On June 5th, 2023, we commemorate the 50th anniversary of World Environment Day, an annual celebration established by the UN General Assembly in 1973. Since its inception, the day has become the largest global platform for inspiring positive change and celebrating environmental action.

On August 15-17, MKW Co-conveners and partners will convene the Mni Ki Wakan (Water is Sacred) Summit, themed, “Indigenous Water Justice, Global Collaboration, & Dismantling Water Colonialism,” occurring in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States (mnikiwakan.org). The MKW Summit will bring together Indigenous Peoples, youth, and Indigenous-led environmental water organizations.

According to the Biological Assessment and Ecosystem Services Report, conducted by UNESCO in 2019, "the main global drivers of biodiversity loss are climate change, invasive species, overexploitation of natural resources, pollution and urbanization."

“After many years of paralysis of Indigenous land demarcation and rights violations (by former governments), we are now back to having our rights recognized, our lives valued, and our territories defined,” said Brazil’s first Indigenous State Minister, Sonia Guajajara, in a social media post. 

Over the past few years, the European Union has undertaken a more robust legislative approach requiring a more human rights-focused and environmentally conscious framework in its legislative initiatives.

Kablaj Qawuq

Venimos desde muy temprano, recorriendo nuestras montañas y valles.  Acompañado del sonido del agua, que es la sangre que recorre todas las venas de nuestra “sagrada tierra”.  

Mientras caminos, escuchamos el canto de los pájaros y de otros animales, que son nuestros hermanos pequeños.  

“The exercise of self-determination is a necessary task prior to the consultation because we have seen that many consultation exercises begin as a reaction to someone who wants to set up a project or a mine. Part of the community becomes active, but since the community is not consulted as a People, internal conflicts begin there.

For 51 years, Cultural Survival has partnered with Indigenous communities to advance Indigenous Peoples' rights and cultures worldwide. We envision a future that respects and honors Indigenous Peoples' inherent rights and dynamic cultures, deeply and richly interwoven in lands, languages, spiritual traditions, and artistic expression and rooted in self-determination and self-governance.

In 2022, The Zienzele Foundation identified the need for a communal space in the Chiware region of Zimbabwe for Shona women’s cooperatives to host their organizational meetings, health clinics, and marketing of traditional handicraft work. In collaboration with Cultural Survival’s Keepers of the Earth Fund, they have since built a community center complex near the village of Mupagamuri to serve the five surrounding villages.