Let us keep our languages alive.

Nestled amongst the beauty of Boston’s historic coastline lies an intensifying disagreement over Long Island, one of the 34 islands comprising Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park, part of the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and, less well known, the site of a former concentration camp and Native burial ground.

Protests near the sacred summit of Mauna Kea in Hawai’i are increasing in urgency as Native Hawaiians fight to prevent the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the Pacific and has traditionally been the site of religious ceremonies for Native Hawaiians, or Kanaka Maoli. The telescope has been scheduled for construction for over a decade, and has been the subject of legal contestation as Free, Prior and Informed Consent has not been given by Native Hawaiians.

The area of Mauna Kea is under a state of emergency, as proclaimed by Hawai'i Governor David Ige on Wednesday, July 17, 2019, after a day of arrests and escalating tensions between law enforcement and the opponents of the planned Thirty Meter Telescope. Approximately 1,000 people have gathered at the intersection of the Daniel K.

On June 26, 2019, the Organization of American States (OAS) held it's 49th regular session in Medellin, Colombia. The OAS is an organization of states in the Western hemisphere that provides a forum for political and policy discussion and decision-making. It was founded to build solidarity, promote peace and justice, and encourage collaboration. It focuses on four main pillars: democracy, human rights, security, and development.

The Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) is a consortium of 15 sovereign Tribal Nations located in Southeast Alaska. SEITC has authority derived from Tribal governments, and each member Tribe has a formally designated representative. Established in 2014, SEITC was founded in order to protect and represent the cultural connection to the sacred rivers and waterways that are essential to sustaining local communities.

In June 2019, Dmitry Berezhkov and Pavel Sulyandziga authored a report titled, “Acts of intimidation, criminalization and other types of activities with the aim to prevent human rights work of Indigenous activists in Russia.” Berezhkov is the director at Arctic Consult, a database of documentation that Indigenous Peoples have compiled about their rights on land, resources, and self-determination.