DoomsdaysCW<p>GLOBAL INDIGENOUS 2023: The Year in Review</p><p>Highlights of news from around the world on <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Indigenous" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Indigenous</span></a> Issues in 2023</p><p>by Deusdedit Ruhangariyo<br>Dec 27, 2023</p><p>Highs and lows: The year brought a wave of highs and lows for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousPeople" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousPeople</span></a> around the globe on issues of land, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRights</span></a>, climate and the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/environment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>environment</span></a>, education, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalJustice</span></a> and health. </p><p>Recent victories</p><p>In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Brazil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Brazil</span></a>, a majority of the country's Supreme Court delivered an historic decision in September, rejecting an attempt to curtail the rights of Native peoples concerning protected reservations on their ancestral lands, Voice of America reported. The 9-2 ruling marks a significant triumph for Indigenous activists and advocates for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateAction</span></a>, VOA reported.</p><p>In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ecuador" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ecuador</span></a>, after more than 80 years of displacement because of war, the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Siekopai" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Siekopai</span></a> nation, an Indigenous community in the Ecuadorian <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Amazon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Amazon</span></a>, secured legal victory in a court battle to reclaim ownership of their ancestral homelands. An Ecuadorian appeals court, in a ruling shared with CNN by the nonprofit organization Amazon Frontline, upheld the Siekopai nation's claim to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/P%C3%AB" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pë</span></a>’këya, a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/biodiverse" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>biodiverse</span></a> region situated in northeast Ecuador near the Peruvian border. The Siekopai people were originally displaced during the 1940s <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PeruEcuadorWar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PeruEcuadorWar</span></a>.</p><p>In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Malaysia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Malaysia</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousActivists</span></a> achieved two significant wins against timber giant <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Samling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Samling</span></a> in their longstanding efforts to protect <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/forests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>forests</span></a> and territories in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Sarawak" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sarawak</span></a>.</p><p>And in Canada, language revitalization got a boost with a decision by the University of Northern <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BritishColumbia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BritishColumbia</span></a>, which is now offering a groundbreaking bachelor’s degree in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Nisgaa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Nisgaa</span></a> language fluency. The program starts in September 2024.</p><p>Ongoing struggles</p><p>It has not all been cozy this year with the world’s Indigenous peoples, however. Native people continue to struggle with a host of issues that surface in communities around the globe.</p><p>Land rights and displacement</p><p>In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ethiopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ethiopia</span></a>, the designation of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BaleMountains" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BaleMountains</span></a> National Park as a UNESCO World Heritage Site could lead to the eviction of more than 20,000 people from farming communities on what were once homelands for the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Oromo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Oromo</span></a> people.</p><p>In Canada, federal prosecutors filed charges against numerous Indigenous fishers, setting up a court fight over constitutional and treaty rights for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FirstNations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FirstNations</span></a> people that could end up in Canada’s highest court. The move comes just three years after the initiation of a self-regulated lobster fishery by a First Nation in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NovaScotia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NovaScotia</span></a>.</p><p>Health issues</p><p>A surge in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HIV" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HIV</span></a> infections among Indigenous people in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Manitoba" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Manitoba</span></a>, Canada, is being blamed on “systemic anti-Indigenous racism” in the health care system. In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Saskatchewan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Saskatchewan</span></a>, another Canadian province, however, disparities prompted the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ahtahkakoop" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ahtahkakoop</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Cree" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Cree</span></a> Nation to work on building its own 24-hour urgent care center to offer options to residents.</p><p>In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Australia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Australia</span></a>, meanwhile, the life expectancy of Indigenous people has increased by about nine years in the last 20 years but still falls short of the wider population. According to the Australian government department of health, Aboriginal communities experience higher rates of chronic diseases and lower life expectancies due to limited access to healthcare services and disparities in health outcomes.</p><p>Education</p><p>In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Canada" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Canada</span></a>, many Indigenous children living in remote reserves lack access to quality education facilities, resulting in lower graduation rates and limited prospects for higher education.</p><p>In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/China" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>China</span></a>, authorities banned a book on the early <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MongolianPeople" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MongolianPeople</span></a>, invoking "historical nihilism" to suppress divergent historical perspectives.