Meet Our 2026 Keepers of the Earth Fund Partners: 10th Cycle!

Near the waters of Lake Uros in Peru, a group of women keeps the essence of their culture alive by strengthening Indigenous education and the transmission of Traditional Knowledge in weaving, language, and wisdom through an intergenerational process.

The team proposes an intergenerational school led by women artisans, where auki (wise women) and master artisans will teach oqhala (children) and qorincho (young people) using the “learning by doing” methodology.

The members of /Xoa-//he came together to dream of a formal learning space that could reflect and sustain Ju/ꞌhoansi knowledge, language, and practices.

This project will create an Indigenous-led school and curriculum that integrates Ju/ꞌhoansi knowledge with western education. The school will be a place where children can learn without being separated from their culture, protecting their language and traditions while strengthening community identity and providing accessible cultural education within the community.

The Pijao People of this reserve in Tolima seek to strengthen the transmission of knowledge, collective identity, and cultural values, positioning new generations as guardians of their cultural and territorial memory.

Their project teaches children cultural and spiritual practices to help them become guardians of their territory.

The Kuechi Community Education collective, formed to support a community school that provides culturally appropriate education, previously received a KOEF grant.

This year, they plan to expand their youth activities through programs in agriculture, water stewardship, and culture, exposing youth to rituals, traditional games, arts, and music of the Rarámuri People. The project aims to provide a space of cultural, artistic, and spiritual expression to heal historical wounds and maintain Rarámuri culture.

This collective comprises narrators and communicators from central and southern Mexico who support a community-based approach to territorial defense.

In 2025, with the support of KOEF, they held La cochinilla, Kutsí, an audiovisual camp. In 2026, they look forward to hosting the camp again, aiming to achieve a broader geographic impact through a community-based open call. This non-academic program is focused on literary creation and animation production for young Indigenous language speakers.

Their main objective is to build capacity for audiovisual and literary content creation in Indigenous languages.

The AYIPN comprises Indigenous youth-led organizations and groups in Asia.

Their project aims to develop a Guidebook for Community Reality Mapping, a practical tool for Indigenous youth across the region to document, reflect on, and share knowledge about their cultures, social realities, and rights.

PINGOs Forum is a network of Indigenous pastoral and hunter-gatherer organizations.

The aim of the project is to improve women’s and youth participation in decision-making for the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ land and resources through culture revitalization. They also seek to improve intergenerational knowledge transmission among Indigenous communities.

In their second project supported by KOEF, the Ayents Collective from Sibundoy seeks to teach the Kamëntsá language to groups of children using their methodology of cultural practices.

Through the implementation of the first iteration of this initiative and the Collective’s own research, they have identified the fundamental importance of collecting, creating, and transmitting their own narratives to current and future generations.

The Pijao Peoples, one of the cultures most affected by colonization in Colombia, are in the process of revitalizing their native language.

This project aims to strengthen language learning by utilizing existing written materials. Additionally, it seeks to strengthen other cultural practices such as gastronomy, crafts, and spirituality.

In 2022, KOEF provided financial support for one of the Nemuk Collective’s projects focused on teaching Ayöök as a second language, which included creating an oral tradition archive and a pilot of the teaching method.

The number of Ayöök speakers has decreased primarily due to migration and the dominance of Spanish, so this year they will continue the Ayöök language classes, along with producing workbooks and audio materials for teaching and linguistic immersion activities.

The NALEPPO project continues last year’s KOEF-supported initiative, “Strengthening the Maasai language for Emboreet community development.”

This second phase will continue to motivate youth to value the language and culture while strengthening intergenerational knowledge transfer. It will establish sustainable strategies and actively engage parents, Elders, knowledge holders, spiritual leaders, and traditional governing bodies, reminding them of their responsibility to ensure that culture transmitted through the Maa language continues and to support community development.