Tyson Woorama 's Blog
Posted by Tyson Woorama
The Kimberly Process guarantees that diamonds from Tsila (Bushmen) homelands are not "conflict diamonds," meaning diamonds that are associated with civil wars and conflict. However, this leaves out the criteria of human rights abuses and contravention of international law regarding the consultation of traditional landowners by mining companies. The Bushmen have been evicted illegally and forcibly from their land to make room for this mining activity. By any definition, this could be described as "conflict."
The government and mining companies have backpedalled on this issue in recent years, claiming that the Bushmen were removed for their welfare, not because of mining interests. This contradicts what they initially told the Tsila when they were evicted in 1985, when the Bushmen were told explicitly that they were being moved to sedentary settlements because of the diamond deposit.
These "relocation camps" are referred to by the Tsila as "places of death." De Beers backed their removal to these concentration camps with bogus research claiming that Gope has only recently been inhabited by Bushmen, and that they have no ancestral claim to the territory. Read more on this.
Posted by Tyson Woorama
"I am fair, I am aware that I am not what people are looking for when they want something black, something real, something authentic, something truly Aboriginal, but I am here. I am aware that as I look through magazines they are not of me, for me. The models white and pure, or black and foreign, and/or exotic, not from here not of me. I turn on the television and the advertisements make me feel that I have travelled to some other country, I am not at home. I see reports of our people and we are down again, so far down it is hard to see daylight. When observed, when exposed, we are mere microbes, lucky for some space, alien to white Australians, unknown quantities. Sad, sorry, other peripheral, not their problem. I travelled overseas and was amazed at how I became the exotic, the foreign, the other. Displacement, the other side. By placing myself behind the camera I am taking control of my self image and images of ourselves. I cannot, do not, take sole responsibility but challenge and attempt to reverse the expected. My mother marrying my father, white dress, black suit, the negative makes me laugh, the story makes my cry. Reverse roles. Look at me/us and do not see through me/us. Acknowledge me/us. I am right beside you."
July 1998
Posted by Tyson Woorama
Erosion of tribal culture in Corsica began with loss of language in the 1950s and 1960s, when school children were forbidden to speak Corsican, of which there are several different dialects on the island. Today the language paradoxically has a high status, and is used by the elite of the island to exclude poorer natives and migrants - kind of a secret password language for the upper echelons of Corsican society. However, these few Corsican words always exist within a colonial context - playing second fiddle to the French language of the island's invaders.
Corsica's cultural renaissance seems to consist mostly of exotic and colonial-friendly symbols of native "culture", with native icons being romanticised in much the same way as the didgeridoo in Australia. Corsica's leading families use language and culture in this way to foster a dominant tribal elite, designed simultaneously to exclude peripheral classes and minorities, and to stir nationalistic pride in the hope of attracting home prodigal sons and daughters who have enjoyed financial success on the mainland. Read more here about how this situation has led to racism on the island.
Posted by Tyson Woorama
The nomadic Kazakhs of Russia have been colonised by Slavs, Cossacks, Stalinists, and Soviets. Result - famine, fallout, and an average age of 31.
Kazakh means nomad. There are three main Kazakh zhuz (hordes), each composed of a number of clans descended from common ancestors.
In the 19th century population density in Kazakhstan was 1 person per sq km. By the end of that century their land had been colonised by Slavic and Cossack invaders. The Kazakh population had always existed in a delicate balance with what the land could provide, so great famines followed the invasion.
At that time there were about three and a half million Kazakhs. As late as 1926 three quarters of all Kazakhs were still living a traditional lifestyle, dependent on livestock and seasonal agriculture. In the late 1920s, Stalin ordered the nomads to settle, in a bid to “intensify agricultural production”. This crass stupidity led to the deaths of 90 percent of Kazakh livestock. The ensuing famine resulted in the loss of 40 percent of the Kazakh population. The “settling” of these Indigenous people was nothing short of genocide. Read more.
Posted by Tyson Woorama
The Prusi inhabited the area of Europe known today as former Prussia long before the arrival of the Russians, Latvians, Germans and Poles who now inhabit their territory. As Balts, the Prusi were closely related to Latvians and Lithuanians. "Letts", another name for the Prusi people, shows this link. The place called Danzig is still named for the pagan 'Dancing' that took place there during ceremonies related to hunting and fishing activities.
Habitation in the area of former Prussia dates back to 9000 B.C. and significant pagan burial sites have been found in the area. It is thought that hemp fields there might have been part of a major textile industry, with fabric traded along with baltic amber as far afield as China.
After World War II, Eastern Prussia was partitioned between Poland in the south and the Soviet Union in the north, leaving about 400,000 indigenous people in the South and an unknown number in the north. But the Prusi were first colonised by the Prussian state seven centuries before.
In the 13th century a Holy War was declared upon the indigenous pagans of the area by the Catholic Church, whose Teutonic Knights ethnically cleansed the Prusi and took their land. The main justification for this was the desire to wipe "paganism" from the face of the earth, a major goal of the Christian crusades (after loot, rape and land theft of course). As with most first nations the world over, the indigenous community remained within the new state, clinging to the shreds of culture and identity that remained following the genocidal invasion. They are still there today. Read more here.
