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There are an estimated 476 million Indigenous peoples in the world, living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.

COVID-19 has posed a grave threat to Indigenous peoples around the world, who already lack access to healthcare and other essential services. Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own solutions in their own languages, using divergent knowledge, practices and preventive measures to fight the pandemic.

In the We Are Indigenous series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) speaks with Indigenous academics, activists and community leaders to learn how the global Indigenous community’s contributions are building a healthier and more sustainable future for us all.

It is estimated that approximately 50 per cent of the total Indigenous population, 238 million people, are women. Using their voices to advocate for their communities, Indigenous women have contributed to crucial conversations on global issues, from sharing the Indigenous experience to empower women and girls at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), to showcasing Indigenous climate action at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and calling upon the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to adopt a general recommendation on Indigenous women. No challenge is off limits for this unique coalition of change-makers.

However, the valuable social, political, and economic contributions of Indigenous women are sometimes overshadowed by the discrimination they face, both as women and as Indigenous peoples. A recent report by Women states that Indigenous women continue to face the fatal health impacts of environmental degradation and extractive industries, noting that Indigenous women and adolescent girls are significantly less likely than their non-Indigenous counterparts to benefit from services and have worse maternal health outcomes. The report also states that women who face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination are at greater risk of being subjected to violence, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Confronted with these facts, it is important to hear the voices of Indigenous women who face marginalization because of their cultural and gender identity, as they remain a force of advocacy and a source of hope for the next generation of women in the field of Indigenous rights.

Chandra Kalindi Roy-Henriksen is the��head of the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Originally from Bangladesh, Ms. Roy-Heniksen’s values were shaped by her father, the chief of her people, as well as her grandmother, a highly respected and influential woman in her community who passed on traditional teachings to her such as weaving, plant picking, making rice cakes, and the timeless importance in respecting the land: “That the land is here for us, and you cannot take it with you when you go. You leave it for the generations that come after you.”

Speaking about breaking the glass ceiling for Indigenous women, Ms. Roy-Henriksen pointed out that learning to navigate systems of power in a way that feels authentic to women is key. From her experience as a lawyer she noted that “Often when women speak their minds, they are seen as aggressive or dominating, while a man is seen as being assertive,” but this reality should not stop women from chasing their dreams. There are nuances that women must learn to respond to while balancing work, life, family, tradition, and at the same time “Not forgetting that you are a woman, and you have your own interests and your hobbies.” Above all, women must remain confident in who they are, and this includes where they are from and how they were raised. Ms. Roy-Henriksen is proud to work with numerous Indigenous women within the field of law and through her work at the United Nations and she looks forward to watching the young women who come after her continue to shatter that glass ceiling.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an environmental activist, the founder of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) and a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Advocate. Ms. Ibrahim is an expert in Indigenous peoples’ adaptation to climate change, traditional ecological knowledge and climate change mitigation strategies. As a co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, she actively promotes the unique contribution of Indigenous collectives when it comes to the protection of the environment.

When asked about her leadership role on a global scale, Ms. Ibrahim responded, “When I am asking people to respect my Indigenous communities, first and foremost, I need them to respect me.” According to Ms. Ibrahim, establishing oneself as a respectable figure in the public sphere certainly does not come easily for Indigenous women, but it is not impossible. “I share my ideas and tell them that what I am saying is not only important for woman, but for the world, and then they start paying attention and giving me respect, which allows me to discuss these important topics with them.”

Placing a strong value on education, Ms. Ibrahim acknowledged her mother who chose to send her to school, despite the judgement from those around them, as one of her greatest inspirations. She was also encouraged by a female Indigenous leader to apply for the Programme of the UN the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland, which focused on international human rights standards and mechanisms, and Indigenous peoples’ rights. Such support from other Indigenous women helped contribute to Ms. Ibrahim’s success as a leader in her own right.��

Mirian Masaquiza Jerez, a Kichwa/Salasaka activist from Ecuador, also completed the Indigenous Fellowship Programme of OHCHR when she worked with the Confederación Nacional de Campesinas, Indigenas y Negras del Ecuador (Confederation of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-Ecuadorians, and Rural Organizations, FENOCIN). Now a social affairs officer at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Ms. Jerez agreed that through education, Indigenous women can better understand their roots, which helps them become proud of their identity, language and culture. “Education has given the opportunity for Indigenous women to reconsider their future.” ��

One of the major elements of Ms. Jerez’s work was to strengthen the participation of Indigenous youth and women in various forums at both national and international levels where they have focused their discussions on health, well-being, identity, empowerment as well as self-determination, with these issues gaining recognition in intergovernmental processes. Ms. Jerez is proud of the success achieved by Indigenous women in the international arena of the Permanent Forum and noted that it is “now the time to implement those discussions and create concrete policies and bodies of law that protect and support Indigenous women and girls.

