Vol. 1, Issue 1

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Inside…Profile: Jean-Philippe Soule, NP President Page 3

Increasing Visibility: Help or Hindrance?By Kelly Batstone

When I first read the Native Planet (NP) goal of maintaining indigenous cultures via increased visibility, I cringed. With a background in indigenous language maintenance and revival, I know that a major factor in the loss of a language - and eventually a culture - is often exposure to a dominant culture that insists on swallowing the minority one, sometimes to the point of extinction of the minority.

In my own research with the Canadian Labrador Inuit, I met a group that has been systematically abused by dominant groups. Through centuries of contact with Europeans and Canadians, the Inuit were forced to abandon their seasonal nomadic lifestyle, and punished for using their own language. Today, they are plagued by social problems ranging from poverty to widespread alcoholism. These challenges are often linked to loss of traditional culture. Unfortunately, the Inuit are not alone; indigenous cultures worldwide have faced similar problems through their interaction with more dominant cultures.

So, I was initially upset by what seemed to be NP's ignorant approach to cultural maintenance. As I continued to explore NP, though, I found myself agreeing with the organization.

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JOURNALNative Planet

Defining Ecoturism By Galina Lawrence

Mentawai EcotourTwo women visited the Mentawai of Siberut, on the first Native Planet-sponsored cultural ecotour in February.page 2

Queens of the DesertHeld annually in a region where the currency is camels, the Pushkar Camel Fair attracts Indian pilgrims and merchants drawn by a devotion to religion or business. www.nativeplanet.org

Bishnoi and Bhil people: The Desert DwellersFor centuries, the Bhil and the Bishnoi cultures have coexisted in the Rajasthan desert of central India. www.nativeplanet.org

Features page 3

Siberut Earthquake

In Brief page 2

Gurut Uma (Housewarming)

In Brief page 2

"NP advocates an approach to cultural survival that seeks more exposure for indigenous populations, but, on the terms of the people themselves."

Todos Santos Cuchumatan, Guatemala

Rajasthan Desert, Pushkar, India

NP News

Native Planet works with indigenous cultures like the Mentawai (pictured) to empower them for their survival in the face of increasing outside pressures.

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I learned that NP is aware of the history of oppression experienced by many indigenous cultures. At the same time, it sees the impact many dominant cultures are having on the planet, too. Natural resources are being destroyed to pursue economic interests and to build roads and houses to satisfy the demands of the developed world. By not informing the world about the peoples living in the areas of destruction, we help eliminate their cultures. If no one knows about the indigenous people living in these regions, how can anyone be expected to care about the loss when those people are forced to abandon their lifestyles to satisfy the 'needs' of other populations?

And worse still, if the indigenous groups themselves don't know that the roads are coming, what can they do to protect themselves from being torn up, along with the ground they live in harmony with?

NP advocates an approach to cultural survival that seeks more exposure for indigenous populations, but on the terms of the people themselves. It strives not only to raise awareness about the world's indigenous people, but also to give them a voice, and a chance to fight for their cultures before they are overrun. By helping indigenous communities learn how to design and manage cultural ecotours, for instance, NP responsibly introduces people to the wonders and intricacies of some of the world's least known cultures.

Native Planet is unique, as it respects, nurtures, and honours indigenous cultures without ignoring the outside world. Because of this progressive approach, NP is already having a significant and positive impact on keeping the rich and diverse indigenous cultures of the world alive. Indigenous cultures have a strong and faithful ally in Native Planet, while other cultures have a knowledgeable and determined teacher able to introduce them to other ways of life. It is a partnership that benefits us all, and those benefits will only increase as Native Planet grows.

* Visit www.nativeplanet.org/travel/travel.shtml

Native Planet Newsletter Editor Kelly Batstone has a Master of Arts in Linguistics, focusing on language maintenance and revival, from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Bopa gypsy nomadic family, Pushkar, Rajasthan Desert, India.

In Brief After the Quake

While it's been over a year since the earth stopped shaking and the waves receded in the Indian Ocean region, where a massive tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people in December 2004, the ongoing threat of natural disasters - and the reactions of indigenous peoples to it - raises questions. Read more in the next edition of NP Journal.

Gurut Uma (Housewarming)

March 5, 2005 - One Mentawai tribe held the house warming ceremony (gurut uma) for their new uma (traditional communal clan house), built with the support of Native Planet. The new uma is a significant step in cultural maintenance for the tribe, as it allowed them to move out of government settlements and return to their traditional way of life. One of the most important celebrations in the lives of the Mentawai, this gurut uma was marked by a large shared meal and spiritual and celebratory dancing. Read about the ceremony in detail in the next edition of NP Journal.

February 2-11, 2005: Two women visited the Mentawai of Siberut, Indonesia on the first Native Planet-sponsored cultural ecotour in February 2005. Led by NP Mentawai Project Manager Salim Manai, the tour took the adventurers on an intense jungle trek to one of the most remote Mentawai tribes, where their host families welcomed them. During their stay, the eco-travellers experienced numerous aspects of Mentawai culture, from preparing traditional foods to building a thatch roof to shamanic dancing and drumming. One participant said, “In a nutshell, the trip was great” and went on to describe it as “a life-changing experience.”Read all about the women's adventures in the next edition of the NP Journal.

