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Walking Forward
in the Footprints of the Past
Renaissance
Magazine
Oct - Nov 2002 |
by
Caroline Chaplin
"We, the Indigenous Peoples, walk to the future in
the footprints of our ancestors."
KARI-OCA
Declaration, Brazil, 30 May 1992
Robby Romero is indeed a man who walks
firmly and powerfully into the future. I had the privilege
of meeting Robby when he was recently in South Africa at
the World Summit for Sustainable Development. He bears the
imposing title of UN Ambassador of Youth for the
Environment and I was uncertain about what to expect when
I went to meet him. I found a charming, warm, friendly man
with a remarkable intellect and a passion for the Earth
that we live on. Robby is committed to bringing attention
to the plight of many Indigenous Peoples who have their
rights exploited by big business and who do not bargain
from a position of power. He is also passionate about
preserving this planet for future generations and about
the need for corporate business to take responsibility for
their actions and to clean up after themselves.
Robby has recently released a film,
"Thunderstorm: Americašs Last Frontier," about
the plight of the Arctic National Wildlife refuge. Since
the Exxon Valdez oil spill of over a decade ago, only two
of the twenty two species of sea life and wildlife which
existed in the area are on the recovery list. Over 400 oil
spills occur annually in Alaska alone.
Robby joined more than 300
representatives of Indigenous Peoples from around the
world who gathered in Kimberley August 22nd to reaffirm
the importance of human and environmental sustainability.
He is the founder of the non profit organization "Native
Children's Survival." The primary focus of this
organization is creating awareness through the arts about
environmental and human rights issues, and Robby does this
with great gusto through his films and his Native rock
band Red Thunder.
Robby is quoted as saying "Everything
new is hidden in the past. Be not concerned with
correcting history, get involved in creating it."
Deep words containing a lot of wisdom that we could surely
use in this beautiful country of ours! Right now there are
more than 20 Indigenous youth representatives at the WSSD
expressing concerns about their future, which could be
affected by uncontrolled development and loss of rights.
Should this happen, it would impact on us all.
www.eaglethunder.com
www.thunderstormtour.org
These two websites both belong to Robby
Romero. Robby is part of a Native rock group so you can
also download his music, which is an added bonus! Visit
both sites to experience the dynamic Robby Romero!
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