On December 13, 2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in cooperation with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the members of the Global Task Force for Making a Decade of Action for Indigenous Languages, marked the official launch of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages through a hybrid in-person and virtual high-level celebration

Mayra Cortez Calancha (Quechua), 28, is a visual artist, designer, and illustrator from Cusco, Peru. Since she was a child, she was immersed in the world of art, cinema, music, and culture, which allowed her to discover her roots. Through creativity and research, she uses art and painting as media to transmit deeper messages.

Amidst the strength and power of the Columbia and Spokane Rivers in the ancestral territories of the Spokane Tribe, there is a group of language warriors with the dream of keeping their languages alive. They run the Language House of Spokane using an immersion strategy to increase the number of fluent adult speakers.

The Rohingya Language Preservation Project is a Rohingya youth-led research initiative based in the refugee camps in Co’s Bazar, Bangladesh. They seek to preserve the Rohingya language and culture in the refugee camps and beyond. They believe in creating grassroots change through community-led projects that strengthen the capacity and leadership of Rohingya youth in the community. They collaborate and engage with leaders, individuals and groups within the Rohingya society that rebuild and empower the community. 

World Soil Day is held annually on December 5 as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources. For generations, Indigenous Peoples have shaped landscapes through a reciprocal relationship with the land, thus preserving healthy ecosystems. The connection to the land is mutually tied with Indigenous worldviews. Supporting traditional farming for Indigenous communities is vital. 

Cultural Survival Youth Fellow, Fermín Morales Hilario (Nahuatl), 22, is from Kalman Nimos in the mountains of Mexico, where his family grows corn, beans, and squash. His family is Náhuatl but his mother tongue was not passed down to him as his grandparents did not teach his father and mother to speak it. Fermin has five siblings and is the only one in his family to attend university. He aspires to finish his studies.

In the Northeastern Coastal Algoquin language, our word for dugout canoe is “mishoon.” Our coastal Tribes have utilized the waterways as ancient highways for thousands of years traveling in mishoon which are considered carbon neutral water vessels. As the original population of the American northeastern region, we have faced European assimilation.

By Phoebe Farris (Powhatan-Pamunkey)

How we remember someone is both a reflection of the person remembered and our own personal connection to them. Often our memories are in conflict with public perceptions or based on our own biases. But, they are real to the person remembering a friend, a loved one, a relative, a colleague, or a mentor. They are private remembrances. And for a public figure like Sacheen Littlefeather (1946-2022), they are even more complex.