Hundreds of Wixárika pilgrims traveled last week from their homes in the Western Sierra Madre mountains to Wirikuta, expressing their united determination to save this most sacred place. Wearing ceremonial dress and bearing gifts and offerings, they traversed the path of their ancestors to the place where the sun first rose, Wirikuta. Customarily, small groups of Wixárika people (better known by their name in Spanish, Huichol) travel the pilgrimage route on their own.
Tomorrow’s vote in the Senate could reverse Obama’s decision and greenlight construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. During the next 24 hours, Native Americans, environmentalists, and concerned citizens are joining together to send an urgent petition to senators to block efforts to revive the pipeline.
Sincere thanks to everyone who sent urgent email
International Accountability Project published a critical analysis of GCM's Indigenous Peoples Development Plan for the Phulbari Coal Project.
The Ngöbe people issued an urgent appeal for solidarity from the international community yesterday after Panama police forces launched a violent attack on protesters, killing at least one person and injuring many more. Ngöbe protesters have blockaded the Pan-American highway since last Monday in opposition to a proposed mining law that would open their traditional lands to mining and hydroelectric development.
In Momostenango, a small town in the highland region of Guatemala, the Quiche Mayan community did not enter the 2012 year dreading doomsday predictions. Instead, they’re gearing up for their biggest party yet.
In December, Brazil’s Indian Agency (Fundação Nacional do Índio) approved delimitation of the 146,000 hectare Wedezé Indigenous Reserve in the state of Mato Grosso. Occupied by the Xavante people since the mid-1800s, the area was illegally sold to private interests in the 1950s and to accommodate its new owners the Indigenous residents were resettled elsewhere in the 1970s. The reserve includes the site of the historical village São Domingos, where Cultural Survival’s founder David Maybury-Lewis did ethnographic research in the 1950s.
In December, Brazil’s Indian Agency (Fundação Nacional do Índio) approved delimitation of the 146,000 hectare Wedezé Indigenous Reserve in the state of Mato Grosso. Occupied by the Xavante people since the mid-1800s, the area was illegally sold to private interests in the 1950s and to accommodate its new owners the Indigenous residents were resettled elsewhere in the 1970s. The reserve includes the site of the historical village São Domingos, where Cultural Survival’s founder David Maybury-Lewis did ethnographic research in the 1950s.
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.