Defining Ecotourism By Galina Lawrence

Native Planet believes that properly organised and well-managed ecotourism is important, particularly to poor, undeveloped and developing countries; it gives a good balance between preserving ecosystems and providing incomes for the communities.

But what is ecotourism?

Before a formal definition of ecotourism was coined in 1983, there were travellers who explored nature and culture more or less as back-packers. To distinguish this tête-à-tête with Mother Nature from mass tourism, a new term was needed - ecotourism.

In 1983, Hector Ceballos-Lascurian, one of Mexico's top architects, director-general of the International Consultancy on Ecotourism, and special advisor to the World Conservation Union, provided a formal definition for ecotourism, which has become the standard, internationally accepted definition:

Ecotourism:• is environmentally responsible travel to relatively undisturbed natural areas;• is done to enjoy, study, and appreciate nature and culture;• promotes conservation and does not harm the environment or culture; and• significantly helps the economies of the populations involved.

Ecotourism has become a powerful business since the mid-1980s. It has an annual growth of 15 percent, and is a large foreign exchange earner for South Africa, Kenya and Costa Rica. You can find ecotourism all over the world, including parts of the Pacific Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Australia.

At the same time, it is hard to determine real ecotourism.

“It is easier to explain what ecotourism is not,” says Ceballos-Lascuiran. “It's not casino tourism, it's not riding around at 70 kph on a jet ski in a mangrove swamp. It's not downhill skiing with lots of facilities. Too many contraptions is not ecotourism.”

Today, true ecotourism and ecotour companies are the exceptions. Native Planet believes that in order to become true ecotourism operators, companies should operate like non-governmental organisations, with the objectives of preserving local people and their environment.

It is important that eco-tourism remains true to Ceballos-Lascurian's definition. Native Planet strives to ensure that all of its tours are true ecotours.

For more information, e-mail newsletter@nativeplanet.org or visit www.nativeplanet.org

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Announcements

A Spectacular North Cascades Ride

June 11th, 7:00 - 10:30 AM, Winthrop, WA

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Ride Info: www.ride4areason.org

All photographs © Jean-Philippe Soule / www.npimages.org

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Ecotourism:

• is environmentally responsible travel to relatively undisturbed natural areas;• is done to enjoy, study, and appreciate nature and culture;• promotes conservation and does not harm the environment or culture; and• significantly helps the economies of the populations involved.

Hector Ceballos-Lascurian

Native Planet provides resources for those interested in ecotourism:

• Lists of recommended ecotour operators;• Travel preparation and travel health resources;• Conversation forum, travel stories, & recommended readings on cultural/travel topics;• Multi-media documentaries;• Education on minimizing impacts on indigenous cultures and environments;• Opportunities to take part in Specialty Adventure Volunteer Tours;• Assistance to companies willing to become successful in ecotourism.

DISCLAIMER�The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the organization, its staff or management. You may send your comments / suggestions to email.

"Native Planet is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the worldwide preservation of threatened indigenous cultures. Using ecotourism, education, documentaries and humanitarian projects, we offer native peoples a global voice and promote the self-empowerment necessary for them to protect their own land and lifestyles."

www.nativeplanet.org

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Profile: Jean-Philippe Soule,NP PresidentBy Kelly Batstone

All of these describe Jean-Philippe Soule, president and co-founder of Native Planet. Since early childhood, Jean-Philippe's curiosity about the world and its indigenous people has led him on a path of discovery. In 1992, that path brought him to the remote Indonesian island of Siberut, where he lived for six months with the Mentawai people. That experience changed his life.

After leaving Siberut, Jean-Philippe's thoughts stayed with the Mentawai.

“When I realized they were facing rapid assimilation and extinction, my involvement evolved into a lifetime commitment to educating people about native cultures and assisting traditional communities all over the world.”

In 1996, he combined his many talents and interests with his passion for indigenous cultures: he began planning the CASKE 2000 expedition, an extreme kayaking trip to remote indigenous groups in Latin America. He hoped the trip would catch media attention, thus alerting the general public to

the plight of indigenous people. Fellow sports enthusiast and Native Planet co-founder Luke Shullenberger joined him on the three-year trip.

While the expedition received little media coverage, public response to it was outstanding: the expedition website sometimes had as many as 50,000 visitors a month as people followed the pair's adventures online. Jean-Philippe knew that the role of CASKE 2000 could be expanded to document and help indigenous cultures and, to accommodate the changing goals, CASKE 2000 was replaced officially by Native Planet in 2001.

Since then, Jean-Philippe has dedicated his life to Native Planet. He returned to Indonesia in 2003, working with the Mentawai at the grassroots level to facilitate their self-empowerment and cultural preservation. Since returning to the United States, he has been working on building a completely volunteer-based Native Planet. His efforts are already seeing results; the organization has grown substantially, from two volunteers at the beginning of 2004 to over 50 now, and has partnered with three other non-governmental organizations to help with indigenous culture preservation.

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