Read a message from Soroptimist Chris Knight in celebration of The International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples

To all our SI Indigenous
Members and Friends I wish you a great day of celebrations.

Today is the UN
designated day to celebrate the International Day of the Worlds Indigenous
Peoples. The theme for 2011 is Indigenous designs: celebrating stories and
cultures, crafting our own future. More information can be located on: http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenousday/ 

I have many indigenous
friends close to home and around the world who have shared so much with me over
the years and I am really grateful for the opportunity to learn so much about
their culture and their family.

My own Club SI Moreton
North Inc. is very proud to have two Australian Indigenous Club Members – an
Elder of the Gubbi Gubbi People, Dr. Eve Fesl who is an Aboriginal
anthropologist and linguist and Machelle Kosiak who is a midwife and also
provides tertiary training to aboriginal students studying to become midwives
in the Northern Territory.

Eve is an
accomplished academic and lecturer and has a great sense of humour. You might
enjoy watching one of Eve’s short stories on YouTube which takes you on a
little journey around our local area and shares the aboriginal story of the
lungfish. It is called the Importance of Dala: The Queensland Lungfish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBY5uKXbkmM&feature=related

With our new SI
Focus on Education and Leadership it provides a wonderful opportunity for SI
Clubs around the world to consider projects that assist the preservation of
indigenous languages and cultures and to provide scholarships to assist our
indigenous women and children to access primary, secondary, tertiary education
and attend conferences that promote raising the status of women and human
rights.

Other points of interest
include: information on the Second International Decade of the World’s
Indigenous People (2005-2014) http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenousday/index.shtmland the statement below by UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-Moon.

Kindest
regards

Chris
Knight

SI Moreton
North Inc.

Queensland
Australia SISWP

                                                                                                                                           

Secretary-General’s
Message for 2011

On the International Day
of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we reaffirm the rights of indigenous peoples
and our shared commitment to advance the values of equity, justice and dignity
for all.

Indigenous peoples
represent remarkable diversity — 5,000 distinct groups in some 90 countries.
They make up more than 5 per cent of the world’s population, some 370 million
people. Together, they are custodians of a valuable and often fast-disappearing
cultural heritage. We see their creativity and innovations in the arts,
literature and the sciences. These contributions are highlighted by the theme
of this year’s observance, “Indigenous designs: celebrating stories and
cultures, crafting our own future”.

Indigenous peoples face
many challenges in maintaining their identity, traditions and customs, and
their cultural contributions are at times exploited and commercialized, with
little or no recognition. We must work harder to recognize and strengthen their
right to control their intellectual property, and help them to protect, develop
and be compensated fairly for the cultural heritage and traditional knowledge
that is ultimately of benefit to us all.

I encourage all Member
States to take concrete steps to address the challenges facing indigenous
peoples — including marginalization, extreme poverty and loss of lands,
territories and resources. Countries should also commit to ending the grave
human rights abuses that indigenous peoples encounter in many parts of the
world.

As we look forward to
the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in 2014, I urge all Member States to
work in full partnership with indigenous people to identify practical ideas and
proposals for action at this important gathering.

Together, let us
celebrate and recognize the stories, cultures and unique identities of
indigenous peoples around the world. At the same time, let us work to
strengthen their rights and support their aspirations.

Ban Ki-Moon