Indigenous communities around the world are finding ways to assert their rights through different mechanisms
Originally published on Global Voices
Image courtesy of Global Voices.
Around 476 million people identify or are identified as belonging to Indigenous peoples, representing approximately five percent of the global population. Indigenous languages, identities, forms of knowledge, and ways of life have been maintained and transformed for hundreds of years despite territorial dispossession, forced assimilation, political and economic exclusion, and, in some cases, cultural genocide.
Although Indigenous peoples made significant advances to be recognized as distinct members of the global community at the beginning of this century, with the adoption of the Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations Assembly in 2007, they continue to face constant pressure by national governments, multinational companies, extractive industries, and even carbon capturing schemes, wind and solar energy farms, and data centers to give up control over the use of their territories. These are still seen as “empty lands,” which is the same principle that justified colonization and genocide in an age not so long ago.
Beyond territory, the rights of Indigenous peoples are being threatened in a number of ways — some clearly visible and others less obvious. Appropriation and exploitation, governmental systems that do not work for them, and anti-Indigenous racism are only some of the factors that affect how Indigenous rights are exercised.
Indigenous communities around the world are finding ways to assert their rights through different mechanisms, including legal challenges, community organizing and activism, and other ways to creatively resist. These struggles rarely make international headlines, and this Global Voices Spotlight seeks to correct that, making the stories available to build connections across regions, center Indigenous experiences, and share the stories of leaders, activists, and community members.
Through August, our newsroom and contributor community will collaborate with different Indigenous activists, civil society groups, and collectives to tell stories about the challenges they are facing, but also some of the actions and strategies designed to make these rights a reality.
We have so many stories to tell, and not enough budget for all of them. The global funding crisis has made it harder to report on these issues, even as that reporting is more and more vital. Donate now, and your contribution will go towards paying our editors and other staff so that we can offer you more of these urgent insights from around the world.
Donate to our “Indigenous Rights” Spotlight issue, and get more of the coverage you value!
Learn more about Global Voices Spotlights.
Donate to our Indigenous Rights Spotlight issue, and get more of the coverage you value!
Rewards
Each individual donation of $15 or more by August 15 will receive an e-book copy of the full spotlight issue once it’s complete
Stretch goals (cumulative)
$1000: An additional Undertones column analyzing narrative trends — we have more ideas for fascinating narrative analysis stories than we can produce at our current budget; help us add another one!
$1500: An additional online panel, bringing together experts, journalists, and analysts to discuss an aspect of the theme!
$3000: A podcast including follow-up interviews with editors and contributors highlighting some of the most interesting stories in the Spotlight issue)
$10,000: An additional article from each of our regions. Most of our editors have far more article ideas on this topic than they can complete in their paid hours. Help us pay them more, and you get more fantastic insights into Indigenous Rights!
$15,000: Surprise! Based on the topic and our learnings from it so far, we’ll choose an add-on that we think will add the most to our understanding of the Spotlight theme.
Any funds that don’t make it to a stretch goal level will still be used to support the Global Voices newsroom!
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