EVALUACIÓN DE LA ACTIVIDAD ANTIBACTERIANA POR EL MÉTODO DE DIFUSION EN DISCO Y

Language is not merely a tool for communication; by learning and using a language, the user learns basic cultural heritage knowledge, and people who use a common language build a unique cultural identity by sharing and passing on this heritage knowledge.

Helaine Silverman and D. Fairchild Ruggles (2007:3) have described heritage as follows:

Heritage is by no means a neutral category of self-definition nor an inherently positive thing: It is a concept that can promote self-knowledge, facilitate communication and learning, and guide the stewardship of the present culture and its historic past.

It is clear that heritage is at the core of indigenous identities. In addition, WIPO suggests that to protect indigenous heritage (the term that has been adopted by WIPO is ‘traditional cultural expressions, or expressions of folklore27’) the value of heritage should be emphasised, and indigenous peoples should be provided with the legal and practical means to prevent the misappropriation of traditional cultural heritage. The Australian Heritage Commission gives a perspicuous definition of the term ‘indigenous heritage’ as follows:

Indigenous heritage is dynamic. It includes tangible and intangible expressions of culture that link generations of Indigenous people over time. Indigenous people express their cultural heritage through ‘the person’, their relationships with country, people, beliefs, knowledge, law, language, symbols, ways of living, sea, land and objects all of which arise from Indigenous spirituality.” (Australian Heritage Commission 2002:4)

With this viewpoint in mind one may further state that, if the language of a people is lost, the heritage vanishes along with it; if the heritage of a people is lost, the identity of the people becomes increasingly vague and may even disappear. There is a close connection between language, language speakers and their cultural heritage. To consider a reality from a UNESCO survey, over 600 of the world’s languages have become extinct so far. Moreover, every two weeks another language is lost, and in most cases the lost languages are indigenous languages.

In the United Nations 2008 International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Languages, the loss of indigenous languages was described as not only “the loss of traditional knowledge” but was also highlighted as representing “the loss of cultural diversity”.28 Furthermore, the loss of indigenous languages was said to undermine the “identity and spirituality of the community and the individual.”29 The sad fact is, however,

27

“ [S]ome indigenous and local communities question the term ‘folklore’, which is used in international legal instruments and many national laws. A number of communities expressed concern that this term can suggest that their cultures were static, dormant, obsolete, or somehow valued less than other cultures. In recognition of those concerns, WIPO commenced using the more neutral term ‘traditional cultural expressions’ in parallel with the synonym, ‘expressions of folklore.’” (WIPO 2007) Here, I use the term ‘heritage’ to refer to WIPO’s idea of ‘folklore’.

28

The United Nations 2008 International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Languages, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/Factsheet_languages_FINAL.pdf

29

The United Nations 2008 International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Languages, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/Factsheet_languages_FINAL.pdf

if indigenous peoples are not active in the revitalization their indigenous languages, consequently the language will be doomed to extinction.

Throughout history, the assimilative educational policies of the overwhelming majority of colonizers have forced indigenous students to undergo instruction in colonial languages. This has led to the younger indigenous generations being unable to use or speak their own languages. In addition, with the development of technology and the Internet, as well as the encroachment of dominant culture, contemporary indigenous families often communicate in the home using the national language. A further indication of the decline of indigenous languages is that, for current indigenous generations, the chance to learn their indigenous languages comes primarily from schooling, not from their parents passing on their mother tongue to the next generation. Saving moribund languages and securing language rights is therefore a pressing and urgent matter.

The Seventh Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues stated that indigenous peoples’ language rights include the following:

·The right to be educated in their mother tongue.

·The right to have indigenous languages recognized in constitutions and laws. ·The right to live free from discrimination on the grounds of language. ·The right to established and have access to media in indigenous language. The United Nations 2008

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/Factsheet_languages_FINAL.pdf

In addition, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples also makes the following declarations:

· Guaranteeing the right to mother-tongue education for indigenous for indigenous children. · Allocating the funding and resources needed to preserve and develop indigenous languages, and particularly for education.

· Translating laws and key political texts into indigenous languages so that indigenous Peoples may better participate in the political and legal fields.

· Establishing language-immersion programmes for both indigenous children and adults.

· Raising the prestige of indigenous languages by promoting the use of indigenous languages in public administration and academic institutions.

· Using indigenous languages so that they are kept alive and passed down through the generations by indigenous peoples themselves.

The United Nations 2007

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf

The above language rights aim to secure the protection and resources needed by indigenous peoples with respect to language rights, and the best means of obtaining this is through the right to indigenous language education. As described previously, currently the main channel through which most of the world’s indigenous children learn their indigenous languages is school. Therefore, safeguarding the rights of indigenous children to learn indigenous languages in school will help the revitalization and development of indigenous languages. Next, if the development of a language is to be long-term, it is necessary to have an environment in which it can be used, in other words, acquiring media, public areas and academic institutions in which indigenous languages can be spoken will provide venues for the use of such languages. At the same time, increasing

the frequency and visibility of the use of indigenous languages will reduce and even eliminate discrimination problems regarding indigenous languages. Finally, boosting the status of indigenous languages by making them official languages is also an important means of developing indigenous languages.

Let me stress again that if the language of a people is lost, then the heritage will be lost. One may say that the struggle to acquire indigenous language rights is equivalent to the struggle to acquire cultural heritage rights.