Plant products plundered by pharmaceutical firms

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Xahw Chakash was thousands of kilometres away from his native Chiapas, but he felt right at home.

The Mayan chief and head of the Chiapas Indigenous Healers' Association was in northern Quebec to learn about the Cree traditional way of life, share experiences and establish a long-term bond between the Native peoples of Mexico and Canada.

Chakash also came to Canada to issue a warning about the threat Indigenous peoples worldwide face from multinational pharmaceutical companies.

The companies are already eyeing plants and Indigenous knowledge in Mexico and big bucks are dancing before their eyes.

In Chiapas, a Western-led business consortium is pressuring traditional Indigenous healers to allow research on vegetation in the state.

"They've been stealing our knowledge all over Mexico. What happens when they do research is they patent information and they start producing pharmaceutical products, and there is no return (to Native peoples)," said Chakash.

"And then the communities can't use the same knowledge to heal ourselves after that. We have to pay for it. And it's our own knowledge."

Chakash is a member of the Tzeltal Nation, which is part of the ancient Mayan civilization. He is 15 years into his 20-year term as chief. In July, he will be running in Mexico's federal election.

Chakash helped found the association of healers in Chiapas, a Mexican state that borders with Guatemala. Most of the group's 1,800 members are Elders. Like in the Cree traplines of northern Quebec, the Mayan healers are working hard to pass on their knowledge to the younger generations. But Chakash said this ancient knowledge is under the gun. The companies aren't just trying to patent one or two plants, either, he said.

"They're going to do the whole region's biological resources - all natural resources of Chiapas. If they find a plant that has very strong properties that can cure cancer or diabetes, the multinationals are going to patent that, and then they will sell this medication at a very expensive price," he said.

"It's going to happen here (in Canada), too. We have to find ways to defend our knowledge. We can help each other."

Chiapas, like the Cree territory of Quebec, is rich in natural resources. Hydro-electric projects in the state provide 35 per cent of Mexico's electricity.

In 1994, Chiapas was the scene of an Indigenous insurrection led by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Today, there is an uneasy truce, but Chakash said Chiapas is still overrun by government soldiers and army-backed death squads.

In an interview in Montreal, Chakash expressed gratitude to his Cree hosts and said he felt like he was with family while experiencing the cold and snow of early spring in James Bay.

"They told me I couldn't come here to live because it's too cold. But I saw I could survive here. It could share with my brothers. I felt like in my own family. I feel it's the same society," he said.

"What we're living in Chiapas, in Mexico, is almost the same situation as what the Crees are going through here in Canada. I found that we have the same suffering. It's the same cause. There's no respect for us, there's no recognition."