Indigenous groups expelled
WHS where, in the name of "Protection" (i.e excluding expulsions as a result of pure conquest), Governments have used (or acquiesced in) physical/legal force or "unequal" treaties to expel indigenous groups or otherwise deprive them of their historical access rights. The deprivation may have taken place many years ago at the time of original creation of a Reserve or National Park, in the immediate run up to nomination or even after inscription.
A number of quotations referencing the WHS in this Connection are taken from common sources. To avoid repeating these unnecessarily they have been identified by initials as follows -
a. USNP-IP "The Establishment of the US National Parks and the eviction of Indigenous People" - link.
b. WHS-IPR "World Heritage Sites and Indigenous Peoples' Rights" produced by the "International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs" (IWGIA). See - this link.
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | Batwa. “The establishment in 1991 of Bwindi and Mgahinga forests as national parks resulted in the permanent eviction and exclusion of the Batwa from their homeland” (WHS-IPR) | |
| Kaeng Krachan Forest | "Karen communities who are asking to be allowed to return to their traditional homelands from which they were evicted since 1996" (AB ev) | |
| Kahuzi-Biega National Park | Twa. “The expulsion of the Twa from their forests had already begun before the establishment of the National Park, at the end of the 1960s, and was conducted by staff from the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) with the support of the armed forces. Starting around 1967, the Twa who were living in what was the Kahuzi-Biega Reserve were forced out of the area on the orders of the provincial authorities” (WHS-IPR) | |
| Kenya Lake System | Bogoria: Endorois. “The Government of Kenya forcefully evicted them from their area of habitation on the shores of Lake Bogoria after the Lake Bogoria Game Reserve was created in 1973.” (WHS-IPR) | |
| Mesa Verde | Ute. “Surveys found that many of the highest quality Anasazi ruins were on Ute land outside of the park. The government thus began a long process of trying to acquire these lands from the Utes through land trades… The Utes had no interest in trading. However, government negotiators eventually pointed out that Congress could simply take their land for nothing, and the Utes reluctantly agreed to exchange 10,000 acres for 19,500 acres on Ute Mountain. When a later USGS survey found that the park still excluded an important site, Congress passed a bill unilaterally taking 1,320 more acres for Mesa Verde, without notification to the Utes” | |
| Ngorongoro | Maasai. “Perhaps the most critical land loss was experienced by the pastoralists living on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater. As a consequence of the villagization programme of the mid 1970s and the hardening conservation rule they were evicted from the Ngorongoro Crater in the late 1970s. Grazing and watering of livestock in the Crater, covering an area of some 250 square km, were prohibited - | |
| Sangha Trinational | Baka . “This pattern is similar in CAR and Congo and, in all three countries, large areas customarily used by Pygmy communities have been included in national parks, where all access is prohibited.” (WHS-IPR) | |
| Serengeti | Maasai. Anglo-Maasai Agreement 1958 – “Under this agreement, the Maasai were expected to have moved out of Serengeti National Park by 31 December 1959 and in the main they had moved by the deadline. Some force was used against those who remained past the deadline, and all were considered gone by the end of 1960” | |
| Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng | Karen/Hmong. “The lead-up to the nomination had already seen a considerable amount of coerced resettlement of communities from both Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai Naresuan. Karen villages in Huai Kha Khaeng had been removed in the 1970s when the Wildlife Sanctuary was established and when the Sri Nakarin Dam was built and later flooded their settlement areas. During the 1980s, most villages of the Hmong ethnic group were removed from the Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife sanctuaries” (WHS-IPR) | |
| Tsodilo | Khoesan/Juc’hoansi “The most immediate impact of this was on the Juc’hoansi village because it fell inside the core zone. Negotiations to move the settlement began in 1994 and, in 1997, the Juc’hoansi moved” (WHS-IPR) | |
| Virunga National Park | The protected area was extended in 1929 by Virunga National Park, which encompassed the Virunga Mountains, parts of the Rutshuru Territory and the plains south of Lake Edward. Its initial size of 2,920.98 km2 (1,127.80 sq mi) was enlarged step by step in subsequent years.Indigenous people, foremost Hutus and Tutsis lost their traditional land rights in this process, and were evicted from the protected area.(wiki) | |
| Waterton Glacier International Peace Park | Glacier - Blackfeet. “To garner funds for food and basic supplies, the tribe then began to sell pieces of their remaining land to the federal government. In 1895, they sold 800,000 acres west of the current reservation; lands that would form the eastern half of Glacier National Park in 1910… (Certain) Blackfeet rights were guaranteed in the language of the 1895 Agreement…….. In 1932, a US District Court decided that these reserved rights were extinguished upon designation of the national park, arguing that the land in question ceased to be "public land" once it had become a national park” | |
| Western Ghats | Adivasi. “The widespread illegal evictions that were taking place across the country in 2002 under the guise of reversing encroachment into the forests, and the consequent state violence, led to a nationwide struggle of Adivasis asserting their traditional and customary rights, insisting that ‘historic injustice’ be rectified through the recognition of their rights to their lands and resources” (WHS-IPR) | |
| Yellowstone | Shoshone “When Yellowstone became the first official National Park in 1872, it was soon clear that the Shoshone were not going to be tolerated ….in 1879, the tribe was removed from the park area by dint of a never-ratified treaty from 1868” (USNP-IP) | |
| Yosemite National Park | Ahwahneechee. “in 1851, California soldiers "discovered" the valley while pursuing the Ahwahneechee.” The soldiers expelled the Ahwahneechee and renamed their valley "Yosemite." But the Ahwahneechee returned, and worked humiliating jobs entertaining tourists as "Indian performers" to remain in their homeland. The national park finally evicted the last of them and burned down their remaining homes in a fire-fighting drill in 1969.” (USNP-IP) | |
| ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape | "In 1931, the last stronghold of the San in South Africa was gazetted as the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, and whilst park management initially allowed the San to continue living in the park, they were soon evicted for good." (see link) |
Suggestions?
Do you know of another WHS we could connect to Indigenous groups expelled?
A connection should:
- Not be "self evident"
- Link at least 3 different sites
- Not duplicate or merely subdivide the "Category" assignment already identified on this site.
- Add some knowledge or insight (whether significant or trivial!) about WHS for the users of this site
- Be explained, with reference to a source