Indigenous Peoples

“We respect the sacred wisdom of each religion, spiritual expression and indigenous tradition.” - URI Principle 2
Caminhos Da Terra CC Indigenous Blessing

Indigenous voices have been an essential part of URI since its beginning. Cooperation Circles act to protect Indigenous peoples' rights to live and thrive in accordance with their traditions.

Examples of our work in this Action Area:

  • Comunidad Cosmica CC, in Buenos Aires, Argentina preserves Indigenous cultures' rich oral histories by publishing written stories.
  • 1God CC, in Clayton, Victoria, Australia, leads a movement to return uncovered Aboriginal human remains for dignified burial in accordance with Aboriginal traditions.
  • Indlondlo Zulu Dancers Cultural and Art Centre, in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, keeps traditional Zulu dances, costume, and culture alive through classes and performances.

The URI delegation delivers prayers and sacred water from around the world as part of the Interfaith Day of Prayer at the Oceti Sakowin Camp on December 4, 2016. URI has a long history of honoring Indigenous traditions, protecting the environment, and creating cultures of peace, justice, and healing for the Earth and all living beings.

Search for Cooperation Circles (CCs) with a focus on Indigenous Peoples

Stories

Transformative environmental education with 30 high school learners in South India - the launch of the Ecopeace Teen Cafe

In India, Greshma Raju, from Jyothirgamaya Interfaith CC, has initiated a project called Ecopeace Teen Cafe, which is a four month education programme reaching 29 high school learners in South India, focusing on community building, environmentalism, peacebuilding and social justice. Read more about the inspiration behind this initiative and Greshma’s learnings through the experience of starting a project like this!

URI AL&C Online Youth Training

Between August and September 2021, the URI AL&C Online Youth Training organized by the URI Global Program for the participation of youth was developed with the intervention of 15 young people from the CCs: Aflaiai, Constructores de Puentes, Teusaquillo, Mukua, Quinaroes , COEMATI, The Descendants of Guatemaya, Samay, ACRE from the countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama and Venezuela.

Impact of the Solidarity Support Program

As you know, it is not the institutional policy of URI to support the Circles of Cooperation with fondos. However, in the Asamblea Regional de Chile 2014, the possibility of providing some type of support to promote initiatives of the CCs that need support, given the socio-economic and cultural characteristics of other Latin American and Caribbean communities, was planted.