Description
Indigenous Cultures in an Interconnected World is a collection of nine essays presented in 1997 at the Fulbright symposium held in Darwin. Indigenous People from nine countries attended the meeting to discuss the impact of globalization on Indigenous People and their cultures and how they approached the challenges and opportunities presented by this phenomenon. The topics focused on the issues facing Indigenous People of the Americas and Australia. One article discussed the variety of new technologies utilized by Native Americans to express their identity, cultures, and issues. From web sites, new media such as CD-ROMs, to chat rooms, organizations and individuals access these tools that express and clarify their views. The representation of Indigenous Peoples remains a concern and several articles address this issue. During the planning of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the subsequent games, Indigenous People of Australia played an interesting role. Viewed as a tourism and marketing tool for Australia by the Olympic Games organizers, the Indigenous People worked to effectively portray their culture and history during the sporting events. The paper by Lisa Meekison explores Indigenous presence at the Sydney Games. The impact of globalization, the cultural arts, and cultural tourism are additional topics discussed in this collection. Despite its date of publication, this collection is an important contribution to the knowledge about Indigenous People and their relationship to globalization.