Indigenous RightsCultural Survival

Benjamin Lim Sheng HuiCai Yang BillEdwin ChewChong Shi ChengAi Lingfeng

“Affirming that indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples, while recognizing the right of all peoples to be

different, to consider themselves different, and to be respected as such.”

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

Introduction

Founded in the 1960s•In response to the opening up of Amazonian and South American hinterlands•Drastic effects on the indigenous population

Worked with indigenous communities internationally•Asia, Africa, South America, North America & Australia•Leading US-based organisation defending indigenous people’s rights

Prominent Board of Directors•Includes some of the world’s most well-known indigenous leaders, as well as anthropologists, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, with its executive director being a renowned human rights lawyer

Overview

Partners with indigenous communities to defend their rights and sustain their cultures.

Every Cultural Survival program is designed to become self-sustaining and

run entirely by the indigenous community.

Programmes include:Guatemala Radio Project

Endangered Native American Language Programme

Need

Out of 6,900 remaining

languages, 2,500 are at imminent

risk of extinction, a 300% increase from the number just eight years

ago

In the United States, where government

programs have pushed some 70 Native American languages to the point where they

will go extinct in 10 years.

Vulnerability of indigenous people

to abusive treatment.

Violence and mistreatment of

these people often go unnoticed and

uncared for.

General Problems Faced

Lack of support from non-indigenous communities, from non-indigenous people who care about indigenous

cultures and people.

Funding is lacking, which is necessary in order to provide expert legal representation for mistreated

indigenous people.

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/programs/grp/program

Introduction

...15 different languages represented...

...168 radio stations...

...More than 1800 volunteers...

...Over One Million Listeners...

What do they do?

A five-year partnership between Cultural Survival and five Guatemalan organizations designed to protect Maya peoples’ access to media

The project works to improve the effectiveness of community radio as a means for Guatemala’s indigenous citizenry to receive and convey

information: locally, nationally, and globally

Why do they do it?

Guatemala’s indigenous population (principally Mayan) speaks 25 different

languages

Indigenous peoples in Guatemala have inadequate representation in the

government and are severely underserved by public services.

Why do they do it?

It is important for indigenous people to participate in the nation state so they are better served by

their government

Community radio stations provide a vital and reliable source of news and

information about health, human rights, development, the environment, and other issues critical to Guatemala’s

indigenous populace.

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/programs/elc/program

What do they do?

Native Language Revitalization Campaigns

GrassrootsCore programs:

Immersion Schools+ Master-

Apprentice *showcase local

successes

FederalPromote adequate

funding for immersion and

master-apprentice programs

International

Ensures that the Declaration of the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples is fulfilled

Education

Empowerment

Monitoring

The Problem:“America's first languages are on the brink of extinction. Unless we act now, in the next 10 years, as many as 70 Native American languages

will fall silent, erasing a wealth of human knowledge, silencing timeless ceremonies, and severing indigenous peoples from sacred spiritual links to their lands. By 2050, scholars estimate that as few as 20 of

America’s first languages will still be spoken.”

Why they do it

“The responsibility for saving the native languages of America is born by only one generation: this one. If the languages die it will be because we chose not to act, or chose only to act half-heartedly. We will have failed our children, our elders, and our ancestors.”

-National Alliance to Save Native Languages

Why do they do it?These languages were lost as a result of

deliberate government programs, and the country has an obligation to restore them.

Students who learn to speak more than one language perform substantially better

academically, including on standardized tests across subject areas.. 

Language revitalization projects bring vital intergenerational healing and renewed pride

to Native communities

There are dedicated, heroic people in many tribes trying to save their languages with too little money, too little support, and too little

training and resources.

Case Study

• Based in Sapulpa, Oklahoma

• Euchee Language Project (ELP)

• 5 remaining fluent elder speakers—all

Euchee first-language speakers now in their

70s and 80s—on a daily basis to develop

immersion curriculum, conduct after-school

language classes for young people in the

community, and to engage in

master/apprentice training sessions with

middle-generation speakers. 

End of Presentation.Questions & Discussion.