By Sophia Mitrokostas

President Obama visited the Standing Rock Lakota reservation in Cannon Ball, North Dakota on June 13, 2014, taking part in Flag Day celebrations and addressing issues surrounding the experience of Native Americans in the US.

This was President’s first visit to a Native American reservation since first taking office in 2009 and is the first presidential visit to a reservation since Bill Clinton visited the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota in 1999. Obama visited the Crow reservation in Montana before his election to the White House.

Come learn about the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and how it can aid in your advocacy efforts and put pressure on the US government to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
We invite tribal members in preparation for the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Second Universal Periodic Review of the United States.

Friday, June 20, 2014
1:00pm-5:00pm
Harvard University Native American Program
14 Story Street, 4^th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138

By Adam Roth

By Public Citizen

Over the last two weeks of May, residents of Santa Cruz Barillas, Guatemala have been surprised on three separate occasions by military presence in their communities. The area has been under high surveillance ever since a state of martial law was declared in the month of May 2012 and community members active against a hydro-electric dam were named “terrorists and drug traffickers” by the Perez Molina administration.

Our friends at the Peruvian organization Alianza Arkana have published a report outlining the deception of Argentinian company Pluspetrol as they manage their reputation as a socially responsible company, despite the years of contamination of Indigenous territories in the Amazon.

The lead up to this summer’s World Cup is already dominating international news with every manager’s squad selection being scrutinized while analysts attempt to predict the tournament’s winner.

Greenpeace has been closely monitoring another world-wide phenomenon: illegal deforestation.

The Navajo Nation Council voted on May 30, 2014 to approve a $544 million settlement reached with the Federal Government over mismanagement of the tribe’s trust fund assets. The settlement is considered the largest made by the government with an individual tribe.

The suit was filed by the tribe in 2006 for “damages, interest, fees, costs, and other relief against the United States”. The terms of the agreement include the demand for a report of assets that continue to be held in trust by the government. 

On Friday, May 16, 2014, INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS WOMEN’S FORUM (FORO INTERNACIONAL DE MUJERES INDÍGENAS--FIMI) honored two indigenous women with FIMI Leadership Award. In a warm and memorable ceremony, Joan Carling and Rosalina Tuyuc received this unique recognition to their longstanding commitment, passion and leadership in the struggle for indigenous women’s rights. 

 FIMI Leadership Award

Informal consultations on the Outcome Document for the high level plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly or the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples commenced June 3, 2014 at the UN Headquarters in New York.

By Ben Koissaba

Reminiscent of what happened to the Maasai community in Narasha in 2013, Maasai pastoralists in Kedong, Akira and Suswa are glaring at massive evictions arising from a group of concessions awarded to several companies including Hyundai, Toshiba, Sinopec and African Geothermal International (AGIL) for the purposes of developing geothermal projects on the Maasai lands.

By Levi Gahman, Znet

…from the mountains of the Mexican Southeast…