Mai Thin Yu Mon is a young human rights activist and a respected Chin female leader from Myanmar who has had an interest in learning about Indigenous rights from a young age. She serves as the program director for the Indigenous Peoples Development Program of Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) and is a member of the UN Global Indigenous Youth Caucus (GIYC) and the steering committee of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). ��

“I am really impressed to see how far the Indigenous leaders from different parts of the world have collectively pushed the Indigenous people's rights movements,” she said, pointing out that Indigenous youth pursuing leadership roles “are the beneficiaries of all the efforts that were made by our elders and Indigenous leaders since decades ago.”

As a young woman immersed in the field of Indigenous activism, Ms. Yu Mon does not find balancing her interests and work difficult, as her interests are rooted in her work. With many hours of her day spent on policy reform, environmental awareness and cultural revival, the young activist values self-care through hydration and meditation, noting that women often place their own needs on the backburner in order to serve the greater good of the community. Ms. Yu Mon is dedicated to building a better future for society, just as the Indigenous women before her have done so.

A consistent theme among these Indigenous women activists is the value in collaboration to reform current systems so they can better serve the needs of Indigenous women and girls. Grassroots organizations, educational programs and leadership training developed specifically for Indigenous women and girls are contributing to building a stronger community, which empowers young Indigenous girls and ensures that they have the support they need to achieve their dreams.

Resources:

• Indigenous Women and the United Nations System
• Briefing Note: Gender and Indigenous People Human Rights
• UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: Members’ Reports on Gender and Indigenous Women
• UN Women: COVID-19 and Indigenous Women
• UN Women:

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There are an estimated 476 million indigenous peoples in the world, living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.

COVID-19 has posed a grave threat to Indigenous peoples around the world, who already lack access to healthcare and other essential services. Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own solutions in their own languages, using divergent knowledge, practices and preventative measures to fight the pandemic.

In the We Are Indigenous series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) speaks with Indigenous academics and activists to learn how the global Indigenous community’s contributions are building a healthier and more sustainable future for us all.

To many Indigenous peoples, storytelling extends beyond a fantastical realm and acts as a vehicle for information dissemination and the generational transfer of knowledge. Often times mainstream news and media only cover one aspect of the Indigenous story that focuses on vulnerabilities, traditions or harmful stereotypes, including in the context of COVID-19 which continues to cause a great deal of damage to Indigenous communities.

The United Nations Declaration on The Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that Indigenous peoples have the right to establish their own media in their own languages and to have access to all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination. With the goal to dismantle media-based prejudice against Indigenous groups, Indigenous media professionals are working to ensure Indigenous cultural diversity is properly represented in the media and tells Indigenous stories in a way that is factual, dignified and ethical.

Tarcila Rivera Zea is a Quechuan activist from Ayacucho, Peru and founder of the non-governmental organization Chirapaq.�� She is also a member of the UN’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She first joined the Indigenous women’s movement in Latin America in the 1980s. The movement, as she described it, was the intersectional advocacy between feminism and Indigenous rights, which had not been included in mainstream activism before. Her interest in Indigenous storytelling through journalism was sparked as she “walked along with the others who want to find the reassessment of expression of the Indigenous communities especially related to their rights.”

