Indigenous rights & well-being

This archive tracks meaningful progress on Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and community well-being across the U.S. and around the world. The 138 articles here cover land rights victories, cultural preservation efforts, health equity gains, and policy wins won by Indigenous communities and their advocates. Each story centers the people driving change.

Prairie Land Potawatomi Nation's Chief Shab-eh-nay, for article on Land Back Illinois

Illinois returns stolen land to Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation

By / / Good News For Humankind

Land Back just scored a major win in Illinois: Governor JB Pritzker signed a law transferring 1,500 acres of Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, honoring a treaty signed in 1829. The land was taken while Chief Shab-eh-nay was visiting family in Kansas, then sold off to settlers. Returning it took years of patient relationship-building by nation chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick, who met repeatedly with neighbors and lawmakers. The park stays open to its half-million annual visitors, with campsites and trails intact — what changes is who holds the title. It’s one parcel, but it’s a real, legally binding step in a movement reshaping how the U.S. reckons with Indigenous land.

A Aerial Photo Of Fredericksburg Va on a clear fall day, for article on Rappahannock Tribe rights of nature

Rappahannock Tribe first in U.S. to enshrine rights of nature into constitution

By / / Good News For Humankind

The Rappahannock Tribe of Virginia just became the first tribal nation in the U.S. to enshrine the rights of nature directly into its constitution, granting the Rappahannock River nine specific rights — including the right to flourish, regenerate, and flow with clean, unpolluted water. Both the tribe and its citizens can now go to court on the river’s behalf, treating it as a living entity rather than a resource. Chief Anne Richardson called the river “the Mother of our Nation,” and the protection arrives as suburban sprawl and fracking proposals press in on the watershed. It’s a quietly radical move that joins a growing global wave — from Ecuador to Aotearoa New Zealand — reimagining what nature is owed under the law.

Teepees under the northern lights, for article on Indigenous-led conservation

Indigenous governments in the Canada’s Northwest Territories sign $375M deal to protect their land

By / / Good News For Humankind

Indigenous-led conservation took a major leap in Canada’s Northwest Territories, where 22 Indigenous governments signed a $375 million agreement to steward their ancestral lands over the next decade. It’s one of the largest Indigenous-led conservation efforts anywhere in the world, and crucially, the nations themselves decide how the money is used — whether for land guardians, new protected areas, climate research, or language and culture programs rooted in the land. “We’re protecting the spirit of the land,” said Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian, describing the land itself as a living organ in need of care. As global conservation increasingly recognizes that Indigenous-managed territories safeguard extraordinary biodiversity, this agreement offers a powerful model for what real partnership can look like.

Biden delivers “long overdue” formal apology in Arizona for Indian boarding school atrocities

By / / Good news links

President Biden has issued a formal presidential apology to Native American communities for the atrocities committed against Indigenous children and their families during a 150-year era of forced federal Indian boarding schools. “After 150 years, the United States government eventually stopped the program,” the president said. “But the federal government has never, never formally apologized for what happened — until today. I formally apologize, as president of the United States of America, for what we did.”

Colombian woman in traditional clothing weaving looking at the camera

Colombia’s new decree recognizes Indigenous people as environmental authorities

By / / Good news links

Indigenous peoples in Colombia have been granted the authority to protect, manage, and conserve biodiversity within their territories according to their knowledge. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has issued a decree that lays out the standards required for Indigenous authorities to issue regulations regarding the protection, preservation, use, and management of natural resources in their territories and effective coordination with state authorities. These powers will be exercised according to their self-government structures.

Brazilian Indian Kaingang, for article on Brazil Indigenous representation

Brazil elects record-high number of Indigenous mayors, vice mayors, and councilors

By / / Good News For Humankind

Indigenous representation in Brazil hit a new high in October 2024, with 256 Indigenous candidates winning seats from city council to mayor — the most ever recorded. They were the only demographic group whose vote totals grew that election, drawn from a record 169 ethnic groups fielding candidates across the country. Among the firsts: Florianópolis, a city founded 351 years ago, elected its very first Indigenous councilor, while in Marcação, all nine newly elected councilors self-identified as Indigenous. With municipal governments running the schools, clinics, and services that shape daily life, these wins put Indigenous leaders where decisions actually land — and build a pipeline toward the 2026 state and federal races, where the movement hopes to climb another rung.

Aerial view of river and mangroves

Brazil rooting out last of gold miners on Yanomami lands

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In a rush for gold, illicit miners had contaminated rivers with mercury and other toxic chemicals and with human waste, resulting in a wave of disease among the Yanomami that led to food shortages and malnutrition. In February of 2023, Brazil launched a campaign to “completely eradicate illegal mining” from the territory, which spans an area roughly the size of Portugal. More than a year later, officials say they have destroyed 42 airstrips, 18 aircraft, and 45 barges used by miners, and have seized 24,000 gallons of diesel fuel. They are now close to expelling the last of the miners, Reuters reports.

Amazon River Rainforest, for article on Amazon deforestation

Malaysian court shuts down hydroelectric dam project on Indigenous land

By / / Good news links

A Malaysian court ruled this week that hydropower companies building a dam on land belonging to the Indigenous Semai people of Malaysia’s Perak state had failed to secure proper consent and must halt operations immediately. The court also ruled that the state and federal governments, and the federal agency tasked with overseeing Indigenous affairs, had failed in their duty to protect Indigenous land from encroachment. Activists expressed relief and elation at the verdict, which marks a major milestone for land rights for Malaysia’s Indigenous peoples, known collectively as Orang Asal.
The verdict can still be appealed.

Good news for Indigenous rights and climate, for article on Indigenous land titles

Record number of Indigenous land titles granted in Peru via innovative process

By / / Good News For Humankind

Indigenous land titles in the Peruvian Amazon just hit a new milestone: 37 communities secured formal recognition in under 11 months, the fastest pace in the country’s history. The breakthrough came from a partnership between AIDESEP, Peru’s Indigenous rights organization, and Rainforest Foundation U.S., who put satellite mapping tools and training directly into the hands of community forest monitors instead of routing everything through outside experts. Research suggests titled Indigenous territories see roughly two-thirds less deforestation than untitled lands nearby, making this one of the most effective climate tools we have. The model is designed to travel — a hopeful blueprint for protecting forests, honoring ancestral stewardship, and recognizing the communities who have cared for these ecosystems all along.

Portrait of native american woman smiling on camera with city park in background - Indigenous girl outdoor

U.S. Federal Communications Commission adopts an alert system for missing Indigenous people

By / / Good news links

This new alert code, according to the federal agency, would be similar to the nationwide Amber Alert system and will help law enforcement agencies across the country to issue timely alerts to the public through cellphones, televisions and radios. The new “MEP” alert code is part of the efforts to address disparities in searching for and locating thousands of missing Indigenous persons in the U.S., who are at higher risk of being victims of violence, homicide, and of going missing, the FCC said in a news release.