‘World Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2022: Top 30 Wins for Indigenous Peoples in the Last 2 Years’, 09 August 2022

… As we celebrate World Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2022, Cultural Survival is taking a look back at some of the top 30 wins for Indigenous Peoples over the last 2 years…

January 2020: The Peruvian government created a 1.1 million hectare reserve for Indigenous Peoples living in isolation or initial contact. The Yavari Tapiche Indigenous Reserve will finally put the autonomy of sovereignty of the Matses, Remo, and Marubo Peoples above the profit of oil companies who have resisted the creation of reserves…

July 2021: More than five years after the assassination of Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres (Lenca), David Roberto Castillo — President of the Desarrollos Energéticos (Desa) hydroelectric company— has been found guiltyof co-collaborating her murder. Cáceres fought against Castillo’s dam, which would have destroyed the sacred Gualcarque River. Many cases of violence against Indigenous activists in Honduras are never investigated. Advancements in Caceres’ case lead to new hope for those still pending justice.

July 2022: On July 6, the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma adopted a Rights of Nature Statute recognizing the “immutable rights of rivers” for two rivers that flow through their territory. In 2016, the Ponca became the first tribe in the U.S. to recognize the Rights of Nature as part of their efforts to halt fossil fuel projects on their territory...