Survival International

Survival International is a “global movement for the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples”. Founded in 1969 in London, its mission is to help indigenous and tribal peoples defend their lives, protect their lands and their human and fundamental rights against any form of persecution, racism and genocide.

Survival believes that public opinion is the only force capable of producing lasting change and therefore seeks to build a broad movement capable of ending the unfair and illegal treatment suffered by indigenous peoples. An important part of his work focuses on questioning racist attitudes towards indigenous peoples, raising public opinion about their realities and valuing their cultures and ways of life.

Its headquarters are located in London, but it also has offices in Madrid, Milan, Paris, Berlin and San Francisco.

History

Survival International was founded in 1969 after the publication of an article in the British newspaper Sunday Times, in which journalist Norman Lewis denounced the land theft and genocide that was taking place in the Brazilian Amazon.

It has been the first organization in its field to use mass letter sending as an instrument for its campaigns focused on various parts of the world, such as Siberia, Canada and Kenya. Several of these campaigns have been influential in modifying government policies and formalizing respect for the rights of indigenous peoples. In 2000, for example, the Government of India abandoned a plan to forcibly sedentarize the Jarawa people after receiving between 150-200 letters a day from Survival activists around the world. In 2001, shortly after the publication of a Survival appeal, the Government of Western Siberia banned oil drilling in the territory of the Khanty people for five years. Furthermore, Survival was the first organization to draw public attention to the effects of World Bank projects, now recognized as a major cause of misery affecting many non-industrialized countries.

Survival has received prestigious recognitions for its work, such as the León Felipe Prize (Spain), the “Right Livelihood Award” (the alternative Nobel Prize) and the “Medaglia d'oro della Presidenza della Camera dei Deputati” (Italy). In Spain Survival has been present since 1979.

Structure and objectives

Survival works at three complementary levels: education, awareness and campaigns. It rejects a welfare approach and helps indigenous organizations develop autonomously by providing them with the necessary technical and legal advice. Survival provides indigenous people with a platform that allows them to raise their voices and direct their claims to the world, and pressures governments and international organizations so that they adopt more effective laws that protect their rights.

The objectives of the Survival educational project are the demolition of the false myth according to which these peoples are relics destined to succumb to “progress” and the promotion of respect for their lifestyles. The organization believes that the diverse ways of life of indigenous peoples represent a model of environmental sustainability and interdependence with the environment and constitute a rich cultural heritage from which we can draw many lessons.

If we want to truly help societies, our first job must be to listen rather than dictate what we think they need, and we must be prepared to be surprised. This does not just apply to remote tribal peoples: it is vitally relevant for everyone in a world where ideas about multiculturalism are misunderstood and attacked, and where increasingly a few want to impose their opinions on others. - Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International, April 2007

Currently Survival has followers and sympathizers in 82 countries and its publications are translated into several languages. To maintain its principles and independence, the organization does not accept funds from any government and is completely self-financed thanks to donations from its supporters and what it receives through some fundraising initiatives.

Indigenous peoples and campaigns

The indigenous peoples of the world are made up of at least 370 million people and represent 6% of the planet's population. Survival does not advocate the theory that tribal peoples should be preserved in an “original” state, nor do they expect them to live protected like animals in a zoo or like relics in a museum. On the contrary, the organization works so that the world recognizes their rights to self-determination, physical and cultural survival, and ownership of their ancestral lands. In particular, the right to recognition of their traditional lands is a fundamental element for the survival of indigenous people: the land provides them with the means of subsistence and the possibility of developing their culture, guaranteeing their freedoms and rights.

Survival has launched information and pressure campaigns in various parts of the world and is currently monitoring cases in more than 40 countries. The most common threat that indigenous peoples face is the invasion of their lands by oil or mining companies, ranchers and loggers. Invasions often lead to forced displacement, violence, loss of livelihoods and traumatic changes in lifestyles. In addition, people living in isolation are particularly vulnerable to diseases contracted from abroad among those who do not have immune defenses: this threat is enough to annihilate a tribe completely. One of the organization's last successful campaigns was the initiative to save the Awá of Brazil. Settlers and illegal loggers have invaded the jungle where the tribe lives: the invaders have opened roads, hunted the animals on which the Awá depend, and exposed the tribe to disease and brutal violence. Due to the critical situation, Survival has called the Awá as “the most endangered tribe on earth.”

