With its aim to  highlight contemporary authors from Indigenous communities around Latin America, PIVP is working to preserve their heritage, worldviews, and cultural identities through their craft as well as increase the presence of Indigenous poetry and literature in the historic PALABRA audio archive, which has been curated by our institution for almost eight decades.

Formerly known as the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape (AHLOT), The PALABRA Archive, is a collection of audio recordings of poets and writers from the Luso-Hispanic world reading from their works reflecting the rich linguistic diversity of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America. These have recording sessions in more than ten languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Basque, Catalan, Haitian Creole, and several others.

The presence of Indigenous poetry and literature within the archive, until recently,  was very small and consisted of only three recordings in Indigenous languages.​

The UN estimates there are some 476 million indigenous people in more than 90 countries around the world who have been denied the opportunity to control their own political, social, economic and cultural development. 

​The images collected in the World in Faces exhibition showcase the diversity of indigenous cultures on every continent and have been released to coincide with the 20th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) which is currently underway online and in person at UN Headquarters in New York.

The meeting is bringing together people to discuss the role of indigenous peoples in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16 which is focused on promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies.

#UN; #IndigenousPeople; #LegalRightsToLands; #SDGs

UN/Canadian-Media: Although the world’s indigenous peoples live in areas that contain around 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity, many still struggle to maintain their legal rights to lands, territories and resources, according to a new UN report published on Friday. ​

The latest edition of the State of the World’s Indigenous People report examines challenges communities face in asserting their rights to lands, whether in the context of agribusiness, extractive industries, development, conservation and tourism.

“Ensuring the collective rights of indigenous peoples to lands, territories and resources is not only for their well-being, but also for addressing some of the most pressing global challenges such as climate change and environmental degradation”, said Elliott Harris, the UN’s Chief Economist, speaking at the virtual launch in New York.  

Custodians of the Earth

Mr. Harris is an Assistant-Secretary-General in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), which has issued the report.

Indigenous people are often described as “the custodians of our Earth’s precious resources”, DESA said.  Their traditional knowledge of the land, and territorial rights, are gaining wider recognition as countries confront the impacts of climate change.

Just over five years ago, Governments adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which lays out a roadmap to a safer and equitable future for all people and the planet through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Although the 17 SDGs address key indigenous concerns, they still fall short in some respects, Mr. Harris told journalists.

“For example, the 2030 Agenda does not fully recognize collective rights in relation to lands and resources, or to health, education, culture and ways of living”, he said.  “And yet, collective rights lie at the very heart of indigenous communities.”

Land conflicts on the rise

Mr. Harris outlined other serious challenges, noting that in many parts of the world, indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources remain limited or unrecognized. Even where there is legal support, implementation is frequently stalled or inconsistent.  

Indigenous rights activists have also faced enormous risks and reprisals for defending their lands, ranging from criminalization and harassment, to assault and killings, he added.

Anne Nuorgam, Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, reported that there has been a rise in cases of encroachment onto indigenous lands and territories during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

“The sources of conflict are many, from resource extraction, logging, land for renewal energy sources and agribusiness to conflict between indigenous pastoralists, nomadic herders and farmers over shrinking grazing lands due to war, and the effects of climate change as well as the establishment of conservation areas”, she said in a statement read at the launch.

“The lack of respect for the principle and the meaning of free, prior and informed consent by both governments and the private sector continues unabated.”

The role of data

The UN report concludes with several recommendations for national authorities as they strive to meet the SDGs.

The authors advise States to include recognition of customary rights of indigenous peoples to their lands and resources in data on secure land tenure rights.

Governments are also urged to collect better data, disaggregated by ethnicity and indigenous identity, so that challenges faced by specific indigenous communities are more accurately reflected in SDG reporting.

