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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.

Taiwan Indigenous Television, TiTV is fast approaching its tenth anniversary. Launched on July 1, 2005, TiTV is one of several channels operated under the public television platform, Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS), and is believed to be Asia's first publicly funded television channel serving an aboriginal audience. Located on Channel 16, TiTV produces a mix of news and entertainment programs and broadcasts them islandwide.

Indigenous Peoples represent remarkable diversity – more than 5,000 distinct groups in some 90 countries, making up more than 5 per cent of the world’s population, some 370 million people. These peoples continue to self-identify as distinct peoples with strong links to traditional territories with their own social, economic and political systems as well as unique languages, cultures and beliefs.

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