Vol. 8 · No. 2 · 2004

Wiveca Stegeborn

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'You have come too late', he said. The Government Agent avoided my eyes. With an instant glance at my face he returned to his concentrated staring outside the window. 'A meeting has already been held in Colombo; on January 28. The location of the National Park borders are determined. All people inside will be relocated.' (Excerpt from my field notes, 7 February 1982)

The meeting had taken place with short advanced notice. Few people were there: No-one from the provincial capital Badulla and no indigenous people.

The Indigenous Wanniyala-Aetto
If the Wanniyala-Aetto are going to survive as a culture they need to have the selfconfidence to speak out on their own, even in the presence of what they have been made to believe are 'more advanced' people (Singhalese, Tamils, people of the North). This can be achieved if they learn to critically examine government statements and legal documents. They need to establish an extensive network with UN bodies, human rights fora, indigenous NGOs and funding agencies. To gain this knowledge they need to find financial resources, excel at school and advance to higher education, maybe abroad such as in old 'Mother Country England'. Human rights and capacity building on indigenous issues is not on the agenda in Sri Lanka.