When Rivera Zea worked as a library secretary at the Ministry of Culture in Peru, she dealt with many editorials and publications and noticed “the assessment of Indigenous artistic expressions and knowledge, unfortunately, does not translate to many formal and official systems.” This realization inspired her to join the Pueblo Indio Magazine of the Indian Council of South America (CISA) as a journalist to address the lack of Indigenous knowledge transmission. Her work included collecting testimonies of Indigenous women raped during armed conflicts and exposing the discrimination and abuse that Indigenous women and girls endured. In 1986, Rivera Zea founded Chirapaq (Center of Indigenous Cultures of Peru) to support the cultural reaffirmation of Indigenous peoples with a strong human rights approach. The organization, now a leading agency for the rights of Indigenous women, empowers Indigenous women and youth to become leaders and increases the visibility of Peru’s Indigenous peoples and cultures. Throughout her journey forging a connection between journalism and activism and paving the way for future Indigenous media professionals, Rivera Zea has stressed that localized journalism is a powerful way for Indigenous peoples to achieve their rights and reclaim their own story.

Nikki Iyolo Sanchez is an Indigenous media maker, decolonial educator, and Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Victoria, Canada. Originating from El Salvador to a Euro-Canadian mother and a Pipil/Maya father during the civil war, since birth Nikki's life has been shaped by the impacts of colonization, globalization, and systemic inequity. In her early childhood, Nikki and her mother were forced to leave her father's territory for their own survival. Ever since she has been working towards deeper cross-cultural understanding and empathy. As an Indigenous media maker, she not only creates content but also helps create platforms and networks that support the development and capacity building of emerging Indigenous and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous People of Color) storytellers and filmmakers.

For Sanchez, decolonial media is a vehicle for education, expression and information dissemination on important topics such as the environment and Indigenous rights. Speaking about covering Indigenous peoples’ stories during COVID-19, Sanchez stated that she has been very mindful of “going directly to the sources – to the communities” when gathering information related to the experience of Indigenous peoples, as “predominantly mainstream media will naturally have inherent biases when trying to represent other people’s narratives.”

For example, through her social media channels, Sanchez brought attention to the heartbreaking situation faced by the Navajo Nation during COVID-19 including food insecurity, their lack of access to basic services such as clean drinking water, and inadequate housing conditions. She also closely covered the communities who have sought to protect their communities by exercising their sovereign rights and closing entry to their territories, which she described as “profound and unprecedented act of self-determination that these Nations are committed to keeping their communities and elders safe as they say ‘absolutely not’ to entry from people who could be brining pathogens that the communities do not have the resources to deal with.”

For Indigenous youth who aspire to create their own media as storytellers, Sanchez advocates that Indigenous and BIPOC should always have the right to dictate their own narrative; “the only person who can dictate your identity is yourself.” Instead of being perceived as traditional and static, “Indigenous peoples have every right to be as diverse, broad and multidimensional as they choose to be as human beings and it is time that media begin representing them as such.”

Youth academic and Indigenous activist Qivioq Nivi Løvstrøm studies in the Department of Culture and Social History at the University of Greenland. Echoing Sanchez’s call for Indigenous self-representation, Løvstrøm shared her mantra, ‘nothing about us without us’, stating that, “We are the only ones who can speak for us.”�� When faced with preconceptions and biases, Løvstrøm says it is important to set boundaries and listen to yourself and that everyone has “their own specific ever-evolving culture, and we are navigating both worlds.”

All people have the right to represent themselves in their own way. When the content made by Indigenous peoples for Indigenous peoples is seen and heard, it helps to broaden social perspectives, combat stigmatization and promote better understanding that leads to respect and curiosity, which according to Sanchez, “ultimately creates a more vibrant and interesting world for everyone.”

Additional Resources:

• United Nations Declaration on The Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
• UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs:��Culture of Indigenous Peoples
• UN News:
• Cultural Survival:

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There are an estimated 476 million indigenous peoples in the world, living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.

COVID-19 has posed a grave threat to Indigenous peoples around the world, who already lack access to healthcare and other essential services. Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own solutions in their own languages, using traditional and innovative knowledge, practices and preventive measures to fight the pandemic.

In the We Are Indigenous series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) speaks with Indigenous academics and activists to learn how the global Indigenous community’s contributions are building a healthier and more sustainable future for us all.

Indigenous peoples experience higher rates of ill health, disability and reduced quality of life, with a much shorter life expectancy compared to other citizens in the same countries. Their health status is severely affected by their living conditions, employment and income levels, and access to food, water and sanitation services. Geographic isolation, poverty, discrimination and a lack of cultural understanding further contribute to major structural barriers for Indigenous populations to access health care.

