California

44. “Before there were human
beings, before there was man
and woman, there was the corn.
The spirit of the corn, the corn
song, the corn pollen -- they were
always here. Take care of your
family corn. It is a sacred being.
It is who we are and how we are
made. Listen to that song. Learn
your language. The corn is
praying for you to come home
and be healed.”
Declaration of a GMO- and Pesticide-Free Food
Sovereignty Zone, Dine’ Nation Territory,
Indigenous Peoples “Corn is Life” Gathering
September 19 – 21, 2013, Tsaile, Arizona
-- Dine’ Hataali Avery Denny,
September 20th
, 2013.

45. The Family Farm: essential for revitalizing and
transmitting our traditional food knowledge

46. Cheoque Utesia, Thank you very much