Borneo locals win a court battle to bar a coal miner from their land
After a two-year court battle, Indonesia’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of a lawsuit that claims the permit for the mining firm should be revoked.
Indigenous rights & well-being
This archive covers documented progress on Indigenous rights, sovereignty, land protection, cultural preservation, and community health. Stories here highlight policy wins, legal milestones, and Indigenous-led initiatives that are improving lives and strengthening self-determination around the world.
Canada sets aside 56,000 square kilometres of Yukon boreal forest for conservation after decade-long legal battle
Located in northwest Canada, Yukon’s Peel watershed covers 67,431 square kilometres of wilderness that is rich in biodiversity. Eighty-three percent will now be preserved as Conservation Areas.
Oglala Sioux Tribe legalizes same-sex marriage
The tribal council last week approved a same-gender marriage ordinance in a 12-3 vote with one abstention.
Ecuador Amazon tribe win first victory against oil companies
Ecuador’s Waorani indigenous tribe won their first victory against big oil companies in a ruling that blocks entry onto ancestral lands for oil exploration.
Navajo Nation embraces renewable energy as era of coal power ends
The Navajo Nation voted not to pursue the plan to operate the coal-powered Navajo Generating Station itself, but rather to create a new local economy based on renewable energy.
The United States convenes the most diverse Congress in its history
There are more women than ever before, and a new generation of Muslims, Latinos, Native Americans and African-Americans in the House creating what academics call a reflective democracy, more aligned with the population of the United States.
New Mexico Democrat Debra Haaland and Kansas Democrat Sharice Davids become the first Native American women elected to U.S. Congress
Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland made history on Tuesday by becoming the first Native American women elected to Congress.
Indigenous rights get boost as Green Climate Fund approves $1 billion for new projects
The fund – to which countries have pledged more than $10 billion – adopted a landmark policy to protect indigenous people who often live in or near forests, where the fund plans to back conservation projects.
L.A. City Council replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day on city calendar
Over the objections of Italian American civic groups, the council made the second Monday in October a day in L.A. to commemorate “indigenous, aboriginal and native people.”
Court finds that approval of Dakota Access Pipeline violated the law
A federal judge ruled that the federal permits authorizing the pipeline to cross the Missouri River just upstream of the Standing Rock reservation, which were hastily issued by the Trump administration just days after the inauguration, violated the law in certain critical respects.