The 100 or so delegates brought with them papers, tasks to be accomplished and much hope. The delegates concentrated on defining the objectives for the Decade of the indigenous peoples, the problem of funding and organisational questions. Let us listen to the voices of some of those who were there. On balance it has been a bad year. We were unable to raise the funds we wanted to launch the developmental projects we had established.
Indian territories continue to be used for military purposes and as chemical dumping grounds.
A few days earlier, forty yanomani brothers fell victim to the barbarism in Brazil. The destruction of ceremonial centres and sacred sites has continued. However, we have succeeded in breaking the silence. Economic and legal problems were confronted in their vast complexity. We are the inheritors of important cultural and social values.