By Chad Valdez (Diné)

By Phoebe Farris (Powhatan-Pamunkey)

By Reynaldo A. Morales

In Peru and Latin America, Indigeneity remains troubled by radical politics of recognition that complicate the already untenable relations with Indigenous Nations and displaced societies that existed prior to the new Nation-States’ independences some 200 years ago. Urgent reform of constitutional frameworks that affect the lives of millions of citizens with unique and distinctive political and social identities is necessary to decolonize and establish a legitimate representational democracy.

Through Cultural Survival's Indigenous Youth Fellowship Program, we support the leadership of Indigenous youth in advocating and striving for new ways of safeguarding their lands, cultures, and languages. Here, we uplift three youth fellowship projects related to the revitalization of languages and cultures. 

Update:  On May 24, 2024, European Council approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.

By Edson Krenak (Krenak, CS Staff)

By Chad Valdez (Diné)

Diana Pastor (Maya K’iche’)

By Chad Valdez (Diné)

On International Mother Language Day 2024, we invite you to learn about the work of three Cultural Survival partners who received a grant from the KOEF (Keepers of the Earth Fund) in 2023 for projects that strengthen indigenous languages from their own culture and with diverse strategies.

Yankuik Kuikamatilistli Cultural Centre (Nahuatl language, in Mexico)

By Celia Flor Díaz Pérez (Maya Tsotsil)

The theme of lands and livelihoods brought us together as Keepers of the Earth Fund grant partners from January 15 to 17, 2024, in Siguatepeque, Honduras, thanks to the invitation of Cultural Survival. The Red Comal Network was our warm host who welcomed us with the representations of Indigenous, Maya Q´echi´, Maya Tsotsil, and Lenca organizations from Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico.

February 21 is International Mother Language Day. It was first proclaimed in 1952 as "Language Movement Day" by Dhaka University students in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) who protested the suppression of their Bengali language. Police and military forces opened fire, killing many young people in attendance. 

By Dr. Doreen E. Martinez (Mescalero Apache)

I think back to when I was young, and I am trying to recall the time I learned what respect meant, what respect looked like, how I could offer it. I am pulled back to a sense of presence, a way of being that my parents offered, that I saw or felt my siblings doing, or how it resided in our house and the way my parents welcomed all other kids in our neighborhood into our home. Our home being the ‘poorest,’ however, our home was the place where everyone was fed.