INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS TRADE AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT AND UNITY PACT BETWEEN THE KALINAGO PEOPLE (REPRESENTED BY THE CARIB COUNCIL OF DOMINICA) WITH THE FOUR WORLDS INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HUMAN AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND FOUR DIRECTIONS INTERNATIONAL OF CANADA
PREAMBLE:

We speak as one, guided by the sacred teachings and spiritual traditions of the Four Directions that uplift, guide, protect, warn, inspire and challenge the entire human family to live in ways that sustain and enhance human life and the life of all who dwell on Mother Earth, and hereby dedicate our lives and energies to healing and developing ourselves, the web of relationships that make our world, and the way we live with Mother Earth.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Starting from within, working in a circle, in a sacred manner, we heal ourselves, our relationships and our world.

"STARTING FROM WITHIN"

Development Comes From Within The process of healing and development unfolds from within each person, relationship, family, community or nation.

Vision A vision of who we can become is like a magnet drawing us to our potential. Where there is no vision, there can be no development.

Culturally Based Healing and development must be rooted in the wisdom, knowledge and living processes of our cultures.

Interconnectedness Because everything is connected to everything else, any aspect of our healing and development is related to all the others (personal, social, cultural, economic, etc.). When we work on any part, the whole circle is affected.

"WORKING IN A CIRCLE"

Growth and healing for the Individual, the Family and the Community must go hand in hand.

Working at one level without attending to the other is not enough. Personal and social development as well as top-down and bottom-up approaches must be balanced.

Unity We need to love, support and caring of others to heal and develop ourselves. Unity is the starting point for development. No unity, no development

Participation People have to be actively engaged in the process of their own healing and development. Without participation, there can be no development.

Justice Each person must be treated with respect as a human being and a child of the Creator, regardless of gender, race, culture, religion or any other reason. Everyone should be accorded the opportunity to fully participate in the processes of healing and development, and to receive a share of the benefits.

"IN A SACRED MANNER"

Spirituality Spirituality is at the centre of healing and development. Connection with the Creator brings life, unity, love and purpose to the process, and is expressed through a heart-centred approach to all that we do.

Harmonizing with Natural Law Growth is a process of uncovering who we truly are as human being in harmony with the natural laws of the Universe.

Walking in Balance Codes of morality, ethics and protocol teach us how to walk the road of life in a good way. Violating moral and ethical boundaries destroy the process of healing and development.

Working from Principle Our plans and actions are founded on our deepest understanding of the principles that describe how the universe is ordered and how healing and development unfold.

"WE HEAL AND DEVELOP OURSELVES, OUR RELATIONSHIPS AND OUR WORLD"

Learning Learning to live in ways that promote life and health is the essence of our development. Our primary strategy is therefore the promotion of this type of learning.

Sustainability When we take actions to improve our lives or the lives of others, it is critical to avoid undermining the natural systems upon which all life depends and to work in ways that enhance the capacity of people to continue in the path of their own healing and development.

Move to the Positive Solving the critical problems in our lives and communities is best approached by visualizing and moving into the positive alternative that we wish to create, and building on the strength we already have, rather that giving away our energy fighting the negative.

Be the Change you Want to See In all of our actions, we seek to be living examples of the changes we wish to see in the world. By walking the path, we make the path visible.

Utilizing these guided principles for building a sustainable, harmonious, peaceful, just and unified world for all members of the human family and, with full respect for those international convenants, treaties, conventions, laws and agreements that uplift, guide, empower, unify, support, and enhance all life within, above and upon our Beloved Mother Earth, with all the sincerity and commitment of our hearts and minds, we agree to work together to promote the cultural, educational, social, economic and healthy development of our Indigenous peoples everywhere.

This collective work includes:

1. To respect and promote the Four Worlds Human and Community Development Model and other wholistic, culturally-based and spiritually- centred models for human and community transformation and harmonious economic development that are in accord with the Guiding Principles.

2. To establish the Four Worlds International Institute for Indigenous Science of the Caribbean and the Four Worlds College for Human and Community Development in Dominica, in harmony, respect and unity with all other related educational, cultural, social and economic initiatives.

