From a Garifuna leader in Belize.

• Author: Palacio, Joseph O.
• Position: FROM READERS - Letter to the Editor

Especially of concern, to me, is the continuing decline in the currency of indigenous peoples by conservationists and their friends and supporters. It speaks volumes, especially as the indigenous peoples themselves are losing ground among themselves--here I refer to the growing de-culturation and the quickness to avoid being indigenous. It is as if indigenous peoples themselves have gotten the message and are moving ahead of the international community to shed their identity. My response is that there are embedded cultural norms among us that seem to react against us when we try to deny our true identity. The ancestors respond in various ways to remind us...