In order to improve Indigenous peoples’ social and economic outcomes and bridge the wellness gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, access to quality healthcare must remain a leading priority. Following the “culture meets care” principle, Indigenous medical professionals are promoting healing and empowerment through a multifaceted practice using traditional wellness practices such as speaking circles and the smudging of sacred medicines. As these leaders commit to fighting for the right to healthcare through a combination of study and activism that advocates for community-based self-determination, Indigenous communities can develop culturally relevant health care initiatives that serve their own unique needs.

Dr. Michelle Johnson-Jennings is a Choctaw Nation Tribal Member and an Associate Professor of Phycology at the University of Minnesota. She is also an Indigenous Clinical Health Psychologist and serves as a member of the COVID-19 Native Scientists Expert Panel of the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the United States.

Dr. Johnson-Jennings’s home community, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma on Turtle Island, has been heavily impacted by COVID-19 like many other Indigenous communities. Dr. Johnson-Jennings has been working closely with other Indigenous colleagues to address the COVID-19 related disparities faced by Indigenous groups and how best to inform risks, prevention and treatment.

��“COVID-19 has been disproportionately impacting Indigenous, Black and other communities of color, with government support slowed or stalled for many,” said Dr. Johnson-Jennings. In her community alone, “We are losing our elders, first language speakers, and knowledge keepers at frightening and heartbreaking rates. We are further fearful that our children's health will be compromised, given that the Indigenous youth also suffer from higher rates of obesity, type II diabetes, asthma and other risks factors.”

To protect these at-risk populations, Indigenous communities have put in place prevention measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Dr. Johnson-Jennings observed, “Many Indigenous communities, including my own, are further indigenizing mask wearing and social distancing, holding virtual powwows, showing public service announcement videos and closing public venues to visitors of the reservations.” In addition, some Indigenous communities are holding traditional healing sessions and community drives for food and supplies for members in need of help, such as elders and those in isolation or quarantine. Knowledge keepers and elders have been retelling prophecies related to the pandemic and re-instilling ancestral knowledge about how to care for oneself and others, which is important for the wellbeing and mental health of the community. ��

Speaking about her research, Dr. Johnson-Jennings said that she chose to pursue a career path that would best assist her community, as their needs are “first and foremost” in her mind. She situates her health interventions in the cultural context of Indigenous knowledge and utilizes Western medicine theories and practices as complementary which creates a more welcoming environment for Indigenous people, rather than an alienating experience. “Ultimately, it is through linking health care work with the culture, history and stories of the community that researchers and healthcare providers can appropriately move forward,” said Dr. Johnson-Jennings. “Therefore, I work closely with community members, elders, and other knowledge keepers to inform and co-develop approaches and research.”

Dr. Jaris Swidrovich obtained his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Toronto. His current research and practice cover the areas of HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ health, substance abuse disorders and Indigenous health. Identifying himself as a Two Spirit Saulteaux and Ukrainian man from Yellow Quill First Nation, Dr. Swidrovich said that when medical professionals try to understand and identify Indigenous health determinants, it is paramount to look at the entire picture, including the colonial history and incredibly challenging living circumstances that the Indigenous population endure: “We cannot just fix people without properly acknowledging the history of colonial trauma and how that lives within their own selves, their families and their communities.”

For example, before COVID-19 Dr. Swidrovich started working on a community-based substance abuse initiative, with over half of the local population in this study being active drug users. His research has proven that drug use was not an issue until the community was forcefully displaced from their community by rampant forest fires a few years ago, which illuminated an important link between Indigenous health and the environment. Land-based healing methods including re-learning original languages, attending sweat lodges, gathering traditional medicines from the land, smudging, and engaging in long-established song and dance are key components of the treatment plan that Dr. Swidrovich identified for the community, which were also used to help them collectively recover from COVID-19.

The acronym 2SLGBTQ+, (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) is unique to Northern American Indigenous groups, as it includes their own unique understanding of having both a feminine and masculine spirit. Members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community face discrimination and intolerance at disproportionate rates, which makes them particularly vulnerable as COVID-19 amplifies the existing social inequalities. Dr. Swidrovich highlighted the intrinsic link between mental health and physical health, calling for increased support for the 2SLGBTQ+ groups. Addressing mental health services, he noted that “Depending on the location, there are usually regionally funded networks that offer resources, information and connections,” and many networks now offer services online, some of them free, in response to COVID-19. While this does eliminate an element of in-person contact, it also increases accessibility of services for rural Indigenous people.

