As the COVID-19 virus spreads to countries with low-resources, high levels of poverty and malnutrition, high levels of inequality, and discrimination against Indigenous Peoples, we know that this crisis will have a much deeper and more widespread impact.
Inequalities already exist in the information provided. Much of the information is available online, only for those with Internet access, the ability to read and write, and speak a majority language.
1. Indigenous Peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services.
2. Indigenous individuals have an equal right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. States shall take the necessary steps with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of this right."
On March 27, 2020, in the midst of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Chairman Cedric Cromwell was informed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs that the Tribe’s reservation will be “disestablished” as ordered by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, David Bernhardt.
Securing Indigenous Land Titles
On March 18, 2020, Funding Indigenous Women in Media webinar was co-hosted by Cultural Survival and International Funders for Indigenous Peoples. If you missed it, you can still be part of our rich discussion of how access to information technology can empower Indigenous women to combat harmful stereotypes, challenge abuse and violence, and express their own narratives of who they are as Indigenous Peoples.
Presenters:
Dear Cultural Survival community,
At this difficult moment for all of us, we wish each and every one of you health and strength. We ask you to join us in sitting in gratitude for a moment, to recognize what we each might have that others may not. Whether that is a roof over our heads, sufficient food and water, the company of family, the safety of solitude, or –for all reading this message–access to technology that brings us together in this moment.
On February 26-29, 2020, the 8th Continental Conference of Indigenous Women of the Americas took place. The Conference was hosted by the Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas (ECMIA), a network of organizations from 23 countries that has been fighting for more than two decades for the individual and collective rights of Indigenous women and children.
As the COVID-19 virus spreads to countries with low-resources, high levels of poverty and malnutrition, high levels of inequality, and discrimination against Indigenous Peoples, we know that this crisis will have a much deeper and more widespread impact.
“The traditional knowledge about biodiversity protection exists in Native languages. If we lose those Native languages, the knowledge will disappear with them.”
Costa Rican Authorities Fail to Respond to Ongoing Violence
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.
