Although rainforests cover only 6% of the Earth, they harbor over half of its plant and animal species. These vital, biodiverse regions regulate the global climate by collecting carbon and producing oxygen. For millions of Indigenous Peoples, rainforests are homelands, providing food, medicine, and cultural identity. Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge is crucial for forest sustainability and environmental resilience.
New documentary by acclaimed journalist Brandi Morin captures Shuar Peoples' resistance to a copper mining project threatening 268 square kilometers of pristine Amazon rainforest
By Edison Andrango (Kichwa, CS Staff)
By Lucas Kasosi (Maasai, CS Intern)
A landmark land victory in Kenya becomes a global lesson in evidence-based advocacy, intergenerational wisdom, and resistance with vision.
By Lucas Kasosi (Maasai, CS Intern)
A solemn procession moved through the new city center of Kiruna, Sweden. Sámi youth and members from the Gabna and Laevas reindeer herding communities walked in silence, carrying an ackja, a traditional Sámi sled, along the path their ancestors once followed with migrating reindeer. At the heart of Europe’s transition to a so-called “green economy,” they were not celebrating progress, but mourning land already lost to a century of mining. They were also raising their voices against future exploitation.
Creativity and craftsmanship are forms of resistance, memory, and collective healing in many Indigenous communities. Traditional art revitalizes ancestral knowledge and strengthens the social fabric, showcasing community knowledge as a tool for transformation in harmony with Mother Earth. In 2024, Cultural Survival supported two projects in Guatemala through our Indigenous Youth Fellowship program, where creativity, craftsmanship, and ancestral revival are acts of resistance and hope.
By Ella Nathanael Alkiewicz (Labrador Inuk)
Five percent of Canada’s total population is Indigenous. Canadian Inuit, First Nations, and Métis are living, working, buying, and being alongside settlers, four-leggeds, winged-ones, and fins with the flora and fauna.
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.