When asked what advice he would give to Indigenous youth looking to work in health care, Dr. Swidrovich quickly responded, “I would tell them to call me!” He recalled a lack of mentorship within his specialized field as he explored the studies between the Indigenous culture and Western medicine and expressed his willingness to support aspiring young medical students. In terms of career choices, Dr. Swidrovich identified pharmacists as the most accessible urban and rural health professionals. It is not uncommon for Indigenous community members to have to wait several weeks to see a doctor or psychiatrist. However, pharmacists, located right across the counter, are immediately available to provide information and temporary support for those suffering from physical and mental illnesses. Therefore, he finds it important for policymakers to invest more in pharmacy studies, “Rather than closing that door to the community members who need it most.”

Despite the harm caused by COVID-19, many Indigenous communities with few economic resources remain strong in their rich cultural knowledge and practices providing an ongoing spring of hope for their future. Increased funding and support for localized research initiatives are urgently needed to help Indigenous peoples better manage their unique needs, as they continue to demonstrate an immeasurable commitment to caring for continued community revitalization despite the odds.

Additional Resources:

• State of The Worlds Indigenous Peoples: Health
• Inter-agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples Issues: The Health of Indigenous Peoples
• UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs: Health of Indigenous Peoples
• World Health Organization:
• United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

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There are an estimated 476 million indigenous peoples in the world, living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.

COVID-19 has posed a grave threat to Indigenous peoples around the world, who already lack access to healthcare and other essential services. Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own solutions in their own languages, using traditional and innovative knowledge, practices and preventive measures to fight the pandemic.

In the We Are Indigenous series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) speaks with Indigenous academics and activists to learn how the global Indigenous community’s contributions are building a healthier and more sustainable future for us all.

As natural and human-caused disasters continue to rise across the globe, so must diversified mitigation and response strategies. While the (UNDRR) brings governments, partners and communities together to reduce disaster risk and losses to ensure a safer, more sustainable future, Indigenous communities often face a lack of support from political stakeholders during the disasters. Policymakers tend to focus on western science and technology-based methods of disaster risk reduction and response. However, Indigenous communities experiencing the direct effects of the disasters require culturally relevant, localized approaches. Their local resources and knowledge, passed from generation to generation, offer valuable lessons for the international community.

The relationship between Indigenous knowledge and their disaster risk reduction efforts is based on their close contact with the environment. For example, traditional weather forecasting includes the observation of the moon, the sun, the stars, animals and insects. According to a report by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), the Indigenous inhabitants of Simeulue Island, Indonesia managed to survive the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 because of their time-tested knowledge “buffaloes run to the hills when a tsunami is coming.” People who live near the Damodar River in West Bengal, India used markers inscribed on trees and the observation of ants moving their eggs to higher ground as a warning sign of impending floods.

John Scott is a member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and Director of the Centre for Public Service Communications, an organization that has coordinated initiatives to engage Indigenous peoples in disaster risk reduction on behalf of several United Nations bodies, including the UNDRR. Scott highlighted the urgent need for multilateral agreements to incorporate Indigenous peoples into debates on disaster policies as well as development agendas, in his publication International Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies and Indigenous Peoples in collaboration with Professor Simon Lambert of Lincoln University, New Zealand.

Scott observed that Indigenous communities have a strong consultative process, and information is shared broadly and quickly through communications networks that exist in the community. This is of immeasurable value in the world of disaster risk reduction, as on-the-ground dialogue can be a key determinant of community survival pre and post disaster. As the Indigenous communities unite to fight the COVID-19 crisis, the inclusive and culturally understood decision-making process is of vital importance. The inclusion and protection of Elders are placed at the center of the Indigenous-led consultation, which ensures that the needs of the community members most vulnerable to the deadly virus are not left behind.

