Indigenous Shuar community in Ecuador wins decades-long battle to protect land
Ecuador’s National System of Protected Areas now includes the 13,583-acre ancestral Tiwi Nunka Forest in the country’s south.
Indigenous groups
This archive collects stories about Indigenous communities around the world — their land rights victories, cultural preservation efforts, environmental leadership, and legal milestones. Each story highlights progress driven by or directly affecting Indigenous peoples.
1,000 acres of forest to be returned to Onondaga Nation in historic lake cleanup agreement
Land has been returned directly to a Native American tribe in New York for the first time, and the parcel is significant: nearly 1,000 acres of forest, wetlands, and the sacred headwaters of Onondaga Creek. The Onondaga Nation, original stewards of central New York, will own the land outright and care for it using traditional ecological knowledge, with plans to bring native brook trout back to waters they fished for centuries. The transfer grew out of a Superfund settlement with Honeywell, the company behind decades of industrial pollution nearby. It’s one of the largest Indigenous land returns in U.S. history — a small but meaningful shift in a global movement recognizing Native nations as the rightful caretakers of their homelands.
African court rules in favor of Indigenous land titles, reparations from the Kenyan government
The African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights has ruled that the Kenyan government must pay reparations for repeatedly evicting Indigenous Ogiek people from ancestral lands in the Mau Forest.
Caribou herds in British Columbia have tripled in less than a decade
Environmentalists say the mix of traditional knowledge from Indigenous elders, hands-on community engagement, and Western science offer a model for improved conservation.
Lincoln Crowley appointed Australia’s first Indigenous supreme court justice
Lincoln Crowley QC has become the first Indigenous person ever appointed to an Australian superior court, taking his seat on the Supreme Court of Queensland. A Warramunga man who grew up in Charters Towers, Crowley was once told by a school deputy principal that his Aboriginal family were “the type that end up in jail.” His reply, as he later recalled: “You wait and see, mate.” He began his career representing Indigenous clients before rising to crown prosecutor and senior counsel on Australia’s disability royal commission. For every First Nations child watching, the message of his appointment is quietly powerful: the justice system can include them, not just process them — a small but meaningful shift in a country still reckoning with who its laws have served.
Ecuador’s top court rules for stronger land rights for Indigenous communities
The ruling will immediately affect oil and mining projects across the country, as they must now seek the consent of Indigenous communities who might be affected by their activities.
California redwood forest returned to Indigenous group
The group of 10 tribes that have inhabited the area for thousands of years will be responsible for protecting the 500-acre parcel dubbed Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ, or “Fish Run Place,” in the Sinkyone language.
Canada pledges billions of dollars to compensate Indigenous children
$15.75 billion USD will be allotted to Indigenous children who were unfairly placed in the welfare system, faced delays in accessing services, or did not receive them at all.
New Zealand swears in first Indigenous Māori Governor-general
Before being sworn in as New Zealand’s first Māori Governor-general last week, Dame Cindy Kiro forged a career in academics, holding various leadership roles at many New Zealand universities.
Canada celebrates first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
The day, which honors the lost children and survivors of Indigenous schools, comes after more than 1,000 unmarked graves were discovered at former schools this year.