Going Native

www.cwis.org Pop quiz: How many nations are there in the world? Try 7,000 to 10,000 at least, according to the Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS). That’s nations, not states, meaning "a self-identifying people who share a common history, often language, a common culture and a homeland." In 1984, two American Indians, one a member ...

www.cwis.org

Pop quiz: How many nations are there in the world? Try 7,000 to 10,000 at least, according to the Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS). That’s nations, not states, meaning "a self-identifying people who share a common history, often language, a common culture and a homeland."

In 1984, two American Indians, one a member of the Cowlitz tribe and the other from the Shuswap Nation, founded CWIS as a document clearinghouse. It has since evolved into an academic research and advocacy tool for the "fourth world," or stateless nations. The site can be heavy-handed, but it offers more than academic rhetoric. CWIS hosts a well-organized archive of hard-to-find documents about the condition of indigenous peoples, including treaties, articles, and United Nations speeches, along with a few back issues of the center’s Fourth World Journal.

The site includes some eye-catching exposés: One report alleges that the Indonesian military waged biological warfare against indigenous people in West Papua in 1971 through tapeworm-infested pigs; another details how the U.S. government tried to sell nuclear waste dumps on American Indian reservations as "economic development." Both help explain why much of the site’s academic research is mixed with such a strong dose of advocacy.

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