Normally the summer holidays (which stretch from Christmas to the end of February) tend to be a relatively quiet time workwise. This year, however, things got started rather quickly. In January, Argentina’s supreme court of justice announced it would be holding a public hearing on the issue of deforestation affecting indigenous lands in Salta. They arranged for a public hearing on the issue, which meant ASOCIANA staff had to suddenly put together documentary evidence for the lawyers representing the Indians who had bought the case before the court.

Scenes from the supreme court hearing (18 02 09) in Buenos Aires. The bottom right hand picture is of Dino Salas,
a wichi Indian leader, making the case for stopping deforestation on Indian lands

The hearing went well, and the court maintained an order for deforestation to be suspended in the north of Salta. In fact, it went so well that there are those who are suspicious about this being a ploy through which the state will give the Indians their day in court, and then simply bat the issue back to the provincial authorities in Salta. We hope and pray this is not the case, but this is a country where almost anything is possible.

After a very long period of gestation the book Andrew had been working on over the past years has finally gone into print. The title translates as “The Hunting and Gathering Peoples of the Salta Chaco”. It is essentially a compilation of facts and figures and includes data of the current situation of the five main ethnic tribes with regard to population, economy and lands. It gives detailed demographic information on each and every village in the region, their means of subsistence, and the lands that they use. It is hoped that this book, published together with the Universidad Nacional de Salta and the Instituto Nacional de Asuntos Indígenas will serve to strengthen the Indians claims for social justice.

Front cover of the book “The Hunting and Gathering Peoples of the Salta Chaco”

Andrew’s international traveling has been notably reduced this year as a consequence (you’ve guessed it) of the financial crisis which is obviously hitting charities very hard. The only confirmed trip for now is Colombia, between the 9th and 24th of May, where he will again be involved in assessing the impact of Compassion International´s work with sponsored children.

We continue to move slowly forward with our idea for establishing a program through which lands in the Chaco can be acquired, taken off the market, and set aside for conservation and sustainable use by local families and communities. It is a major challenge, and we are under no illusions of the magnitude of the challenges and costs that this vision will imply if it takes off.

Maria, along with home making and child rearing continues with occasional translation work, and now may venture into providing English conversation classes.