On Friday, Brazzil magazine published a piece about the Brazilian court judgement on the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous lands, due this week. Under threat from rice farmers, the Indians of Raposa-Serra do Sol have suffered violent attacks such as the one in this video. On Thursday 27 August, Brazil’s Supreme Court will decide whether the demarcation of the indigenous area stands, in a ruling that could affect tribal lands throughout the Amazon. The Guardian (UK) also reported on the pending court ruling.

The BBC’s Crossing Continents reported on Mayan protests over Canadian mining giant Goldcorp’s planned mine in Guatemala.

“After I spoke at [Goldcorp's annual shareholder's meeting],” Mayan activist Mario Tema says, “a shareholder approached me and he told me ‘I don’t care about your cause, all I care about is the money in my pocket.’”

Last week, The Scotsman revealed that Edinburgh-based investment company Martin Currie has sold its shares in London-based mining company Vedanta Resources after concern about its plans to mine the Dongria Kondh’s sacred Niyamgiri mountain in India. The paper then asked ‘So, what misery does your pension pay for?’ Unsurprisingly, the Dongria Kondh got another mention.

Indyblogs’ Andrew Buncombe covered the ongoing struggle against Vedanta and says:

It’s heartening to know that the people who promised to continue their campaign whatever the Supreme Court ruled were not making empty promises.

And finally… we heard that this year’s Fell Edge Fest, an ‘end of summer celebration combining workshops of all shapes and sizes and an eclectic mix of bands and DJs to party the night away’ will be held in aid of Survival. It’s to be held somewhere in the Yorkshire Dales, 12-14 September. More via Facebook or on the Fell Edge Fest site.

I had mixed feelings when I learned last week that Laura, the co-ordinator of our Berlin office, is leaving Survival.

Mixed because we’re all excited for Laura, of course – but sad that someone’s leaving who it’s been such a pleasure working with and who has steered our German office through so many changes and brought it so much further forward.

I asked Laura to write a few words about her experiences working for Survival, and here they are. If you’re interested in joining Survival as our new Berlin office co-ordinator, take a look at the job advert in English or in German. But hurry – recruitment closes on 27 August.

Working for Survival Deutschland was both a challenge and a real pleasure. Challenging because I had the daunting task of promoting indigenous peoples’ rights in Germany, but also a great pleasure, as I could be creative about ways of spreading our message: that tribal peoples are out there, that they are neither ‘primitive’ nor in need of ‘progress’, and that where their land rights are recognised, their communities thrive.

The office is situated in the House of Democracy and Human Rights, which offers great networking opportunities and facilities for meetings and events. I also had great support from several volunteers and interns, who contributed a great deal of their time to Survival and helped in many different ways.

During my time at Survival, I set up a press database, liaised with journalists, contacted shops and festivals to display our flyers, participated in events with our stalls and kept our growing supporter base informed about the latest news on tribal peoples, amongst other things.

Once a year, I also met up for a week in London with my colleagues from the other offices in Paris, Milan, Madrid, Amsterdam and London – and whilst during the year we communicated by phone or email, the personal meetings gave me an important source of support.

One of the highlights of my time with Survival was when Davi Kopenawa, a shaman and leader of the Yanomami Indians from the Amazon, came to visit Berlin. I had the pleasure of organising his meetings with press, politicians and foundations. Meeting him will always remain one of my fondest memories.

I will never stop promoting the rights of indigenous peoples in this world. My personal situation calls for a change now, but my devotion to the goals of Survival will last forever.

  

The spectacular island of Vorovoro, Fiji,
is Tribewanted’s physical home

Some years ago, in the South Pacific Ocean, a new kind of tribe came to life. Hailing from every stretch of the planet, Tribewanted was formed as a travellers’ community to bring novel ways of living ethically to the Fijian isle of Vorovoro and to their own lives.

They make decisions collectively as a web-based social network but with a very physical, island life too. They invite new tribe members to join them online and on island to experience their unique lifestyle.

Tribewanted are now asking those who sign up for a slice of island life to also join Survival. We’re excited that visitors to Vorovoro will have a chance to help tribal peoples the world over in their struggle for their lands and human rights.

Tribewanted was the creation of Ben Keene and Mark Bowness who wanted to make an eco-village of visiting travellers living and working with local Fijians.

They have championed their model of sustainable living with the fascinating internet dimension that keeps the tribe alive and together long after visiting tribe members leave the island.

It’s been so successful that, in January this year, it became the subject of a BBC series tracking the ups and downs of this visionary project.

It continues to blossom as a vibrant social network beating MySpace as Best Social Network at London’s Broadcast Digital Media Awards. Tribewanted, in its many forms, awaits you.