2.1 The Institute and College will be centered in the Carib Territory in the Commonwealth of Dominica.

2.2 The Institute and College will be managed and administered by Indigenous people in a manner that encourages and empowers the participation of all concerned.

2.3 The Institute and College will have its own legal personality.

2.4 The Objectives of the Institute shall be:

a) To promote the development and strengthening of Indigenous science, culture, language and knowledge.

b) To prepare strategies and take action for the reclamation of the cultural, educational and material values of Indigenous people.

c) To prepare programs and projects to promote the sciences and the arts in our Indigenous regions.

3. The Four Worlds College will focus initially on these twelve proficiency areas for Indigenous capacity building:

1) Human Development; 2) Community Development; 3) Personal Growth and Healing; 4) Human Relations; 5) Facilitating Learning; 6) Developing Servant Leadership; 7) Fostering Personal and Community Wellness; 8) Environmental Relations; 9) Program Development; 10) Community Development Issues; 11) Cultural Foundations; 12) Integrative Practicums. Other areas of focus will be added as are deemed appropriate by the Carib people and their partners.

4. To work together to prepare and execute an integrated vision and program of action for collective human, community and economic development for our Indigenous peoples at the international, regional and community levels. These programs and collective projects will include:

4.1 Environmental protection and bio-diversity, and planning for the sustainable development of our Indigenous regions in harmony with all life.

4.2 Business administration, Indigenous marketing and the development of social and economic development partnerships within our Indigenous world and with other business and social and economic development agencies in our respective countries and internationally.

4.3 Academic and cultural interchanges including the development of traditional education and training in the Indigenous languages and literature.

4.4 Use and benefit of traditional and contemporary means of communication, multimedia and video conferencing. 4.5 Reclaiming of traditional technologies that benefit the natural richness of life.

4.6 Strengthening and integrating traditional medicine and spiritual health practices, where synergistic, with the western medical model.

4.7 To promote the research and investment in the creation of employment.

4.8 Creation of economic enterprises for Indigenous women and young people.

4.9 To upgrade and enhance all areas of the pre-school, elementary, secondary and post-secondary education systems in the Carib Territory of Dominica, in a manner that is wholistic and culturally-based and will allow that our communities to fully participate in the information age.

5. Other related initiatives shall be:

5.1 To develop sustainable, non-polluting energy sources for our communities.

5.2 To recuperate and clean our rivers, lakes and streams that have been polluted by the industrial wastes and contaminated waters of the cities.

5.3 To implement awareness campaigns in regards to the need to take care of the water, the air and Mother Earth.

5.4 To recuperate traditional technologies that do not pollute our Mother Earth, as well as, to research and utilize other new technologies that enhance the harmonious development of life.

5.5 To make domestic works and to create traditional art using nature.

5.6 To support a traditional living program with natural materials in each Indigenous region that will replace, where possible, plastics, concrete, metal, cardboard and other non-biodegradable materials.

5.7 To promote a program of alimentation, nutrition, agriculture and full use of the eatable plants of the region to fight against malnutrition and recuperation of our indigenous gastronomy.

5.8 To prepare an ecological disposal of human waste program that avoids pollution.

5.9 To use the energy from the sun, water and wind.

5.10 To develop our herbal knowledge and wholistic health resources.

5.11 To promote academic and cultural interchange, through a permanent program of scholarships for Indigenous young people of our respective countries.

5.12 To promote Indigenous education language, cosmology and spirituality for our children, youth and other members of our communities.

5.13 To prepare didactic materials, such as dictionaries, song collections, stories, music and literature.

5.14 To recuperate our traditional medicines and plants.

5.15 To build treatment and cleansing houses.

5.16 To develop strategies and marketing alternatives for the sale and interchange of the products and services of the Indigenous peoples of our respective countries.

5.17 To promote productive projects for the creation of employment and income to families such as: textile art, fishing. floriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, cattle raising, ecological-educative and

cultural tourism, fruit growing, agriculture (corn, bean, potato, soy bean, pumpkin, vegetables), research and manufacture of natural medicines, production of pre-packaged foods, carpentry, clothing making for traditional garments, manufacture of shoes and musical instruments, pottery and ceramic.

