indigenous peoples

María de Jesús Patricio, center, during her campaign launch for president of Mexico

Mexico has its first indigenous woman candidate for president

María de Jesús Patricio is a traditional Nahua healer from southern Jalisco. Gender and heritage aren’t the only aspects that set her apart.

Mexico has its first indigenous woman candidate for president
Kenyan language activist Kennedy Bosire has co-edited an online dictionary of his mother tongue, Ekegusii, also know as Kisii.

American soft power has helped this Kenyan man's efforts to ensure a future for his mother tongue

American soft power has helped this Kenyan man's efforts to ensure a future for his mother tongue
Students Andries Jacobi, Nienke Kooi and Fardau de Vries attend a trilingual (Dutch, Frisian, English) public school in Koudum in the Dutch province of Friesland.

The first cousin of the English language is alive and well in the Netherlands

The first cousin of the English language is alive and well in the Netherlands
Lakota

The Standing Rock Sioux are also fighting for their language

The Standing Rock Sioux are also fighting for their language
Demonstrators against the Dakota Access oil pipeline block a road near North Dakota's Standing Rock Reservation in October. The pipeline would cross historic Native land and pass under the Missouri River, the source of the local water supply.

It's not just about a pipeline. Native activists say Dakota battle is their biggest stand in decades.

It's not just about a pipeline. Native activists say Dakota battle is their biggest stand in decades.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse, spiritual leader of the Sioux Nation, leads his people to peacefully pray near a law enforcement barricade just outside of a Dakota Access pipeline construction site north of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on Oct. 29, 2016.

#NoDAPL has momentum, but will it drive Native Americans to vote?

Sacred-site preservation and civic engagement are not the same.

#NoDAPL has momentum, but will it drive Native Americans to vote?
Police use pepper spray against protesters trying to cross a stream near an oil pipeline construction site near Standing Rock Indian Reservation, north of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S. November 2, 2016.

The United Nations heads to North Dakota to investigate possible human rights abuses

Police have made mass arrests and used pepper spray, riot gear and armored vehicles to stop the protests. Now, the United Nations is looking into possible human rights abuses.

The United Nations heads to North Dakota to investigate possible human rights abuses
Energy Transfer Partners Dakota Access oil pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation

Education and funding are critical issues facing native communities in the US

On an Indian reservation in Nebraska, state and federal politics interfere with the effort to simply educate the kids.

Education and funding are critical issues facing native communities in the US
Laguna tribal members Jenni Monet and her grandmother June Sarracino.

How do you revive a language if tribal elders don't want you to?

The Keres language, spoken by the Laguna Pueblo of New Mexico, is dying. When younger tribal members tried to revive it, they were blocked by elders fearful that spiritual essence of the language would be lost.

How do you revive a language if tribal elders don't want you to?
Protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline

Protesters say mass arrests won't stop their fight against a North Dakota oil pipeline

"One thing that I repeatedly heard," says Jenni Monet, a journalist on the scene, "is that this fight is not over."

Protesters say mass arrests won't stop their fight against a North Dakota oil pipeline
Myaamia Chief Doug Lankford (right), linguist David Costa (center), and Myaamia Center director Daryl Baldwin (left), watching a traditional Stomp Dance in Oxford, Ohio.

How the Miami Tribe got its language back

What happens when the last native speaker of a language has died? Is that language "dead" or just "sleeping?" And can it be woken up again?

How the Miami Tribe got its language back
Spadina Rd

Indigenous street names in Toronto get noticed and made 'official'

It started out by putting stickers over street signs in the Canadian City of Toronto. Printed on those stickers were indigenous names of the streets and area those streets run through.

Indigenous street names in Toronto get noticed and made 'official'
Standing Rock

The Standing Rock Sioux 'know what they're doing' in North Dakota

For weeks, members of the Standing Rock Sioux have gathered in Cannonball, North Dakota, standing against the Dakota Access pipeline. The government has now halted construction pending reassessment of the project.

The Standing Rock Sioux 'know what they're doing' in North Dakota
Anne Jimmie grew up speaking Ktunaxa, only to lose much of the language when she was removed from her family and placed in a boarding school. In 2006, the Canadian government compensated Jimmie and about 80,000 other First Nations people as part of a clas

A new generation of Canadians are learning this language, and not all of them are tribal members

Many Ktunaxa lost their native tongue when they were sent to church-run boarding schools. Now the Ktunaxa language is making a modest comeback at a local school where both First Nations and white students study it.

A new generation of Canadians are learning this language, and not all of them are tribal members
A Tribe Called Red

A trio of First Nations DJs is reclaiming the way indigenous culture is portrayed in culture

A Tribe Called Red raises real issues in the native community to bring attention — and reclaim the culture that has been appropriated by others.

A trio of First Nations DJs is reclaiming the way indigenous culture is portrayed in culture