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Sliver of a Full Moon— A play depicting indigenous women’s rights to be protected from violence and discrimination to be staged for world leaders . On Sunday, September 21, 2014, hundreds will gather at the U.N. Chapel to witness the New York premiere of Sliver of a Full Moon, including Ambassadors, members of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples...

A wind farm company, partially funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), has decided to relocate its project that would have negatively impacted seven indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. The decision comes after an IDB review panel agreed to investigate a claim filed by the Center that the land rights of seven communities were being violated by the project. “We...

Final Outcome Document (New York City) -- The United Nations is prepared to adopt a formal document on Monday, Sept. 22, 2014, that will commit the UN and member states to take a number of actions to put into effect and encourage compliance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was adopted in 2007. This UN...

Roundtable 1: UN System Action to Implement the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Jefferson Keel, Lt. Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, presents a joint statement on behalf of 159 indigenous and organizations, urging continued action by indigenous peoples, states, and the UN to achieve compliance with the UN Declaration and to enable indigenous peoples and governments to take their rightful place...

Jessica Lenahan tells her story of domestic violence and how the Castle Rock Police Department in Colorado failed to protect her. In 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a landmark decision in Jessica Lenahan (formerly Gonzales) v. U.S., finding the United States violated its obligations under international human rights law to use diligence and reasonable measures to protect...

This week saw positive developments in addressing some of the most pressing issues faced by American Indian and Alaska Native children in this country. According to a report by the U.S. Attorney General’s office released on November 18, 2014, American Indian and Alaska Native youth suffer from the highest rates of suicide in the United States. Violence, including intentional injuries...

by Armstrong Wiggins*Speaking out against illegal logging in indigenous territories is a death sentence in Peru. This past September, in Peru’s remote Amazon region of Ucayali, four Ashéninka leaders were on their way to speak out against logging in their territories and never made it to their destination. Days later their bodies were found, shot dead by loggers. This story...

This week, hundreds of tribal leaders attended the annual White House Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, DC to discuss their issues and priorities for the next year with members of President Obama’s administration. The 2014 White House Conference comes on the heels of the historic United Nations World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, which took place in September 2014. It was...

Four years ago, on December 16, 2010, when the United States issued its statement of support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, it joined the world community in welcoming a new era of human rights. For the first time in the history of international human rights, indigenous peoples were seen as equals, entitled to all the...