By Tia-Alexi Roberts (Narragansett, CS Staff)

Indigenous youth worldwide embody resilience and hope, boldly navigating systemic challenges to champion collective action within their communities. Despite facing these complexities, their unwavering commitment to growth, empowerment, and aspiration shines through. Our Indigenous Youth Fellowship Program provides a supportive platform for these young leaders to amplify their voices and advocate for change.

Through Cultural Survival's Indigenous Youth Fellowship Program, we support the leadership of Indigenous youth in advocating and striving for new ways of safeguarding their lands, cultures, and languages. Here, we uplift three youth fellowship projects related to the revitalization of languages and cultures. 

February 21 is International Mother Language Day. It was first proclaimed in 1952 as "Language Movement Day" by Dhaka University students in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) who protested the suppression of their Bengali language. Police and military forces opened fire, killing many young people in attendance. 

In 2023, Cultural Survival received hundreds of applications from Indigenous youth who were interested in participating in our Indigenous Youth Fellowship Program. Our Fellowship Program supports young Indigenous leaders between the ages of 17-28, who are eager to learn about technology, program development, journalism, community radio, media, language revitalization, leadership development, and Indigenous Peoples’ rights advocacy. Since 2018, we have awarded 111 fellowships supporting 236 fellows.