Summary: Working Group on Indigenous Peoples, Gender and Development

Indigenous children and the role of traditional education

The third meeting of this working group was more than ever characterized by warmth and solidarity among the participants, boding well for its aims to improve cooperation, integration, exchange and acceptance between civil society and indigenous people in developing and developed countries, in the international arena. The focus on children permitted a free and often idealistic discussion with an eye on the long-term future.

Ms. Moana Sinclair from the UN High Commission for Human Rights gave the first presentation, in which she described the development of Maori education in New Zealand over the last thirty years. Instrumental in this process were her uncles, who created the first Maori university (opened in 1979) with Maori as its first language, which challenged the Western curriculum. It became the focus for a Maori 'renaissance' involving agriculture, religion, health and language. On a grass roots level, it was the women who brought about the fundamental reclamation of the early education of children, despite often having gone without this indigenous education themselves. An education from early childhood to tertiary level based on indigenous values and methods gives the Maori population (13% of New Zealanders) a firm base from which to confront the effects of 'globalization'.

Ms. Catarina Ixmata, of the Asocación Centro Cultural y Artesanal Pop Atziak (Guatemala) focused on the importance of respect being instilled in children from an early age: respect for elders, for tradition, for god, for the corn, for nature. Traditional Mayan education has always taken this philosophy as a first principle, with women educating girls, men educating boys and the family playing a central role.

Ms. Martha Llanos from the Environment, Culture and Society Institute (Peru) spoke of the value of informal education, and of the values of sharing and cooperation common to many indigenous traditions. In relation to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, she stressed the responsibility of adults to understand children and to learn from them. She recommended more study on children, more stress on the early years of childhood, and the increased use of indigenous languages.

Ms. Anna Pinto, representing the Centre for Organization for Research and Education brought up the problem of the lack of traditional education in India. In North-East India, state schooling is causing children to lose traditional knowledge. Children in Manipur faced gunfire in 1980 to demonstrate for their right to be educated in their own language. Ms. Pinto explained that the government policy is of assimilation and tries to treat children's rights to education and to self-determination as separate issues when they need to be treated together.

Interesting questions
One questioner pointed out that the panel's ideas were far ahead of reality, and that traditional life may have solutions to many of the world's problems, but indigenous peoples continue to be oppressed. A global campaign for peace education was proposed, but ignored. Education on the environment and traditional cultivation were suggested as fundamental and viable policies for long-term peace. Moana Sinclair referred to the use of intellectual property law as a partial solution.

Conclusions
It was generally agreed that the principles of indigenous culture should be fundamental to the curricula of indigenous children. Bilingual, mixed traditional and mainstream education were recommended. UN mechanisms must be reformed to do more for indigenous peoples, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child needs to be taken into greater account.

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