By Camilla Lindschouw (CS Intern)

The diversity of expressions and manifestations of identity has been a recurring theme over time. Concepts and perceptions have varied in different contexts from urbanization to globalization. However, these do not always respond to or include all the diversity that exists in the world.

We are seeds that germinate in the middle of the tropical jungle, in southwest Colombia, in the municipality of Barbacoas, department of Nariño. This area is historically known to the Awá Peoples as cuaiquer (kwaiker). We, Awá, also live throughout the territory that now includes Colombia and Ecuador.

Indigenous Women in Radio 2023, a three-day event organized by Cultural Survival for women from Indigenous community radio stations around the country, took place July 28-30 in Maní, Yucatán, Mexico. Twenty-eight Indigenous women between the ages of 18-59 participated in workshops on radio production and sound ambience.

Indigenous women have managed to break many barriers and access spaces historically reserved for white men. They have positioned themselves as agents of change, incorporating ancestral knowledge from their communities. From medicine, art, gastronomy, music, to linguistics, these young women are leading movementns of resistance and transformation. Their impact on shifting current paradigms should be uplifted on every occasion.

The Keepers of the Earth Fund (KOEF) is proud to announce that in 2023 we awarded over half a million dollars in small grants to support Indigenous projects on issues related to community empowerment for land defense and autonomy; the tra

On July 14, 1923, the Hereditary Chief of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Deskaheh Levi General (Cayuga), traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to speak before the League of Nations. He sought to obtain international recognition of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (historically known as the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora Nations) as a sovereign Indigenous Nation governed by a hereditary council of chiefs.

Cultural Survival works tirelessly in support of strengthening Indigenous knowledge and building capacity within Indigenous communities. We aim for this to happen not only within community spaces but also through exchanges between other communities that provide participants an opportunity to broaden perspectives and learn about the processes of other Peoples, as well as to learn from projects being carried out in other territories.

Under the public eye, Mexico has shown itself to be a fervent advocate of Indigenous rights at both the international and domestic levels. In 2007 it voted in favor of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and it is a signatory to the ILO 169 Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. In addition, its constitution lists a number of articles protecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Nevertheless, violence against Indigenous Peoples is prevalent in the country.