By Madeline McGill

September 22, 2014 marked an important day for Indigenous communities everywhere. It was the first of a two-day gathering of the General Assembly at the United Nations in NYC, the first-ever World Conference of Indigenous Peoples.

Throughout the day, over 1,000 Indigenous delegates gathered with Government and UN officials, national human rights institutions, and various heads of state to discuss the best methods to approach and solve issues pressing Indigenous Peoples.

24 September 2014
PUBLIC STATEMENT

Close to 400,000 people turned out in New York City on Sunday, September 21, 2014, for the People’s Climate March, the largest environmental protest in history. Far exceeding expectations, the streets of Manhattan were filled with Indigenous Peoples, environmentalists, politicians, musicians, students, farmers, celebrities, nurses and labor activists united in their demand for urgent action on climate change.

By Madeline McGill

The World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) ended September 23^rd, concluding a two-day United Nations summit dedicated to the discussion of issues concerning Indigenous People on a global scale.

The final day of the conference included a roundtable and panel discussion on Indigenous peoples lands, territories and resources; followed by a closing planetary meeting consisting of summaries by roundtable and panel Chairs.

On Sunday, September 28, 2014 Cultural Survival staff member and founder of community radio Ixchel Stereo, Anselmo Xunic, presented as a panelist in the weekend-long “Third National Meeting of Journalists” in Guatemala City. Over the course of the weekend there were approximately 100 participants representing local, national, commercial, and independent media organizations, such as the Center for Informative Reports on Guatemala, 21^st Century, Vea Canal, Rajo Punto, and United Radio Stations, among many others.

By Guatemalan Human Rights Commission (GHRC)

By Madeline McGill

Many Indigenous languages, once prominently spoken across North America, have been threatened as their speakers continue to age and new generations are born into an English-dominant society. For numerous Tribal Nations, the number of native speakers has fallen dangerously low, often into the single digits.

It has been through the efforts of elders, educators, and interested youth that Nations have started to see a movement to re-vitalize endangered languages.

Maya Leaders Alliance 

Punta Gorda Town, Monday, September 29th, 2014.

A delegation of Maya Leaders, headed by President of the Toledo Alcaldes Association, Mr. Alfonso Cal, has been commissioned by the Alcaldes’ assembly to deliver a letter to the Prime Minister. Consequently, on September 25th, 2014, the Maya Leaders Alliance and Toledo Alcaldes Association met with the Honourable Prime Minister, Dean Barrow, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Belmopan. 

By Alex Glomset

Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous rights have always been a contentious issue in many parts of Latin and South America including Venezuela, and though progress has made on several fronts, there are still concerns that equal rights are not being given to these groups.  In the September 2014 review of Venezuela by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, several of these issues surrounding Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous children’s rights were addressed.

Since 2002, Venezuela broke with the traditional celebrations on October 12 of Columbus’s so-called “discovery” and began celebrating instead “Indigenous Resistance Day” as homage to the country’s indigenous populations, their history, cultures, and struggles to maintain their identity.

Cultural Survival Quarterly contributing arts editor Phoebe Farris recently spoke with Tony Castanha, author of  The Myth of Indigenous Caribbean Extinction: Continuity And Reclamation in Boriken (Puerto Rico) [Palgrave Macmillian, a division of St.Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 2011] about his recent work.

By Madeline McGill

Since it’s opening, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) has dedicated itself to the promotion of native identity and cultural understanding. Now celebrating the 10^th anniversary of the D.C. museum, it is launching an ambitious exhibit this September that seeks to highlight the role of treaties between the United States and Native Nations.