February 21 is International Mother Language Day. Cultural Survival’s work to promote cultures and languages has been a priority since our founding and is reflected across all of our programs. Supporting cultural and language diversity and revitalization directly supports biological diversity. The language comes from the land and allows us to communicate our history, cosmovisions, spirituality, values, and knowledge systems.
Today, February 14, 2023, Valentine's Day, marks the 32nd Annual Women’s Memorial March which is held every year in Vancouver on February 14 to commemorate the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women, and all women and underrepresented genders whose lives have been taken due to colonial systemic violence, poverty, racism, displacement, physical, mental, emotional, and spirit
Tamang Indigenous Peoples, along with other local community members in Lapsiphedi (Bojheni) village in Shankharapur municipality in the northeast Kathmandu valley, are continuing their peaceful protest against a hydroelectric transmission line and power station. At the end of December 2022, they formed a committee demanding the relocation of the Tamakoshi-Kathmandu transmission line and substation.
Today marks the 12th annual celebration of World Radio Day as proclaimed by UNESCO. This year's theme is "Radio and Peace."
February 11 marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day to celebrate the contributions that Indigenous women and girls make to the fields of science and technology. It is also a movement that aims to promote the full and equal participation of women and girls in the scientific community. Integral to this movement are Indigenous women who are the holders of generations of Traditional Knowledge and the best stewards of biodiversity.
In Kapsokwony, located in Bungoma County, Kenya, lives Emmanuel Kiplimo (Ogiek), an Indigenous young man concerned about his community’s lack of access to education and health services. Emmanuel’s Cultural Survival Indigenous Youth Fellowship focused on community radio production to promote health, education, and gender inclusion. His concerns were rooted in the lack of response from the government. The Kenyan government’s healthcare and education services in the country are not reaching his community.
The Securing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the Green Economy (SIRGE) Coalition stands with the Apache Stronghold in demanding that Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) – Indigenous Peoples’ right to give or withhold consent on projects that impact or potentially impact them – is honored. FPIC flows from Indigenous self-determination as articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and should be honored as such.
Cultural Survival condemns the irregular export of Mayan archaeological pieces by the government of Guatemala. The export had the stated purpose of restoring and exhibiting these items at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York City. We also condemn Bill No.
On January 25, 2023, UN member states reviewed Guatemala’s human rights record during the 42nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review, a process carried out by the UN Human Rights Council. This was Guatemala’s fourth cycle of review since 2008.
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.
