· November, 2007

Stories about Indigenous from November, 2007

Anguilla: Invasive vs. Native

  30 November 2007

As a common beach plant threatens to take over the island of Sombrero and eliminate the remaining native species, Corruption-free Anguilla asks: “Why are they spending money sending people to invasive species workshops if we then fail to do the actual work?”

Madagascar: Building a wooden boat

  28 November 2007

Ruth explains how people build wooden boats in Madagascar: “Jean finished building his latest boat 2 weeks ago. It’s a traditional wooden boat built using methods passed down from older fishermen in his district…”

Peace Corps bloggers from Burkina Faso

  26 November 2007

My first post for Global Voices Online discussed the expatriate bloggers living and working and writing in Burkina Faso. Today, we’ll investigate another group of expatriates living in Burkina Faso as we delve into Peace Corps bloggers.

Serbia: Kosovo Election, Before and After

  20 November 2007

Balkan Baby writes about the post-election Kosovo: “Will the parliament be truly representative though, including members not only of the Kosovar and Serbian communities but also the other minorities participating in the election, namely Ashkali, Bosnjak, Gorani, Turkish, Egyptian and Romani? Probably not, leading to the conclusion once more that...

Serbia: A View on the Status of Kosovo

  19 November 2007

Balkan Anarchist writes about Kosovo and his own views on the situation: “In the interest of being respectful to both sides in this issue, how about, instead of claiming how Kosovo is just Serbian or only Albanian, we say Kosovo is both Serbian and Albanian! Why not? Not to mention...

Peru: Education Among the Shawi Indians

  19 November 2007

Nila Vigil of Instituto Linguístico de Invierno [es] writes about her experiences during a recent trip in the area of the River Paranapura in the Peruvian Amazon, where she found low education levels among the indigenous populations because bilingual education is not in use and racism among the population.

Estonia: The Swedes

  16 November 2007

Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonian Swedes: “…I came to the conclusion that Estonian Swedes do have a certain unspoken minority status in Estonia: they are marginal. No one writes about them. No one thinks about them. They exist, are deemed somewhat exotic, but then forgotten. They are simply unimportant....

The other side of the coin: English blogs in Burkina Faso

  16 November 2007

As Burkinabé journalist Rasmata Some pointed out last month: “In Burkina Faso, blogging is more than a pastime. It is the eyes and ears of thousands of net users.” She was writing about French-language blogs of this former French colony. For Burkinabé journalists and citizens, she says, the blogsphere is a place to freely report and discuss topics the government would rather have left unsaid. For the growing list of English-language bloggers in Burkina Faso, blogging is also more than a pastime.

Guatemala: Local Self-Determination on Mining Lands

  15 November 2007

The mining industry has increased in importance in Guatemala, where given the market prices of some metals and minerals, the lands that many communities are situated are in high demand. Often these communities, especially indigenous peoples, demand a say in how their lands are used. The questions that bloggers have been asking are where is the development and what will happen when these companies leave

Jamaica: Push Carts

  13 November 2007

Montego Bay Day By Day features a photograph of one of the Jamaican town's push cart vendors.

Ukraine: 1,000 Riot Police vs 50 Crimean Tatars

  8 November 2007

Ukrainiana critiques TV coverage of the recent clash between nearly a thousand of Ukrainian riot police and 50 Crimean Tatars at Mount Ay-Petri in Crimea – and asks some questions: “Why is it that some have to bear the full brunt of the law while others stay above the law?...

China: Different views on the Dalai's medal

  5 November 2007

Despite the current Dalai Lama‘s officially illegitimate status within China, bloggers nonetheless took notice when American president George Bush awarded him with a Congressional Gold Medal last month. Blogspot user Master Zhong has written a fairly typical criticism post—as typical as all the other posts which discuss the futility of...

Russia: Bloggers’ Perspectives on Xenophobia

  3 November 2007

Wherever you click in the Russian blogosphere these days, you always seem to end up reading posts on nationalism, ethnicity, xenophobia, ethnic violence and other related subjects. In October, apart from discussing the famous DNA scientist's race comments and the U.S. president's DNA comments, Russian bloggers dealt with at least two xenophobic attacks - one that took place in Spain, and the other one domestic.