Cultural Survival, Inc.

29.08.2005 Nepal's indigenous people, or Janajatis, are demanding King Gyanendra address societal imbalances and reinstate a year-old law reserving ten percent of government seats for indigenous peoples.

23.08.2005 Ampam Karakras is a man on a mission. A Shuar from the Ecuadorian Amazon, he recalls the days when the Shuar (or Jivaro as they were then known to Westerners) were famed for their secret technique of shrinking human heads. As a youth, he was sent to boarding schools run by Salesian Catholic priests where he learned Spanish and was educated in Western ways. But unlike indigenous boarding school experiences in other parts of the world, Ampam’s years among the Salesians strengthened his appreciation both for the value of education and for the Shuar people and their culture.

23.08.2005 American Indian activists applauded a new policy that bans colleges and universities who display "offensive or hostile" racial/ethnic mascots from hosting championship sports events. College athletic programs have long appropriated Indian names, rituals and practices, which "ridicule and denigrate" the contemporary Indian community, said the activists.

14.08.2005 The Indigenous People's Council on Biocolonialism plans to launch a campaign against the "Genographic Project"--a study of the DNA of indigenous people to map the origin and migration of humans--due to concerns that the findings may contradict indigenous oral tradition or be at risk for unauthorized secondary use.

04.08.2005 Guatemala’s indigenous peoples are at risk of being denied their right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through the media. Immediate changes to Guatemala’s telecommunications law, now lagging in the legislature, are essential if the long-term survival of community radio is to be assured.