Reposted from Intercontinental Cry
By Curtis Kline

By First Peoples Worldwide

The world is welcoming its newest government – the Republic of Murrawarri, a nearly 82,000 square kilometer territory stretching across northern New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, has declared its independence as a sovereign nation.

On August 5-9, Cultural Survival and First Peoples Worldwide are hosting another #Proud2BIndigenous week. In celebration of UN International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, on August 9 at 11:00 am EST, join us for an online discussion/webinar on the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent: “Engaging FPIC: Understanding, Interpretation and Self Determination."

By Hannah Ellman

“The tar sands are taking, and we need to give back. Our giving back is our sacrifice, to stand in the rain and walk.”—Sue Deranger, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) elder

By First Peoples Worldwide

By First Peoples Worldwide

In the past 20 years in Canada, over 600 mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, cousins, aunts, and best friends have gone missing. That’s six hundred lives that have suddenly, mysteriously ended – no note, no motive, sometimes hardly even a clue, leaving behind questions, uncelebrated birthdays, motherless children, heartbroken partners, and emptiness. 600 Indigenous women have gone missing or been murdered, and often it seems as though nobody even cares.

By Timothy King

A decade long war in Papua New Guinea has left deep scars on Bougainville and its people. Some will never be erased, others may fade with time.

Many of the horrors experienced are unimaginable. Speaking from her hospital bed in December 1999, Cecillia recalls her treatment at the hands of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF):

By First Peoples Worldwide

By Marisol Hitorangi

I am Marisol Hitorangi, spokeswoman of the Hitorangi Clan of Easter Island, Chile. As a Polynesian Clan we are struggling to get our ancestral land back, illegally expropriated by the Chilean State. We have been tortured for decades, as individuals and as a culture.

British company GCM Resources was dealt a serious blow today as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) agreed to consider complaints regarding severe human rights violations associated with the company’s planned coal mine in Bangladesh. 

GCM wants to open a massive open-pit coal mine in Phulbari in the north-west of Bangladesh, displacing up to 220,000 people and threatening the Sundarbans, one of the world’s largest remaining mangrove forests and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Through our Global Response Program, Cultural Survival had the pleasure of inviting representatives from Mayan communities in Huehuetenango, Guatemala and Toledo, Belize to the United Nation Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York this May to speak on issues related to the defense of their territories.