UNM Press Release

The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920, 249-4669, cgonzal@unm.edu

Nov. 10, 2005

Int'l Education Week at UNM Features Festival, Symposium

International Education Week is being recognized for the first time in the state, as proclaimed by Gov. Bill Richardson. An international festival highlighting the cultures of UNM's international students and Albuquerque community members is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov.16 from 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. The international festival features food from local ethnic restaurants as well as entertainment from Brazil, Chile, India, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey.

An international festival and symposium on rights of indigenous peoples in North and South America will take place during International Education week, Nov. 14-18 at the University of New Mexico. The free symposium brings together indigenous leaders and academics from the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala, Columbia and a number of other countries. Topics include human rights, effects of globalization, conflict and resistance and peacemaking.

Luis Macas, president of the National Indigenous Confederation of Ecuador (CONAIE) an internationally known advocate for indigenous rights will deliver the keynote address. The program features two films, “Po'pay,” a new film on the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, introduced by UNM Associate Professor of Anthropology and Native American Studies Beverly Singer; and “Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action.” New Mexico participants in the programs include Cabinet Secretary Benny Shendo Jr, New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs; Greg Cajete, UNM Native American Studies; and LaDonna Harris, Americans for Indian Opportunity.

The symposium is presented as a part of the United Nations' “Second Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples,” which began Jan. 1. A report on the symposium will be forwarded for inclusion in the “Draft Program for Action” now being compiled by the United States General Assembly, and to other international bodies including the World Bank and the Organization of American States.

For a schedule, the proclamation and more information on the symposium, visit: http://www.unm.edu/~nasinfo/symposiumindigenous/index.html or contact David Lujan, American Friends Service Committee, 264-8565, or Roxanne Olguin, UNM Native American Studies, 277-3917.

The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.