Urgent Steps for the Global Observance of the Indigenous Peoples' Day 2025
The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, celebrated on August 9, honours the resilience, cultures, and rights of over 476 million Indigenous Peoples worldwide. This year's theme, "Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures," underscores the need to recognise and protect Indigenous human rights in the face of artificial intelligence (AI) expansion.
In the past year, there have been 77 overall cases and 18 new cases of impacts reported among Indigenous Peoples due to the uncontrolled acceleration of transition mineral mining. This highlights the urgent need for safeguards to protect Indigenous lands and communities.
The theme draws attention to several important issues. AI often appropriates Indigenous traditional knowledge and cultural expressions without consent, risks misrepresenting or erasing Indigenous perspectives. Indigenous knowledge systems, deeply rooted in community, respect for life, and responsibility to the environment, contrast with AI’s exploitative data extraction and lack of community governance.
AI can perpetuate biases and exclusions that harm Indigenous peoples, for example, through surveillance or decision-making systems that do not include Indigenous voices or cultural context. Ensuring Indigenous inclusion in AI development and governance is vital to safeguard their rights and perspectives, promoting technology that respects Indigenous sovereignty and values.
The concept of data sovereignty—Indigenous Peoples' control over their own data and knowledge—is crucial in defending their rights amid growing AI proliferation. This year's observances, including a United Nations virtual event, further underline the importance of protecting Indigenous rights within the fast-evolving AI landscape to shape a future where Indigenous Peoples can thrive without exploitation or marginalization.
Indigenous leaders often risk their lives to protect their territories from mining. The International Day also raises awareness about the human rights abuses and challenges that many Indigenous Peoples still face, such as the 48 cases of abuse of the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent reported since 2010.
Indigenous territories contain significant untapped reserves of heavy metals worldwide, putting Indigenous lands and communities at risk. New agreements have been adopted to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and numerous spaces have opened for Indigenous voices to be heard since the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982.
The SIRGE Coalition, launched by Cultural Survival, Tallgrass Institute, Batani Foundation, Earthworks, and Voices in 20XX, works to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Green Economy. SIRGE urges governments, businesses, and financial institutions to safeguard the rights and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples in the energy transition.
Indigenous Peoples offer solutions to today's greatest challenges, such as climate change, ecocide, and biodiversity loss. Radio programs and podcasts about the impacts of transition mineral mining and the SIRGE Coalition are available in multiple languages on Cultural Survival's Indigenous Rights Radio. The recording of the virtual commemoration for the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples can be watched online.
References:
- United Nations. (n.d.). International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/observances/indigenous-peoples-day
- SIRGE Coalition. (n.d.). Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures. Retrieved from https://sirgecoalition.org/
- Cultural Survival. (n.d.). Indigenous Rights Radio. Retrieved from https://www.cs.org/resources/indigenous-rights-radio
- Amnesty International. (n.d.). Indigenous Peoples and the Green Economy. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2021/03/indigenous-peoples-and-the-green-economy/
Science plays a significant role in addressing the risks that AI poses to Indigenous communities, particularly in areas like climate-change and environmental-science. For instance, AI can aid in understanding the environmental impacts of transition mineral mining on Indigenous lands and help formulate solutions to mitigate these effects, aligning with Indigenous knowledge systems that prioritize respect for life and the environment.
In the realm of technology, promoting data sovereignty – Indigenous Peoples' control over their own data and knowledge – is essential for protecting their rights and ensuring equitable participation in the AI landscape, ultimately shaping a future where Indigenous Peoples can thrive without exploitation or marginalization.
