Five things to know about this year’s Indigenous Peoples Day
The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is marked annually on 9 August. This year’s theme is Protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact.
Here are five things to know:
1. What does ‘voluntary isolation and initial contact’ mean?
The focus of the International Day this year is on the approximately 200 groups of Indigenous Peoples currently living in voluntary isolation and initial contact.
They live detached from the rest of the world, surviving by gathering and hunting.
These groups reside in remote forests rich in natural resources in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru and Venezuela.
2. Why would a group choose to self-isolate?
These Indigenous groups deliberately avoid mainstream society.
Each community has its own reasons, with some seeking to preserve their own autonomy.
Some communities also self-isolate to protect their cultures and languages.
3. What are the threats?
One of the most serious threats to Indigenous Peoples in isolation from external contact is exposure to diseases.
Due to their isolation, these Indigenous Peoples do not have the immunological defenses to combat relatively common diseases. Forced contact with the outside world can lead to devastating consequences and can destroy entire societies.
Some of the most serious threats come from our everyday lives. Agriculture, mining, tourism and a push for natural resources in their territories result in the deforestation of their land, disrupting their way of life and destroying the natural environment that they have protected for generations.
4. What are the consequences?
Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact are the best protectors of the forest.
Where their collective rights to lands and territories are protected, the forests thrive, alongside their societies. Their survival is also essential to the preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity.
In today’s hyper-connected world, the existence of Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact is a testament to the rich and complex tapestry of humanity.
5. How can you help?
Supporting self-isolation helps protect unique cultures, languages and ways of life. As consumers, making sustainable choices can help to save these communities from extinction.
One of the biggest threats to Indigenous Peoples is from mining companies extracting lithium, cobalt and other critical minerals for renewable energy technologies.
The Secretary-General recently created the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals to make sure that the extractive industry chain protects human rights.
FAST FACTS
Indigenous Peoples have in common a historical continuity with a given region prior to colonisation and a strong link to their lands. They maintain, at least in part, distinct social, economic and political systems, and have distinct languages, cultures, beliefs and knowledge systems.
They are determined to maintain and develop their identity and distinct institutions and they form a non-dominant sector of society. They are also nearly three times as likely to be living in extreme poverty compared to their non-indigenous counterparts.
Here are some fast facts:
- There are over 476 million Indigenous Peoples, accounting for 6.2 per cent of the global population.
- They live in 90 countries across the world.
- There are more than 5,000 distinct groups.
- Indigenous Peoples speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages.
- Learn more about the International Day here.
- Join the commemoration on 9 August here.
- Learn more about the issue here.
- Check out photos of Indigenous Peoples from around the world in the UN’s online exhibition The World in Faces here.