By Edson Krenak (Krenak, CS Staff)

On May 9, 2025, the United Kingdom-based Business & Human Rights Resource Centre released its 2025 Transition Minerals Tracker. Updated annually, the Transition Minerals Tracker monitors human rights risks linked to major mining operations for key minerals used in renewable energy, electrification, and battery technologies.

Cultural Survival is excited to announce our 2025 cohort of Indigenous Youth Fellows as part of our Capacity Building Program.

Cultural Survival's community includes people from all walks of life, with beautiful stories to tell of your own about why you decided to become an advocate for Indigenous Peoples' rights. Sharing these stories further connects our community, provides much-needed solidarity and validation to our staff and partners on the ground, and helps us inspire others to join our movement. We are excited to spotlight members and former interns of our community and highlight your contributions and perspectives through our Cultural Survival Spotlight series. 

The recent attack on April 23, 2025, on ancestral Indigenous institutions in Guatemala through the criminalization of two of their former leaders is illegal and contrary to national and international law. Cultural Survival demands respect for ancestral Indigenous mayoral offices and the immediate release of those detained.

Laissa Malih, Coordinator/Filmmaker of Massai Cultural Heritage

The Maasai people, known for their rich cultural tapestry and deep-rooted traditions, face a significant challenge: the erosion of their heritage. To counter this, the Maasai Cultural Heritage (MCH) Foundation initiated the "Wisdom of the Maasai" project, known as "Engeno Le Maa" in the local dialect. Funded by Cultural Survival under the Community Media Fund, the initiative aimed to document and preserve the essence of Maasai culture through film and photography.

​​By Esther Mwangaza

The Lemera cluster in the Democratic Republic of Congo is rich in cassiterite, a valuable mineral used in the global electronics industry. However, the pursuit of this mineral has led to conflicts with the ancestral land rights of Indigenous Pygmy communities. Mining operations have displaced many Pygmy families from their farmlands and cassava fields without consultation, leaving them without sustainable livelihoods and access to natural resources like water wells and sacred sites.

By Lucas Kasosi (Maasai, CS Intern)

In the southern Rift Valley of Kenya, beyond the steaming geothermal fields, fenced-off national parks, and margins of Lake Naivasha (Enaiposha), lies Narasha, a semi-arid landscape home to the Maasai people for generations. Today, this land is a battleground where Indigenous survival, spiritual identity, and environmental justice are being relentlessly contested.

May 5 is commemorated as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls/ People/ Relatives. The day became recognized in 2017 when Montana Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester responded to the murder of Hanna Harris on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, as well as the cumulation of other murders and abductions of Native women and girls.