AIM-West hosts International Day of the Worlds Indigenous People

American Indian Movement – West (AIM-West) will host San Francisco’s observance of the United Nations International Day of the World Indigenous People on Sunday, August 9th, from 10:30am – 4:30pm at the San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Ave.

The day’s events will include talks by Madonna Thunder Hawk, American Indian Movement Elder and co-founder of Women of All Red Nations (W.A.R.N.), and Shirley Begay of San Francisco’s Native American Health Center, as well as performances by Jeremy Goodfeather, Goodshield, All Nations Drum, Medicine Warriors, the Andean Project, Aztec Dancers and David Escobar. There will also be a screening of the award winning PBS documentary “We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee” and a special showing of the new documentary by Adrian Carrasco and AIM-West: “El Salvador: I Want My People To Live”.

The day’s schedule will be as follows:

10:30 - Aztec dancers
11:00 - Invocation (Doug Duncan, Fred Short)
11:15 - All Nations Drum
11:25 - Press Conference & Invited Speakers
11:45 – Medicine Warriors Dance Exhibition
12:00 - Andean Project Dance Exhibition
12:20 – Potluck lunch
12:30 – Performance by Jeremy Goodfeather
12:40 - Shirley Begay discusses HIV in Native communities
12:55 – Performance by Goodshield
1:15 – Performance by David Escobar
1:35 - Screening of "El Salvador: I Want My People To Live"
2:10 - film Q&A with David Escobar, Tony Gonzales
2:35 - Screening of "We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee"
3:55 - Madonna Thunder Hawk discusses Wounded Knee and current struggles
4:15 - closing

The theme for this year’s UN observance is “Indigenous Peoples and HIV/AIDS”.

Indigenous peoples, especially indigenous women, are particularly vulnerable to the threat of HIV/AIDS, suffering disproportionately from a number of socio-economic difficulties that increase the spread of the disease, including poverty, marginalization, homelessness and poor access to education.

Indigenous communities often lack access to basic health care and culturally-adequate information on the causes, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, indigenous peoples tend to be isolated from decision-making processes, and are therefore seldom involved in the formulation of effective strategies to prevent the spread of the disease.

In a message to mark the Day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the vulnerability of indigenous peoples to HIV/AIDS, noting that, “It is essential that indigenous peoples have access to the information and infrastructure necessary for detection, treatment and protection”.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was adopted in 2007, underscores the right of indigenous peoples to all social and health services, and to the enjoyment of the highest standards of physical and mental health.

August 9th, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People was established in 1994 by the United Nations General Assembly.

For more information, please visit http://www.aimwest.info or call (415) 577-1492.

AIM-West
http://www.aimwest.info

UN site for International Day of the World’s Indigenous People
http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenous/2009/

Jeremy Goodfeather
http://www.myspace.com/jeremygoodfeather

Goodshield
http://www.myspace.com/goodshield77

San Francisco Native Health Center
http://www.nativehealth.org

San Francisco Native American AIDS Project
http://www.naap-ca.org

San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building
http://www.sfwmpac.org