Professor Simon Lambert, a member of the Tuhoe and Ngati Ruapani and expert in Indigenous Disaster Risk Reduction, has been closely involved in COVID-19 responses in Indigenous communities. “Indigenous peoples are experienced and professional first responders, and there are already clear roles in place for most Indigenous communities,” he said.

However, this disaster risk reduction system and methodologies cannot always be analyzed by or directly translated into Western frameworks without cultural context. Trying to do so can run the risk of causing confusion. Professor Lambert notes that it is also essential to make information and educational materials on disaster risks available in Indigenous languages, and Scott agrees: “If information is simply translated from English, but fails to be understood in a cultural context, it is of little help to that community.” Both scholars concluded that producing and disseminating guidance on COVID-19 must involve a primary focus on the audience: their languages, cultures and communication styles.��

Following the 2010/2012 Ötautahi/Christchurch earthquakes in Aotearoa, New Zealand, Professor Lambert focused his work on the community mental health challenges that can follow an environmental disaster. Although his study participants survived the earthquakes, many were seriously affected, and the impacts of this disaster were compounded by previous or ongoing personal or whanau (extended family) “disasters”. For post-disaster recovery efforts, Indigenous-led consultation is effective in understanding these emotional needs of community members and avoiding re-traumatization. It should be included as a key component of the recovery measures and construction of future disaster management and risk reduction strategies.

Indigenous peoples are incredible first responders and resilient problem solvers. Unfortunately, they often suffer the most devastating impacts of disaster not because of disaster risk reduction incompetence, but rather, systemic racism, isolation and marginalization. There is an urgent need to increase dialogue between Governments, policymakers and Indigenous peoples, to give credit to the value of Indigenous knowledge and the self-reliance and sustainability it represents. There is also an ever-expansive opportunity to embrace modernity in Indigenous knowledge, which is often unilaterally defined as “traditional”, and establish a balanced approach to bring the benefits of modern science and technology to localized problem-solving initiatives. ��

Additional Resources:

• United Nations��Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
• UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs:��Indigenous Peoples

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There are an estimated 476 million indigenous peoples in the world, living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.

COVID-19 has posed a grave threat to Indigenous peoples around the world, who already lack access to healthcare and other essential services. Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own solutions in their own languages, using traditional and innovative knowledge, practices and preventive measures to fight the pandemic.

In the We Are Indigenous series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) speaks with Indigenous academics and activists to learn how the global Indigenous community’s contributions are building a healthier and more sustainable future for us all.

Political ecology is a practice combining politics, economics and social factors, to create space for an intersectional approach that better serves people’s socio-economic needs while nurturing the natural environment.

As Earth’s original stewards, the lives of Indigenous peoples are rooted in sustainable development processes. From the early trade relations between Indigenous peoples in what is now Canada and the Hudson Bay Company, to the Yanomami peoples of the Amazon using forest plants to manufacture their own farming and fishing equipment, Indigenous peoples have always had savvy ways of producing while respecting their recourses.

As decisions by governments and policymakers and large-scale development projects continue to have severe impacts on Indigenous land and resources, Indigenous political ecologists are using their knowledge and understanding of reciprocal relationships with the environment to demonstrate a more sustainable approach to good governance.

Dr. Myrle Ballard, an Anishinaabe scholar and Professor at the , the UNAI Hub for SDG 6: Water and Sanitation, researches the ways environmental changes affect Indigenous people's livelihoods, and the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge into decision-making processes related to the environment.

Reflecting on her childhood, Dr. Ballard recalled her mother bringing baby calves into their family kitchen during the winter to care for the animals during dangerous weather conditions and how this provided her first lessons in the connection to the life and land around her. “I was always interested in what was going on with the land and with the environment around me.” Dr. Ballard sees sustainable development as an inherent part of her culture’s way of being. “Our people, my ancestors – they had these names [sustainability] way before I was born, because they were always on the land,” she said.

With a strong research interest in water and fishery management that stemmed from her firsthand experience of the floods in her hometown, Dr. Ballard's believes that no one knows the environment more intimately than those who have been stewarding it since ancient times, and passing down their knowledge of unique land and waterway observation techniques to each generation. In 2011, heavier than normal precipitation and severe wind events caused a flood in Manitoba that was of an unprecedented scope and severity. The provincial water control structure was not able to control the overflows, leading to the evacuation and displacement of over 7,000 people in the lakeshore communities. For Dr. Ballard there is a clear need to include Indigenous-led consultation in environmental planning: “People don’t give our knowledge systems credit, and it’s time they start giving us credit for what we know.”

