Siraya update

[William J Poser]

The failure to recognize indigeneous peoples is not just a "political"
problem. Some years ago a friend of mine who did not speak English
was tried for two counts of murder in proceedings conducted entirely
in English. The court appointed an interpreter for "Indian". The
variety of "Indian" that the interpreter spoke was not the same
language as the one my friend spoke. It took considerable time and
effort to persuade the court that there is more than one Indian
language spoken in the area and to appoint an interpreter for the
correct language.

Not long afterward, the university was very proud of itself for
hosting various kinds of "Indian" ceremonies, unaware of the fact
that these ceremonies were those of traditional enemies of the
indigenous people of the area in which the university is located
and that many of the actual indigenous people of the area considered
the university to be engaged in enemy witchcraft.

Bill