Wednesday, July 18, 2007

There Goes The Neighborhood

For thousands of years the Hadzabe tribe has survived by way of hunting and gathering. They have survived agriculture, the introduction of guns, missionaries, and most all encroachment by modern civilization... until now. The remaining 1,500's descendants could be the next school teachers, business leaders and modern men and women of Tanzania due to a favor granted by the Tanzanian government. That is all well save that they did not ask for this and was not included in the deal given to the Royal Family of the United Arab Emirates.

After a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family took a helicopter tour near the Serengeti Plain, the royal family member stated that he would like a portion for himself as it looked too crowded. The government agreed and is currently proceeding to take the land from the Hadzabe tribe and give exclusive rights to the Royal Family of the United Arab Emirates.

You can read more here.

Some questions:
-Based on what you read in the linked article, does this seem fair?
-Should Royalty be given exclusive access to lands inhabited by a people 1,000's of years before the government was ever enacted?
-What do you think would be a proper way to handle this situation?
-Does the financial benefit given to Tanzania outweigh a small group of people's heritage?

No comments: