Indigenous
Peoples
Indigenous
peoples are peoples defined in international or national legislation as having
a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular
territory, and their cultural or historical distinctiveness from other
populations that are often politically dominant. The concept of indigenous
peoples defines these groups as particularly vulnerable to exploitation,
marginalization and oppression by nation states that may still be formed from
the colonising populations, or by politically dominant ethnic groups. As a
result, a special set of political rights in accordance with international law
have been set forth by international organizations such as the United Nations,
the International Labour Organization and the World Bank.
The United Nations have issued a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples to guide member-state national policies to collective rights of
indigenous peoples—such as culture, identity, language, and access to
employment, health, education, and natural resources. Although no definitive
definition of "indigenous peoples" exists, estimates put the total
population of post-colonial indigenous peoples who seek human rights and
discrimination redress from 220 million to 350 million. Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Who are indigenous peoples?
It is estimated that there are more
than 370 million indigenous people spread across 70 countries worldwide.
Practicing unique traditions, they retain social, cultural, economic and
political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies
in which they live. Spread across the world from the Arctic to the South
Pacific, they are the descendants - according to a common definition - of those
who inhabited a country or a geographical region at the time when people of
different cultures or ethnic origins arrived. The new arrivals later became
dominant through conquest, occupation, settlement or other means.
Among the indigenous peoples are
those of the Americas (for example, the Lakota in the USA, the Mayas in
Guatemala or the Aymaras in Bolivia), the Inuit and Aleutians of the
circumpolar region, the Saami of northern Europe, the Aborigines and Torres
Strait Islanders of Australia and the Maori of New Zealand. These and most
other indigenous peoples have retained distinct characteristics which are
clearly different from those of other segments of the national populations.
HAZARDS OF WOMEN'S WORK
Regarding the health of
women in industry, much has been said and some definite investigations have
been made. The influx of women into occupations to which they were unaccustomed
caused great concern lest the hazards of their employment be too great.
Scientific inquiries have been undertaken on certain questions about which
there has been much conjecture, such as: 1. What are the relative effects of
the industrial poisons upon men and women? Some poisons such as lead and
mercury have already been shown to be more injurious to women than to men. 2.
What is the peculiar effect of bad posture upon women? 3. What are the effects
of fatigue upon women not found in the case of men? 4. Do the hazards of heat,
dust, humidity, devitalized air, and weather exposure react particularly upon
women workers? Many of these questions have heretofore been considered
primarily in relation to the child-bearing functions. However, this point of
view must be extended to facilitate the discussion of other factors whose
importance arises from individual and industrial effects rather than racial
effects; but which relatively are of great importance in dealing with the
situation.
Industrial Workers and their Health: An Anthropological Reflection and Vision
Health problems in
industry have been freely discussed during the independence period and some
preliminary standards have been defined and partially applied. Beginnings have
been made which promised much for the solution of some vexed labor questions.
How much good will finally result now depends upon the way the temporary
experiences are moulded together into a permanent labor policy.
Health problems were
forced upon the attention of the country by the national exigency. Immediate independence
needs required maximum production on the part of every industrial agency. It
soon became evident that this level of production could not be reached or
maintained except by the physical fitness of every unit. For the first time in
generations man power was valued at its full worth. The old system under which
men disabled by sickness or accident were scrapped and new men took their
places, rapidly broke down. A "new industrial day" came for the
worker. He was raised to the level of the machine on which he worked.
Clear-headed people saw that the provision for care must be extended to keep
the worker fit, just as care had always been extended to keep the plant
machinery in the best running order and the dumb beasts well fed and efficient.
Herbert Spencer said
more than a half century ago: Not only is it the event of a war often turns on
the strength and hardiness of the soldiers, but it is that the contests of
commerce are in part determined by the bodily endurance of producers. Already,
under the keen competition of modern life, the application required of almost
everyone is such as few can bear without more or less injury. Already,
thousands break down under the high pressure they are subject to. If this
pressure continues to increase, as it seems likely to do, it will try severely
all but the soundest constitutions. Dr. Victor Vaughan said more recently: That
government is the best which secures for its citizens the greatest freedom from
disease, the highest degree of health and the longest life, and that people
which most fully secure the enjoyment of these blessings will dominate the
world (1).
Prof. Thomas Nixon
Carver expressed more exactly the national significance of working power: The
most valuable resource of any country is its fund of human energy, that is, the
working power, both mental and physical, of its people. It is safe to say that
any capable race of men who will conserve, economize and utilize that fund will
be able not only to extract a living but actually to prosper in the midst of
poor natural surroundings. On the other hand, if they fail to economize their
fund of energy, if they waste and dissipate it, they will certainly decay in
the midst of the richest geographical and material resources. With the return
of peace and the demobilization of labor, there is danger that we may revert to
the old standards and begin again our progress along the weary road toward
industrial health. There are some clearly marked milestones, however, which
will stand as guides.
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