"For the first time in Ontario's history, students will be able to access culturally supportive, OSAP eligible programs that are independently delivered at Indigenous Institutes," said Minister Rickford in a news release. "Indigenous Institutes are an integral part of Ontario's postsecondary education system and this financial assistance will help Indigenous learners get the skills they need to succeed."

Indigenous learners could have access to a culturally responsive and high-quality postsecondary education, through this financial assistance, that will prepare them to meet local labor market needs.

Previously, OSAP was only accessible to students attending Indigenous Institutes if the program was delivered in partnership with an Ontario college or university.

Beginning this year, Ontario's approval of Indigenous Institutes for OSAP would not only allow eligible students to apply for assistance, it would also encourage Indigenous Institutes to start offering their own independently delivered, quality-assured OSAP eligible programs with approval from the Indigenous Advanced Education and Skills Council.

Ross Romano, Minister of Colleges and Universities said that this would bridge the attainment gap in postsecondary education between Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners and added,

"There is widespread agreement by Indigenous leaders, communities and education professionals that investing in culturally responsive postsecondary education opportunities for Indigenous learners will have tremendous benefits and reduce this gap."

Appreciating the Government of Ontario's ongoing collaboration and support for Indigenous postsecondary Institutes, Suzanne Brant, President of First Nations Technical Institute said, 

"It is a demonstration of the Government's commitment to Indigenous students achieving their full potential in Ontario." ​

Image:  Pride Toronto Creative Studio & Artist Residency Program. Image Credit: Twitter handle of Pride Toronto  ​

The increasing impact of COVID-19 on many community members and community organizations, had led not only to the closure of many businesses, but also losing safe and protective gathering, planning, and meeting spaces, added supporting LGBT2Q+ communities during this time of uncertainty, continues to be more important than ever, said Pride Toronto.

Pride Toronto Creative Studio & Artist Residency Program was developed in consultation with LGBTQ2+ communities to address the continuously growing gap in safe and affordable Queer & Trans creative spaces.

The creative studio facilitates the booking of desks, meeting rooms, board rooms, training facilities, and access to a multi-functional production studio complete with cameras, video equipment, green screens, turntables, and mixers, projectors, and speakers.

In addition, a skill-sharing Artist Residency Program has been developed and made available to the Creative Studio participants.

Located near an accessible transit stop, the venue with accessible gender-neutral washrooms, would be made accessible to registered LGBT2Q+ community artists and community organizations at no charge.

Pride Toronto’s Creative Studio & Artist Residency Program was made possible thanks to our sponsors including IKEA, The Home Depot Canada, Cityline Design,  Studio Markanda, and the LCBO who assisted in outfitting the office and studio. ‘

Amber Moyle, Director of Sponsorship and Strategy at Pride Toronto thanks all of the artists and community organizations that assisted in helping the reimagination of the Creative Studio and have already offered to donate their talents to the Artist Residency Program, says and added, “None of this would have been possible without the generosity of our sponsors who stood behind us during one of the most challenging years yet.”  ​​

Many governments, including Indigenous national, tribal, and community governments, are transitioning from print to solely digital formats for publishing their laws.

To facilitate with the collection and preservation aims of this, the Library has created the Indigenous Law Web Archive, a collection of constitutions, codes, executive orders, and court forms and information of sovereign Indigenous governments and courts of 578 federally recognized nations, communities, and tribes in the United States, as well as some Indigenous legal information from Canada, published online.

The Library attempts to acquire the most comprehensive collection possible. Collected resources are embargoed for a year prior to release, and so the collection was launched this summer. It’s a useful starting point for comparative research, and we hope that this tool will assist practitioners and scholars of Indigenous law in their work.

LoC maintains one of the largest and most diverse collections of scientific and technical information in the world. Its Science, Technology and Business Division provides reference and bibliographic services and develops the general collections of the library in all areas of science, technology, business and economics.

As the world’s largest library  built in 1800 in Washington D.C., LoC offers access to the creative record of the United States, and from around the world, both on-sit and online, and is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. ​​