Another aspect that Survival devotes a lot of attention to is countering the description of indigenous people as “primitive” or “Stone Age” people; terms that reinforce the false idea that these peoples have remained unchanged for generations. Such a perception, he argues, is very dangerous because it feeds prejudices and is useful in legitimizing the violation of their rights. Stating, erroneously, that indigenous peoples have not evolved, justifies the idea that they need “help” to “develop” and “become civilized.”

Survival believes that the impact of the outside world on the existence of indigenous peoples and their culture is truly dramatic. The changes imposed by force in the name of “progress” inevitably lead to a degradation in their quality of life and increase the diseases and violence they suffer. His thesis is that indigenous and tribal peoples should maintain control over their own lives. The organization has documented the effects of this forced progress in the report “Progress Can Kill.”

Survival has also shed light on the drastic increase in suicides recorded among some indigenous peoples as a result of persecution and interference in their lives and cultures; Among the most affected are the Innu of Canada, the Australian aborigines and the Guaraní of Brazil. In fact, after being victims of displacement and forced sedentarization, many indigenous people are forced to live in environments to which they are not accustomed, in which they have nothing useful to do and are treated with racist disdain by the new neighbors. Alienated and hopeless, they end up taking refuge in drugs and alcohol. Domestic violence and sexual abuse are skyrocketing: many choose suicide.

All I can do is sit on this brick. We are just sitting here to receive rice. What life is this? (Testimony – dongria kondh, India)

Supports

The work of Survival International has received the support of numerous personalities who have achieved international fame: Richard Gere has spoken out in defense of the Chakma tribe in Bangladesh, Judi Dench has denounced the difficult situation in which the Arhuacos live in Colombia, and Colin Firth was the visible face of the campaign to save the Awas in Brazil. Survival “ambassadors” include Gillian Anderson, Quentin Blake and Julie Christie.

Several writers, artists, photographers and celebrities came together in the editorial project of the book “Somos Uno”, published within the framework of the organization's 40th anniversary celebration. Some names involved: Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Noam Chomsky, A.C. Grayling, Richard Gere, Jane Goodall, Germaine Greer, Damien Hirst, Peter Matthiessen, Don McCullin, George Monbiot, Carlo Petrini, Sebastião Salgado, Vandana Shiva, Arundhati Roy and Desmond Tutu.

In Spain, Survival's work has been supported by Víctor Manuel and Ana Belén, Belén Rueda, Rosa Montero, Adela Úcar, Iñaki and Robe de Extremoduro, the musical group El Bicho, among other personalities.

The Survival campaign for Guaraníes has inspired a film and a song: the first by the film director Marco Bechis, called Birdwatchers (Land of the Red Men), and filmed in 2008 after the death of the indigenous leader Marcos Verón; the second and most recent, the Guaraní-kayowá melody performed by Sara Pi and Érico Moreira. The artists donated part of the proceeds from downloading their digital version to the organization, for a year since its launch in 2014. In 2008, BBC documentary filmmaker Bruce Parry brought together prominent musical artists to record Amazon/Tribe – Songs for Survival, a double album whose sale allowed the organization to raise funds. Among the artists who participated: Mike Oldfield, Jason Mraz, Tom Baxter and Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas).

Publications

“Guardians of the Sacred Land Report”, Honor Drysdale, Survival International, 1994.

“There we go, again”, Oren Ginzburg, Hungry man books, 2005.

“Progress can kill”, Survival International, 2007.

“We Are One”, Joanna Eede, Spanish Blume edition, 2009.

“Indigenous Peoples for the world of tomorrow”, Stephen Corry, Círculo Rojo publishing house, 2014.