5.18 To establish an international Indigenous trade centre in Dominica that will empower, encourage and sustain international trade directly between the Indigenous peoples of Canada, Dominica and other Indigenous Regions of the Western Hemisphere.

6. Finally, we agree we will make a Human Resource Development Plan for community, regional, national and international development.

6.1. To promote the organization, training and professional preparation of our Indigenous peoples in all areas of integrated sustainable development that is in harmony with all life.

6.2. To update our traditional organizations, institutions and financial systems

6.3. To prepare Indigenous personnel in areas such as business administration, human and community development and systems of justice and governance that are in harmony with our cultural and spiritual foundations.

6.4. To develop a language immersion programs to teach English and Spanish for our Indigenous communities for the purpose of further developing understanding, friendship and social and economic interchange between our Indigenous peoples.

6.5. To support the creation of economic enterprises that are developed and managed by Indigenous young people.

6.6. To support the creation of economic enterprises that are developed and managed by Indigenous women.

7. It is understood that this agreement will be expanded to include other entities and groups who agree to abide by the principals and work towards the objectives of the agreement, and whose entry into this agreement is approved by the original signatories of this agreement.

8. Start-up initiatives

8.1 Background:

This agreement provides a broad framework of principles and goals within which many initiatives are possible.

The following have been agreed upon as start-up initiatives based on the "Carib People Conference Report" (1998) and the CoWater Reper (1998) entitled "Community Development Programme for the Carib Territory, Dominica: Final Report". These two documents provide a framework for future development action based on extensive community consultation and study supported by the Carib Council

Subsequent consultations between the co-signers of this agreement have identified two priority starting places a) Community Economic Development and b) Human Resources Development. It is understood that these two areas must go together, like the wings of a bird.

8.2 Community Economic Development

This category of work involves two distinct but inter-related dimensions. a) Enterprise development: This category may include such diverse initiative as an eco-tourist hotel, a restaurant a tour business, agricultural products manufacturing, telecommunication manufacturing and servicing, herbal products production etc.

b) Micro-Enterprise Development: A micro credit scheme modeled after the Gramine Bank of Bargaladesh will create a number of revolving funds that will give easy access to credit for small business venture of every variety (from $500 - $5000 EC non-collateral loans). This will stimulate a great deal of economic activity at the bottom that will perculate up within the Carib Territory. Such ventures as a garage, a piggery, a bakery, an agricultural initiatives, building improvements and many other will be possible.

8.3 Human Resource Development

8.3.1 The formulation of a local community college (using the Four Worlds College model) will work on building the human resources to support broad-based social and economic development of the Carib people. Types of training to be developed and offered will include the following:

· Enterprise specific training (such as preparation for work in the eco-tourism and hospitality industry) · Community governance · Community development · Leadership · Management · Youth development · Women development · Community · Family life · Others as needed

The initial focus of training will be capacity building of people and community organizations to meet short-term development and project objectives.

8.3.2 A focus in building the capacity of the health sector (primary health care and health promotional) in the Carib Territory, with a special consideration to the integration of traditional herbal medicine in cooperation with appropriate national and international partners will also be undertaken.

8.3.3 Four Worlds will provide technical support and professional expertise in the set up and early operation of the "Carib Community College". Training dollars will be budgeted into all major enterprises.

8.3.4 The establishment of a Carib Water Development at arms length from the Carib Council will allow for the formation of business partnerships that are not directly linked to the political process. It is understood that a significant percentage of profits (minimum 10%) from all the Corporation's enterprise ventures undertaken within the framework of this agreement will be placed in a human and community development fund to be managed by the Carib Council for the Carib people.

With the utmost love, forgiveness, faith, thanksgiving, respect, integrity, happiness, and sincerity in our hearts and minds we hereby sign this International Indigenous Trade and Social Development Agreement and Unity Pact and declare to all our relatives of the Human Family that, as promised and prophesied by the Ancient Ones of our beloved Indigenous tribes and nations of the Western hemisphere, our northern and southern relatives are again reunited and resolved to work together for the mutual benefit of our peoples, as well as for the benefit of all human beings who wish to work with us with integrity, justice and harmony.

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