A variety of stories and traditions of indigenous peoples

Their lives and their fights

Indigenous peoples are the descendants of those who inhabited a geographical area when other population groups arrived and became dominant, notably through colonisation. The UN explains that they "have in common a historical continuity with a given region prior to colonization and a strong link to their lands. They maintain, at least in part, distinct social, economic and political systems. They 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." In addition, the UN estimates that more than "over 476 million indigenous people living in 90 countries across the world, accounting for 6.2 per cent of the global population. Of those, there are more than 5,000 distinct groups. [...] Indigenous people speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages. They are nearly three times as likely to be living in extreme poverty compared to their non-indigenous counterparts." Our collection brings together fiction and documentaries about different indigenous peoples around the world. What they all have in common is that they are fighting for their legacy and the survival of their traditions - if not their very survival.
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