Dr. Ballard also highlighted the severe contamination of Lake Winnipeg from over-exposure to phosphorus and nitrogen from municipal and industrial wastewaters, agricultural runoff, and air pollution. These blooms harm the lake's ecosystem, threaten the fishery, and reduce enjoyment of the lake. As a result of the government’s hydroelectric projects and infrastructure to control flooding in southern cities, the water levels of Lake Winnipeg continue to fluctuate, confusing the fish which so many survive on. The University of Manitoba’s Indigenous Research Program grant has partnered Anishinaabe fishers with non-Indigenous scientists to help restore the body of water to health by studying the new behaviors and disease contracted by the fish and learning about their adaptability through Indigenous and Western-science aquatics management. This partnership demonstrates the value in working alongside rural Indigenous peoples as the environment itself can be more sustainably renewed and restored through collective care.

Land is considered as kin, an extension of the family system, by the Indigenous peoples on the prairie. “Much of our livelihood practices consider this relationship foundational in our assessment of harvesting and procuring what we needed from the landscape, to the point where we have laws that govern our relationship to the land and nature,” said Mylan Tootoosis, Nêhiyawpwat (Plains Cree-Nakota) and PhD student in political ecology from the University of Saskatchewan. These original laws helped to maintain a balance between fulfilling the human’s needs and the mitigation of their impact.

“Although the earth and our people have been impacted drastically by colonization, our laws and links to the land have not. We are working to establish much of those connections, and the Sustainable Development Goals are one way to start and build conversations that need to happen,” Tootoosis said, noting the importance of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for countries and organizations to begin to have those conversations and strive for ecological restoration and balance.

Tootoosis pointed out that many Indigenous collectives had excellent agricultural practices in place prior to colonization that have now been encroached on with a heavily industrialized farming industry that over exploits land. The commercialization of farming can cause irreversible environmental damage that effects Indigenous land rights and overall wellbeing. The Land-Back movement is not about eliminating all settler farming initiatives, but rather returning land to Indigenous peoples to revive their own sustainable agricultural practices for the health of the environment and natural resources.

Tootoosis described his academic journey in political ecology as “a blend of informal land-based education and formal academia.” He and Dr. Ballard agreed that inclusive language is a guiding principle: only real, open dialogues with Indigenous communities in their traditional languages, instead of “academic talks” can generate critical conversation that leads to well-informed socio-economic decisions.

All human-beings benefit from a robust, healthy, thriving environment. It is not the sole job of Indigenous collectives to protect mother nature, but every single person profiting from her abundant resources. By including and crediting Indigenous peoples and their time-tested knowledge, Indigenous political ecology seeks to understand the original practices in a changing world, and spark plausible innovation to better the community, the land and maintain a sustainable way of life.

Additional Resources:

• United Nations��Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
• UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs:��Indigenous Peoples
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Indigenous Peoples and Environment
• State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples:
• (UNAI Hub for SDG 6: Water and Sanitation):
• University of Saskatchewan:

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There are an estimated 476 million indigenous peoples in the world, living across 90 countries. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.

COVID-19 has posed a grave threat to Indigenous peoples around the world, who already lack access to healthcare and other essential services. Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own solutions in their own languages, using traditional and innovative knowledge, practices and preventive measures to fight the pandemic.

In the We Are Indigenous series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) speaks with Indigenous academics and activists to learn how the global Indigenous community’s contributions are building a healthier and more sustainable future for us all.

Spread across the world from the Arctic to the South Pacific, Indigenous peoples are commonly understood as descendants of the Earth’s original land-stewards, living in a geographic region at the time when people of different cultures or ethnic origins arrived and later became dominant through conquest, occupation, and settlement.

Considering the diversity of the 476 million Indigenous peoples living in all regions of the world, we can’t confine Indigenous peoples to a single definition. The United Nations describes Indigenous peoples as inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment. A modern understanding of the term is based on their self- identification as Indigenous peoples at the individual level and accepted by the community as a member; historical continuity with pre-colonial and/or pre-settler societies; a strong link to territories and surrounding natural resources; distinct social, economic or political systems; distinct languages, cultures and beliefs, and so forth.

