Posts Tagged: "indigenous people"

Not on Our Land: Banning Tourists from Traditional Villages

In a remote village close to the Amazon river in Colombia, 800 indigenous people are striving to uphold their culture and tradition in the face of tourism pressure. Nazareth, located deep in the jungle, is a 20-minute boat ride from the nearest town. The area is an ecotourism attraction because of the diverse flora and […]

Botswana’s Bushmen Win Fight for the Right to Water

An appeals court in Botswana has ruled that indigenous Bushmen can drill wells for water on their traditional land in the Kalahari Game Reserve. After a legal battle of more than a decade, it seems that the Bushmen can finally return to live on their ancestral lands – that is, if the government accepts the […]

To Climb or Not to Climb Sacred Mountains: The Case of Uluru

Is your vacation choice blasphemy? Travelers visiting churches, mosques and temples are used to making concessions such as wearing head coverings, removing shoes or refraining from photographing sacred items. But what if the holy site is a living mountain? How do you preserve its sanctity? Do you opt not to hike or photograph it? Indigenous […]

Bushmen’s Survival Threatened

Botswana’s government recently initiated a new round of forced evictions and human rights violations against the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert, according to Survival International (SI), a London-based NGO that advocates for indigenous rights. The Bushmen have lived in the Kalahari for thousands of years. During the 1980s, the Botswana government designated part of their […]

Logging, Development Proposed for Cultural Heritage Site in Australia

Logging and the development of an ecotourism resort threaten Australia’s Recherche Bay, where one of the earliest known meetings between Tasmania’s Aboriginal people and European explorers took place. According to historians, archaeologists and ethnologists, Recherche Bay has significant cultural and historical value. French expeditions landed there in 1792 and again in 1793, staying several weeks […]

Brazil Sets Aside Land for Indigenous Tribes

Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recently authorized the creation of a 6,500-square-mile reservation for indigenous people in the country’s northern state of Roraima. The president’s decision begins another chapter in a 30-year-long struggle that has resulted in the deaths of more than 20 Brazilian Indians, according to Amnesty International. Creating the reservation will […]