Denver to donate bison to Tribal land as form of reparations
The 10-year initiative has culminated in the first bison making their way from to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma and the Tall Bull Memorial Council in Colorado.
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.
Several Native tribes make COVID-19 vaccines available to everyone in Oklahoma
The Chickasaw, Choctaw, Osage, Cherokee, and Potawatomi nations are offering vaccinations to anyone in Oklahoma who needs one.
Deb Haaland confirmed as first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history
“The confirmation of Deb Haaland as secretary of the interior is a tremendous win for Indigenous communities, the waters, parks, and lands across our country, and the climate.”
More Native American tribes are buying back their ancestral lands
As one example, the Klamath Tribes of southern Oregon purchased a 1,705-acre patchwork of meadows, wetlands, and timberland that had once belonged to them.
Three major banks will no longer finance oil trade in the Amazon Sacred Headwaters region in Ecuador
The decision from Credit Suisse, ING, and BNP Paribas is seen as a major victory for environmental and Indigenous rights activists, Reuters reported.
Deb Haaland slated to be first Native American Interior Secretary
If confirmed, her role will include overseeing the government’s relationship with the 567 federally recognized tribes and 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.
First tribally-associated medical school in the United States launches in the Cherokee Nation
In rural Oklahoma, a brand new medical school sits in the Cherokee Nation, training Nation members to become physicians at Nation clinics. Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation is the first tribally associated medical school in the country.
50 Native American tribes are now implementing climate strategies
Dozens of Native nations and tribal institutions in the United States have designed climate change plans that include formal strategies and initiatives to increase the resiliency of their communities.
New Zealand PM appoints first female indigenous foreign minister
After being re-elected in a landslide victory last month, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern continues to make positive progressive change in the country. Yesterday, she appointed Nanaia Mahuta as the country’s first indigenous female foreign minister.
Amazon tribes to use drones to detect illegal deforestation in Brazilian rainforest
Indigenous rights’ groups and WWF International are beginning to train Andean tribes people deep within the Amazon rainforest in the use of drones so that they, as forest-dwelling specialists, can help protect wildlife, and identify, compile evidence for, and report on, illegal logging activities.