Oct 12 - Mac Chapin, Center for the Support of Native Lands

Difficult Relations: Assistance Programs with Indigenous Peoples in Latin America

In November 2004 I published an article titled “A Challenge to Conservationists” in the magazine World Watch.  It noted that, among other things, the largest conservationist NGOs – specifically, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Conservation International (CI) – were increasingly ignoring collaborative work with local peoples in indigenous areas around the world.  Somewhat to my surprise, the article was widely read and there were reactions, often heated, on both sides of what soon became a conservationist-indigenous peoples debate.  It clearly struck a chord – and in some cases a nerve.

Shortly after the article appeared I decided to do an in-depth study of relations between indigenous peoples and donor agencies, with a focus on Latin America.  As I moved forward on this front, I became convinced that while the indigenous peoples-conservationist dynamic was worth looking at, the conservationist NGOs are little more than bit players in a high-stakes drama involving donor agencies, national governments,  and private companies of the extractive variety.  These were the primary actors that indigenous peoples must relate to at one time or another, and it is here where the real danger lies.  Some of these groups are hostile to their interests and others are sympathetic, and they come in all sizes and shapes, with all sorts of agendas; yet one finds that the Indians seldom if ever trust any of them.  As the director of one agency that supports indigenous peoples and considers itself to be an ally recently said to me: “We feel that we can’t sit down at the same table and have an honest, open conversation with them.”  Why is this the case?       

Mac Chapin is an anthropologist who has worked with indigenous peoples in various parts of the world for over 40 years.  He did fieldwork for the PhD dissertation among the Kuna of Panama and has worked for USAID, the Inter-American Foundation, Cultural Survival, and the Center for the Support of Native Lands.  He and the Native Lands staff produced two maps of Central America (one included southern Mexico) in collaboration with the National Geographic Society (1992 & 2002) showing the relationship between indigenous territories and natural ecosystems; and he has published widely on indigenous issues in Latin America.  Since 1992, he has been involved in participatory mapping with indigenous peoples in Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. 

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