In modern times, global Indigenous communities find themselves facing deplorable living conditions due to industrial development, climate change and now COVID-19. Resurgent problem solvers, Indigenous populations have both collectively and individually proven themselves as infinitely resilient in the face of disaster. In the We Are Indigenous interview series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) invites Indigenous thought leaders from universities across the globe to engage in a discussion on cultural heterogeneity, individuality, and community-based resilience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, Indigenous-led consultation always places the inclusion and protection of Elders at its center, something that is especially important during the global COVID-19 pandemic, observed John Scott, a member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and Director of the Centre for Public Service Communications, which has coordinated initiatives to engage Indigenous peoples in disaster risk reduction on behalf of several United Nations agencies, including the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). Inclusive and culturally understood decision-making processes in reducing risk are critical for meeting the needs of the community members they are intended to serve.

Professor Simon Lambert, who studied Economic Geography at Lincoln University in New Zealand and is a member of the Tuhoe and Ngati Ruapani, is an expert in Indigenous disaster risk reduction and has been involved in ongoing meetings related to the COVID-19 response in Indigenous communities. He notes the importance of making information and educational materials available in Indigenous languages, although these translations might “come at a cost, or a delay.” Multilingual research, and the urgency in ensuring Indigenous languages are being included in academic discourse, is a way of protecting Indigenous methods of information documentation that have been at risk since early colonial contact.

When it comes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Mylan Tootoosis, Nêhiyawpwat (Plains Cree-Nakota) and PhD student in Political Ecology from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, reflects on an Indigenous symbiotic relationship with landscape that once mitigated a lot of devastating impacts to environment. “The Sustainable Development Goals provide the framework for countries and organizations to begin to have those conversations and strive for pre-contact Americas.”

Dr. Myrle Ballard, an Anishinaabe scholar and Professor at the University of Manitoba, Canada also sees sustainable development as an inherent part of her culture’s way of being. “Our people, my ancestors – they had these names [sustainability] way before I was born, since time immemorial, because they were always on the land,” she notes.

Additionally, the Indigenous young people are stepping up to the challenges of environment, equality and education, and preparing themselves to lead positive changes. In Greenland, youth academic and activist Qivioq Nivi Løvstrøm, works at the Nordic Institute and studies in the Department of Culture and Social History at the University of Greenland. Her Indigenous community calls themselves “Kalaallit” and are part of the “Inuit Nunaat” (the Land of the Inuit). A young woman active in environmental rights, Qivioq notes that the “majority of Kalaallit getting a higher education are women” with a predominantly female workforce in the social and human rights fields.

Despite many challenges, indigeneity remains abundant across the globe. Research shows that there are more than 42 million Indigenous people in Latin America, making up nearly 8 percent of the total population. Several Indigenous groups in countries such as China, Vietnam and India are leaders in socio-economic regeneration through the revival of Indigenous governance structures. From the call for formal protection of Maya and Aztec monuments in Mexico, to the Maasai people of East Africa challenging assimilative government programs, and the modern inclusion of Two-spirit gender identity by many Indigenous communities in North America, Indigenous stories continue to pave a path of sovereignty for their future generations.

Who are Indigenous peoples? What are their social, cultural, economic and political characteristics, challenges and contributions? To answer these questions in an oversimplified statement would only be a repetition of what occurs far too often in mainstream media, educational, and political structures. The We Are Indigenous interview series aims to change the narrative of Indigenous people as vulnerable, endangered and at-risk and instead, illustrate the immeasurable diversity in Indigenous knowledge and modernity, as Indigenous scholars break down colonial barriers to build bridges of intersectionality between activism and academia. These conversations welcome dialogue on the ways in which Indigenous perspectives live within generational bodies of knowledge, amongst individual definitions of modernity, and throughout the many translations of their languages that cannot be filed under a single pan-Indigenous worldview.

Additional Resources

• United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
• UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs: Indigenous Peoples
• Fact sheet: Who are Indigenous Peoples?
• Report series:
• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• System-wide action plan (SWAP) on the rights of indigenous peoples
• International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (9 August)

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