The month of September was an exciting month for New York City as several historic events took place right on the little island of Manhattan. Cultural Survival had the unique opportunity to participate in several events that reconstructed the role of indigenous people in regards to important issues such as climate change. The first of many exciting events was the first ever, People’s Climate March, the biggest march of its kind with over 400,000 people in attendance.
By Phoebe Farris
On October 23, 2014, the Shipibo indigenous community of Korin Bari filed a law suit against the Peruvian government for its failure to title its traditional territory resulting in the repeated invasion of community lands by illegal loggers and coca growers threatening the lives of community members who protest.
By Jenna Grant for Cultural Anthropology
By Ryann Dear
Radio Ixchel broadcasts from a hilltop overlooking Sumpango, Sacatepequez, near a cemetery with hundreds of simple, brightly-colored mausoleums. A small antenna rising from the roof provides enough signal to cover most of Sumpango and parts of the surrounding villages, or aldeas. The outer walls of the station are teal, with a small barred window on which one can knock to be let in.
On September 2nd the people of Sololá rose to their feet to protect what is considered by many to be the heart and body of the Mayan civilization, corn. Thousands of people, young and old, peacefully marched and shut down the main intersections on the inter-american highway that connects the western part of Guatemala to the capital. Their demand? Keep Monsanto out of Guatemala.
The World Conference on Indigneous Peoples is taking place September 22-23 at the UN in New York. Here is a list of the events happening around the conference.
19th September:
11:00 am - 4:00 pm:
Indigenous Peoples’ Solidarity and Engagement with the UN WCIP
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, 21st Century, Vea Canal, Rajo Punto, and United Radio Stations, among many others.
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.
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.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