</p><p>But there were gains in Australia, where the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria and the nonprofit Yalari organization launched a three-year partnership to help support educational opportunities for Indigenous children from regional and remote communities.</p><p>Climate change and the environment</p><p>A coalition of countries agreed to a five-year plan to disburse $1.7 billion to support the land rights of Indigenous and local communities, but those funds are largely bypassing the very communities they are designed to help. The funding expenditures were detailed in a report released at the United Nations’ recent climate conference, known as COP28, held in Dubai.</p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Protests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Protests</span></a> emerged throughout the world over various mining projects, which largely targeted Indigenous lands with work that threatened vast environmental damage. In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Panama" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Panama</span></a>, for example, mass protests erupted against a government deal with Central America's largest <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CopperMine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CopperMine</span></a> over concerns about sovereignty, environmental damage, and the impact on the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PanamaCanal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PanamaCanal</span></a>. And in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Brazil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Brazil</span></a>, more than four years after the rupture of a tailings dam in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BrumadinhoValley" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BrumadinhoValley</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Brazil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Brazil</span></a>, the Indigenous <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Patax%C3%B3" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pataxó</span></a> and Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe people still suffer from the lack of secure land, water, and food.</p><p>And in the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Arctic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Arctic</span></a> region, The Christian Science Monior reported how tough it is for Indigenous guardians to preserve their culture in a warming world, highlighting the fact that the harsh realities of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateChange" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateChange</span></a> are affecting most Indigenous people around the world.</p><p>Human rights</p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRights</span></a> violations continue to be problems throughout the world. </p><p>In Japan, more than 150 activists, lawmakers and advocates urged leaders to investigate the Chinese government’s human rights abuses against the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Uyghurs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Uyghurs</span></a> in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Xinjiang" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Xinjiang</span></a>.</p><p>The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Kenyan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Kenyan</span></a> government has begun widespread destruction of homes and property of Indigenous <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ogiek" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ogiek</span></a> people living in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MauForest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MauForest</span></a>, despite a 2017 legal victor acknowledging ancestral land rights.</p><p>Western Australia’s parliament, however, issued an historic apology and agreed to reimburse <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Aboriginal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Aboriginal</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TorresStraitIslander" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TorresStraitIslander</span></a> workers who were exploited between 1936 and 1972 under a system that some leaders compared to “slavery.”</p><p>Language, culture preservation</p><p>Australia, which once boasted more than 300 Indigenous languages, is now facing one of the planet’s most severe rates of language decline. Fewer than 30 Indigenous languages remain as primary tongues today.</p><p>In New Zealand, efforts to revitalize the Māori language and culture is an ongoing struggle, as colonization led to a decline in the use of the Māori language and traditional practices.</p><p>Access to justice</p><p>The arrest of five environmental activists battling <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterPollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterPollution</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mining</span></a> in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ElSalvador" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ElSalvador</span></a> are believed to have been politically motivated, sparking global condemnation amid controversial court proceedings.</p><p>The same issues emerged in Norway, where activists protesting against a [GIANT] <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WindFarm" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WindFarm</span></a> that they say obstructs the rights of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Sami" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sami</span></a> people to raise <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/reindeer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>reindeer</span></a> in central and Arctic <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Norway" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Norway</span></a> were removed from the entrances to two government offices by Norwegian police.</p><p>In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NewZealand" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NewZealand</span></a>, a study found that incarcerated Māori people are nearly twice as likely to face housing instability when released from prison as non-<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/M%C4%81ori" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Māori</span></a> prisoners. The study calls for officials to provide stable housing for individuals re-entering society.</p><p>Source:<br><a href="https://ictnews.org/news/global-indigenous-2023-the-year-in-review" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">ictnews.org/news/global-indige</span><span class="invisible">nous-2023-the-year-in-review</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousRights</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndianCountryToday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndianCountryToday</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ProtectTheForests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ProtectTheForests</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LandBack" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LandBack</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a></p>