Posted by our sister site, IMDiversity Asian-American Village:
The results of the 46th Merrie Monarch Festival, held in Hilo, Hawai'i last week. The new overall winners were Ke Kai O Kahiki, and the Miss Aloha Hula 2009 honor goes to Cherissa Henoheanapuaikawaokele Kane.
The Merrie Monarch Festival was founded for "the perpetuation, preservation, and promotion of the art of hula and the Hawaiian culture through education. The festival is considered the world's premier forum for people of all ages to display their skills and knowledge of the art of ancient and modern hula."
To learn more, see: http://www.merriemonarchfestival.org
Monday, April 20, 2009
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Peru's Amazon protesters withdraw insurgency call
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks .Print ..Sat May 16, 9:02 pm ET
LIMA, Peru – Indigenous groups protesting laws opening Peru's Amazon to oil and natural resource development said Saturday they would withdraw a call for an insurgency against the government, but vowed to press ahead with their protests.
Indian leader Alberto Pizango said the government misinterpreted the use of the term insurgency in his group's declaration on Friday, and "for that reason we are withdrawing it."
"But the mobilization of the Amazon people will continue within the rule of law," said the president of the Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of Peru's Jungle, which leads a movement that has blocked roads, waterways and a state oil pipeline since April.
The government had warned that anyone participating in an uprising could be charged with sedition. On Saturday, it authorized the armed forces to support police in quelling protests and guaranteeing services in five Amazon provinces.
The protests, against decrees aligning Peruvian law with a free-trade deal with the United States, have affected production at oil wells owned by Argentina's Pluspetrol, French-English Perenco, Petroperu and Talisman.
President Alan Garcia defended the laws as needed to help impoverished Peru develop.
"We have to understand that when there are resources like oil, gas, wood ... they don't belong to the group that had the good fortune to be born there, because that would mean that more than half of Peru's territory belongs to a few thousand people," the president said Saturday.
But Amazon groups say the laws would pave their way for their ancestral lands to be taken over by multinational companies.
The protests involve some 30,000 Indians across six provinces.
Does this sound familiar? We should all do what we can to help our brothers and sisters.
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